Florida
The New York Times bestselling author of Fates and Furies makes his triumphant comeback.
Lauren Groff introduces the reader to a physical world that is both home and wild—a place where the natural world's dangers lurk just ready to pounce, but the biggest risks and mysteries are still emotional and psychological in nature. A prowling panther or a sexual secret might spoil a family vacation. A clever pair of abandoned sisters; a lonely, grown-up kid; a restless, childless couple; a seeking, homeless lady; and a memorable, recurrent character—a steely and troubled wife and mother—are among those navigating this region.
The stories in this book span personalities, towns, decades, and even centuries, but Florida—its geography, temperature, history, and state of mind—serves as the collection's gravitational center: an energy, a mood, as well as a place of habitation. As she writes about loneliness, wrath, family, and the passage of time, Groff transports the reader, then jolts us awake with a crackle of wit, a wash of grief, a flash of violence. She pinpoints the moments and decisions and connections behind human joy and agony, hope and despair, love and fury—the moments that make us alive—with startling accuracy and power. Florida is a remarkable effort that is startling, accurate, and moving.
