Book Club Discussion Questions
For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, The Ten Thousand Islands and our BookBrowse Review of Swamplandia!.
Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
About This Guide
The questions, discussion topics, and reading list that follow are intended to enhance your reading group's discussion of
Swamplandia!, the eagerly awaited first novel by Karen Russell, acclaimed author of the short story collection
St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves.
About This Book
"This was the first time I've read Karen Russell's work, and I was dazzled. It's very rare, among the tonnage of manuscripts and galleys that land upon one's desk, to come across a young novelist so inventive and versatile, yet so thoroughly in control. Also, I'm a sucker for any plot line that features man-eating reptiles. . . . Passages of this fine novel call to mind Conrad, García Márquez, and even—for those who have kids—Judy Blume. . . . I can't recall the last time I came across a character who shines as brightly as Ava, or a first novel that made such a rich and lasting impression." —Carl Hiaasen
From the celebrated twenty-nine-year-old author of the everywhere-heralded short-story collection
St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves comes a blazingly original debut novel that takes us back to the swamps of the Florida Everglades, and introduces us to Ava Bigtree, an unforgettable young heroine.
The Bigtree alligator-wrestling dynasty is in decline, and Swamplandia!, their island home and gator-wrestling theme park, formerly #1 in the region, is swiftly being encroached on by a fearsome and sophisticated competitor called the World of Darkness. Ava's mother, the park's indomitable headliner, has just died; her sister, Ossie, has fallen in love with a spooky character known as the Dredgeman, who may or may not be an actual ghost; and her brilliant big brother, Kiwi, who dreams of becoming a scholar, has just defected to the World of Darkness in a last-ditch effort to keep their family business from going under. Ava's father, affectionately known as Chief Bigtree, is AWOL, and that leaves Ava, a resourceful but terrified thirteen, to manage ninety-eight gators and the vast, inscrutable landscape of her own grief.
Against a backdrop of hauntingly fecund plant life animated by ancient lizards and lawless hungers, Karen Russell has written an utterly singular novel about a family's struggle to stay afloat in a world that is inexorably sinking. An arrestingly beautiful and inventive work from a vibrant new voice in fiction.
Reader's Guide
- Now that you've read the novel, go back and reread the epigraph. Why do you think Russell chose this quote?
- Some of these characters first appeared in the story "Ava Wrestles the Alligator" in Russell's collection, St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves. Have you read that story? How does it compare to the novel?
- "Tradition is as important, kids,' Chief Bigtree liked to say, 'as promotional materials are expensive.'" (page 5) Did the Chief show this in his actions? Which of the Bigtree tribe members paid the most respect to tradition?
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- How does the author develop themes of identity and belonging throughout the narrative?
- What role does the setting play in shaping the characters' decisions and relationships?
- Discuss how the ending reframes the events of the story. Were you surprised?
Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Vintage.
Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.
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