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The Boatman's Daughter

by Andy Davidson

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316981,873 (3.59)19
"A swampy literary horror novel about a young woman facing down drug dealers, a crooked cop, and a mad preacher on the banks of an Arkansas river"--
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» See also 19 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 9 (next | show all)
A Southern Gothic with a lot of gore. It’s a bit of a muddle, with names that invoke Shakespeare’s Tempest, elements of Eastern European mythology, all sloshing together in the muck of the swampy Arkansas bayous. The language is florid, and the action is violent and grim, of the sort that makes it hard for me to want to keep reading because horrible things happen unrelentingly to good people, and to morally ambiguous people, and to downright evil people, who outnumber the good ones by quite a lot. But I kept reading to see how it all turned out, despite that where and why things went the way they did wasn’t always entirely clear, even at the end.

On the plus side, the florid language did evoke the bayous’ sights, smells, and sounds almost tangibly. And there are two or three really interesting and well-drawn characters. ( )
  Charon07 | Jul 20, 2023 |
Absolutely couldn't get into this. It felt written to death. Adjectives, adverbs, details clogging up everything. ( )
  purplepaste | Feb 18, 2023 |
It’s gothic, it’s bloody, and it’s got a surprisingly literary bite, making The Boatman’s Daughter a satisfying read for horror fans and more, if not a bit difficult to comprehend at times. ( )
  Birdo82 | Jan 21, 2023 |
I loved the vibes and writing of this novel, which in some ways felt like a marriage of Carson McCullers and Cormac McCarthy, with just a touch of Joe Hill. Sinking into the scenes and the setting as things unfolded was a pleasure, and as the book kept going, the reading got faster and faster.

The issue for me, though, became clarity. So often, it felt like I needed just a bit more connective tissue and narrative to help be sure of how the characters related to each other, how their pasts connected, and exactly what was happening on the page. Especially in the middle of the book, there were moments where I loved what I was reading, but still wasn't quite sure of what was going on in that moment. At a certain point, all of those moments of confusion added up, and I was reading for vibes as much as meaning, letting the language and individual scenes pull me on even when I wasn't quite sure of the larger canvas and how it was coming together. Probably, this is a book that would benefit from multiple reads...but when it comes down to it, I never quite connected to the characters well enough that I'm tempted to re-read. In some ways, that makes me feel like this is a plot-driven novel which is written more in the style of a literary or character-driven novel. Not to say that all those things can't come together at once, but in this case, I'm not sure they did.

I look forward to trying more of Andy Davidson's work since I loved so many elements of this. I'm not sure I'd recommend this specific book, but it was immersive enough that I think I'm glad to have come across it. ( )
  whitewavedarling | Oct 20, 2022 |
First, let me acknowledge how well the audiobook is read. Five Stars for Samantha Desz!

As for the author, Mr. Davidson, one must acknowledge his imagination and his ability to write sentences and paragraphs that conjure up visions of damp, dark places populated by interesting, if often despicable, characters. It is as a plotter that Mr. Davidson falls short. This book piles horrific scene upon horrific scene to the point of no return--it gets old after a while. It also isn't particularly clear how 11-year old Miranda manages to remain independent after the death of her father. The book's best--and worst--part is its long climax, which begins a bit over halfway through and cuts from scene to scene, cinematically, to leave the reader or listener hanging on the precipice of some new atrocity. For all the special effects, it doesn't all really come together. More problematic is the whole supernatural element of the book. Frankly, the story would have been better without it. The supernatural characters, who are never well explained, are not really an integral part of the story, which is more concerned with drug dealing, murder, and family relationships. Not sorry at all that I listened to this. Overall, I did enjoy it. But it is another example of a book that really needed a good, forceful editor. ( )
  datrappert | May 19, 2022 |
Showing 1-5 of 9 (next | show all)
...a mind-numbing, nightmarish turn of southern gothic with supernatural elements clashing with humanity’s best and worst impulses, narrated with literary prose of the highest order. I was by turns reminded of Cormac McCarthy’s first several novels, W.W. Jacobs, August Derleth and Erskine Caldwell, among others. However, the originality of Davidson’s unique voice shines through the wonderful and distinctive babble of those who have come before him.... Davidson leaves no atrocity unmentioned in THE BOATMAN’S DAUGHTER, yet there is not a gratuitous act in the book. It is the darkest of tales, beautifully but unflinchingly told, full of violence, sacrifice and --- however unexpectedly --- redemption, written as if composed while listening to the David Eugene Edwards songbook played at full volume. You will never get this book, its characters or its author out of your head or your nightmares after reading it.
added by Lemeritus | editBookReporter, Joe Hartlaub (Mar 6, 2020)
 
Andy Davidson probably wrote The Boatman's Daughter sitting at a table at home or at a coffee joint. But it reads as if he pulled it out of the wet earth of the Arkansas bayous with his bare hands on a moonless night while chanting an incantation he learned from a dying witch.... The Boatman's Daughter pushes up against the weirdest corners of horror fiction. There are witches, demons, dwarves, strange people, nightmares, awful memories of slaughtered children, severed heads, an evil old preacher, and bad things in the bayou that are not of this world. However, Davidson anchors his narrative on the land and the reality of a young girl forced into a life of crime. As a result, even the strangest passages feel real.... This is a novel made of words, but also made of water, earth, trees, vines, moss, and lichen. To open it is to enter a humid place where kudzu and rust cover most things, and every person has roots like a tree that, instead of going into the earth, dig, crooked and always searching, into the darkness of their past.
 
It is a story of human and supernatural monsters in which no one is innocent, but the lines between good and evil are clearly drawn. Davidson’s style is restrained, with a slow burn that explodes at the novel’s midpoint, making room for the plot to breathe and unravel toward the satisfying conclusion. This horror novel can claim its rightful place alongside new Southern Gothics like Jesmyn Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing (2017), Daniel Woodrell’s Winter’s Bone (2006), and Wiley Cash’s A Land More Kind Than Home (2012).
added by Lemeritus | editBooklist, Becky Spratford (Dec 1, 2019)
 
Davidson (In the Valley of the Sun) immerses the reader in ethereal horror in this macabre contemporary thriller set in the swamps of the deep American South.... With fluid prose and nimble worldbuilding Davidson brings his eerie swamps to life. Fans of the supernatural will savor the slow-burning tension of this heady, atmospheric Southern gothic.
added by Lemeritus | editPublishers Weekly (Nov 22, 2019)
 
Davidson’s captivating horror fable combines the visceral violence of Cormac McCarthy with his own wholly original craftsmanship, weaving rich, folkloric magic with the best elements of a gritty Southern thriller. The book's lightning-fast pace doesn’t come at the expense of fully realized, flawed, and achingly human characters. Ample bloodshed is offset by beautiful prose, and the bad guys are really, really bad. Luckily, Miranda, a young woman forged in hardship and grief and buoyed by her love of a very special child, is a perfect foil for the evil she’ll have to face. A stunning supernatural Southern gothic.
added by Lemeritus | editKirkus Reviews (Nov 10, 2019)
 
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... what's past is prologue ... -The Tempest
Dedication
For Mom and Dad
First words
Now, Myshka, I will tell you the truth. Let my voice bury deep inside you. Before the sun sets, I will tell you secrets you have longed to know. For I was a girl once, too, and like you, I have known sorrows so great there are no words to account for them.
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"A swampy literary horror novel about a young woman facing down drug dealers, a crooked cop, and a mad preacher on the banks of an Arkansas river"--

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