Review of Fathom
Jan. 29th, 2009 03:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chris_gerribSo I mentioned that I was going to have some coherent thoughts about Cherie Priest's (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cmpriest) new novel Fathom
. As promised, here we go.
The story is set in the early years of the Great Depression in coastal central Florida. Nia (short for Appollonia) comes down from the family orange grove in Tallahassee to visit with her cousin Bernice. Both girls are in their late teens, and still living with their parents. Bernice has moved down from New York with her stepfather, an Italian who has some unspecified associations with gangsters, and her somewhat flighty mother.
To say Bernice is a bad egg is an understatement. But, to both girl's regret, there lurks in the waters off the coast an ancient witch named Arahab, who's hard at work on a plan to end the world. Both girls get involved in the plan, on opposite sides, and the result is a very entertaining tale.
Priest is a hell of a writer, and has a great voice, as well as a profound understanding of human behavior. That and Cherie's deep local knowledge (she's that rare bird, a native Floridian) really make for a great read. Cherie also did a lot of research, including the vagaries of fire insurance in the 1920s.
I'm a lurker on Cherie's blog, so I've been hearing of this story for some time. In the Author's Introduction, Cherie says there were three first drafts of this book. From my recollections of the blog, one of the first drafts involved a mermaid show from that period. Obviously it didn't work, but the final product did.
cmpriest) new novel Fathom. As promised, here we go.The story is set in the early years of the Great Depression in coastal central Florida. Nia (short for Appollonia) comes down from the family orange grove in Tallahassee to visit with her cousin Bernice. Both girls are in their late teens, and still living with their parents. Bernice has moved down from New York with her stepfather, an Italian who has some unspecified associations with gangsters, and her somewhat flighty mother.
To say Bernice is a bad egg is an understatement. But, to both girl's regret, there lurks in the waters off the coast an ancient witch named Arahab, who's hard at work on a plan to end the world. Both girls get involved in the plan, on opposite sides, and the result is a very entertaining tale.
Priest is a hell of a writer, and has a great voice, as well as a profound understanding of human behavior. That and Cherie's deep local knowledge (she's that rare bird, a native Floridian) really make for a great read. Cherie also did a lot of research, including the vagaries of fire insurance in the 1920s.
I'm a lurker on Cherie's blog, so I've been hearing of this story for some time. In the Author's Introduction, Cherie says there were three first drafts of this book. From my recollections of the blog, one of the first drafts involved a mermaid show from that period. Obviously it didn't work, but the final product did.
