Synopses & Reviews
"Inventive and surprising . . . A punch to the heart. It's one of the best novels I've read this year." Kristen Arnett, bestselling author of Mostly Dead Things
On the eve of Evangeline's wedding, on the shore of Winter Island, a dead whale is trapped in the harbor, the groom may be lost at sea, and Evie's mostly absent mother has shown up out of the blue. From there, in this mesmerizing, provocative debut, the narrative flows back and forth through time as Evie reckons with her complicated upbringing in this lush, wild land off the coast of Southern California.
Evie grew up with her well-meaning but negligent father, surviving on the money he made dealing the island's world-famous strain of weed, Winter Wonderland. Although her father raised her with a deep respect for the elements, the sea, and the creatures living within it, he also left her to parent herself. With wit, love, and bracing flashes of anger, Creatures probes the complexities of love and abandonment, guilt and forgiveness, betrayal and grief — and the ways in which our childhoods can threaten our ability to love if we are not brave enough to conquer the past.
Lyrical, darkly funny, and ultimately cathartic, Creatures exerts a pull as strong as the tides.
Review
"At the intersection of the natural world and the human heart, Van Meter explores alcoholism, absence, daughterly loyalties and longing in this slim and beautiful tale that contains a whole aqueous universe in its depths."
Melissa Broder, author of The Pisces
Review
"Crissy Van Meter pulls us into depths of loneliness, sweetness, pain, history, and pulsing vulnerability in prose swift and clear as an ocean current, in Creatures... Like water, loss and longing fill the space between each prism of a word in this gorgeous, jewel-tone debut."
Sarah Gerard, author of Sunshine State
Review
"Tender and atmospheric . . . Van Meter expertly and effortlessly brings to life at once her father's substance abuse and dependence, his doting love for his daughter and loyalty to her absent mother, and his inability to be what Evie needs."
Publishers Weekly
Review
"Some of the most heartbreaking moments in this novel are the most simply told, and there are scenes of beauty and magic and dry humor amid the chaos . . . A quietly captivating debut ." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Reviews)
About the Author
Crissy Van Meter grew up in Southern California. Her writing has appeared in Vice, Bustle, Guernica, and Catapult. She holds an MFA in creative writing from the New School. She lives in Los Angeles.
Crissy Van Meter on PowellsBooks.Blog
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