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Cross Creek Paperback – March 20, 1996

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 734 ratings

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Cross Creek is the warm and delightful memoir about the life of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings—author of The Yearling—in the Florida backcountry.

Originally published in 1942,
Cross Creek has become a classic in modern American literature. For the millions of readers raised on The Yearling, here is the story of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings's experiences in the remote Florida hamlet of Cross Creek, where she lived for thirteen years. From the daily labors of managing a seventy-two-acre orange grove to bouts with runaway pigs and a succession of unruly farmhands, Rawlings describes her life at the Creek with humor and spirit. Her tireless determination to overcome the challenges of her adopted home in the Florida backcountry, her deep-rooted love of the earth, and her genius for character and description result in a most delightful and heartwarming memoir.
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Editorial Reviews

Review

The Atlantic Monthly It is hard to see how anyone can read Cross Creek without pleasure amounting to glee.

About the Author

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (1896–1953) lived for twenty-five years in Cross Creek, Florida, the area that is the setting for The Yearling, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1939. She is the author of several earlier novels as well as a memoir, Cross Creek, which inspired the acclaimed motion picture of the same name.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster; First Edition (March 20, 1996)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 380 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0684818795
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0684818795
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1120L
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.1 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 734 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
734 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book provides insightful and authentic portrayals of rural Florida life during the 1930s. They praise the author's evocative writing style, attention to detail, and poetic language. The stories are described as interesting and well-crafted, with an emotional connection that makes them meaningful to the readers. Readers appreciate the vivid descriptions of natural beauty and colorful illustrations depicting the setting. The characters are also described as fascinating and well-developed.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

25 customers mention "Writing quality"22 positive3 negative

Customers appreciate the author's writing style. They find the language exquisite and detailed, with beautiful descriptions of an earlier time. Readers describe the book as evocative, poetic, and gifted. The drawings make it easy to read and the author writes about nature as few know how.

"...As a native of the Deep South, I enjoyed reading this beautiful description of an earlier time and now transformed place...." Read more

"...book to my spouse as I read along and I told her Rawlings is such a good writer, very evocative, somewhat poetic, but that there is also this thing..." Read more

"...The hardships and triumphs, she detailed so much and I felt like I was let in on a secret." Read more

"The descriptions of life were interesting and indicated a period of Florida history...." Read more

24 customers mention "Insight"24 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's insights into life in rural Florida at the time. They find it a great study of nature and history from the people. The author brings the wilderness to life and provides cultural and social context for the family. Overall, readers appreciate the book's insight into life lessons.

"The descriptions of life were interesting and indicated a period of Florida history...." Read more

"Florida is a wonderful place and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings beings alive a Florida that is no more due to the encroachment of “civilization” which she..." Read more

"...No Disney, no cruise ports, just real life in old time Florida." Read more

"...The book, however is totally delightful and gives some insight into life in rural Florida at the time...." Read more

21 customers mention "Story quality"18 positive3 negative

Customers enjoy the stories. They find the plots interesting and well-acted, with excellent character development. The book is described as an episodic nonfiction novel that keeps readers interested throughout. Readers appreciate the historical background and early days of Florida.

"...(see the descriptions of the variations of cornbread), it is an adventure story, it’s the autobiography of a strong woman, and it’s the story of the..." Read more

"...The hardships and triumphs, she detailed so much and I felt like I was let in on a secret." Read more

"...The Yearling” is an enjoyable tale that I will never forget.”)" Read more

"Fabulous storytelling by a gifted author who clearly loved the subjects she described...." Read more

14 customers mention "Beauty"14 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's natural beauty and colorful descriptions of life in Florida hammocks. They find the author's skillful depiction of the wilderness to be charming and colorful.

"...a term, because it is also about the area’s agriculture, its physical beauty and ugliness, and the adventures of the Yankee writer who moves there..." Read more

"Beautiful depiction of the old country life…farming, fishing, hunting, assistance and feuding with neighbors…life...." Read more

"...This book could also be considered a love letter to birds and flowers. I love Mrs. Rawlings’ poetic descriptions of the natural world...." Read more

"...Much of Florida is still like this...both about the natural beauty and the weird characters...." Read more

10 customers mention "Emotional content"10 positive0 negative

Customers find the book evocative and touching. It has a strong emotional pull that makes them cry. They appreciate the author's humility and empathy for those around her. The book is described as charming, meaningful, and a wonderful study of nature.

"...as I read along and I told her Rawlings is such a good writer, very evocative, somewhat poetic, but that there is also this thing about race, where..." Read more

"...The insight of her life and that of old Florida was and is so amazing to me...." Read more

"...The author writes beautifully and with penetrating humility for her own flaws and empathy for those around her. No wonder it is a classic." Read more

"...I plan to travel to the M.K. Rawlings farm. This book has been very meaningful to me...." Read more

8 customers mention "Visual quality"8 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's visual quality good. They describe it as an engaging look back into rural central Florida in the 1930s. The illustrations are interesting and provide a wonderful perspective of the area.

"...and actually knew one of the lawyers but this is a wonderful look back into rural central Florida...." Read more

"...It is a perfect perspective of the area. Recommend reading it again." Read more

"This book was just as shown. Interesting illustrations inside." Read more

"a great look into old florida" Read more

4 customers mention "Character development"4 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the character development. They find the characters fascinating and realistic, with common sense and humor.

"...Salt of the earth characters filled with common sense and humor. One of the best novels I've read in the last two decades." Read more

"...Very well acted and a great plot with excellent character development." Read more

"...'s life and times, loved the book- she is a great author and a fascinating character." Read more

"...Many interesting characters in a time with 1950's values and attitudes, but many universal themes as well...." Read more

7 customers mention "Racism"0 positive7 negative

Customers dislike the racism in the book. They find the language and racial attitudes unsettling, and the treatment of blacks is paternalistic and condescending.

"...The book can be viewed as racist, but Rawlings pretty much treats the Cracker Whites about equally to the not-too-far-from-slavery, Blacks...." Read more

"...of a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, strewn with paternalistic racist comments and observations...." Read more

"Interesting but laborious. Also, the treatment on blacks was very paternalistic and condescending. No change to our current time. 2020...." Read more

"...perception of the beauty in nature is breathtaking, but unfortunately her racism is blatant. Can't blame this on ignorance either...." Read more

A personal favorite
5 out of 5 stars
A personal favorite
Every few years, I read CROSS CREEK again. It is so humanely and beautifully written. It motivated me to visit Cross Creek. Florida, many years ago to speak with residents who knew Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. That experience is chronicled in A PILGRIMAGE TO CROSS CREEK, now available on Kindle. Although Rawlings died before my birth, I still feel as if I somehow got to know her personally and regard her as a dear friend.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2012
    The book Cross Creek was not available in my local public library, so I bought it. Once I started reading the book, I became suspicious it had been banned from the library. The language and racial attitudes are unsettling. But, they are typical of what existed in the 1930s in much of this country, and especially in rural Florida.

    This is as much a cultural and social work, as literary. It captures a part of our history that largely has vanished and has been forgotten. The characters, their portrayals, and their language probably are greatly exaggerated, to make the book more captivating. The book can be viewed as racist, but Rawlings pretty much treats the Cracker Whites about equally to the not-too-far-from-slavery, Blacks. Rawlings was sued for libel by one of her white neighbors she depicted in the book.

    This was a foreign land; Rawlings could just as easily have been writing about a hamlet in some Third World country. She was in it, became part of it, but was born in it. She had the degree of separation and perspective needed to write about Cross Creek. But, she also portrayed some of her characters quite harshly.

    Many of Rawlings' Cross Creek backwoods neighbors, black and white, lived at the fringes of society, culture, and the economy. They had a subsistence lifestyle, and experienced severe privation and even real hunger in the 1930s. They survived on bream (sunfish, or bluegills), grits, black-eyed peas, and collard greens. "White bacon" was a real treat. Some of these people were the "left behinds," as the more capable individuals emigrated to urban areas, South and North, in the early to mid 20th Century to improve their fortunes.

    As a native of the Deep South, I enjoyed reading this beautiful description of an earlier time and now transformed place. This is the "Old Florida," more of which still existed and I remember as a child over 50 years ago. I've visited the house in Cross Creek (now a Florida State Park) a couple of times, and I highly recommend visiting Cross Creek, as well as reading the book. These are true remnants of the "Old Florida."
    41 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2021
    Here is a memoir that is difficult to categorize and which also poses a problem for a reader in the third decade of the third millennium. Well ahead of Truman Capote, it presents as something of an episodic nonfiction novel. As it focuses on elements of nature in central Florida I was inclined to call it nature writing, but that is too constricting a term, because it is also about the area’s agriculture, its physical beauty and ugliness, and the adventures of the Yankee writer who moves there seeking a life closer to the earth, away from the hustle of the city. It’s a guide to local animals wild and domestic, and how the residents interact with them, including through hunting and fishing. It's about the weather. It is in its description of the preparation of food almost a Florida cookbook (see the descriptions of the variations of cornbread), it is an adventure story, it’s the autobiography of a strong woman, and it’s the story of the area’s people in their interactions with one another and with the author. This last point gives large pause to a reader in 2021, for it is also an unvarnished depiction of how the Black and White races interact there. I was reporting on this book to my spouse as I read along and I told her Rawlings is such a good writer, very evocative, somewhat poetic, but that there is also this thing about race, where the Black race is assumed to be primitive in comparison to the White, where Blacks are servant class and Whites cannot be, where Blacks are sometimes referred to in the most pejorative terms, and yet where the two races coexist to each other’s benefit and where there is love and respect between some individuals. Near the end of my reading my spouse asked, So what is the verdict on Rawlings? I said you have to hold two conflicting stances at the same time. You appreciate her for her evocations of an area I wasn’t very familiar with, but you also see that she is unable to rise out of the sea that the US, especially the southern US, was swimming in at the time, of racial attitudes, of white-privileging assumptions. These are attitudes I saw reflected during my brief travels in Louisiana and East Texas 23 years after this book’s initial publication, and in the last few years they have not only surfaced again, but become, if anything, more overt. To me this makes Rawlings even more relevant to the present day. I may never read Rawlings’s The Yearling, because I think it would destroy me, but for a reader who is willing to experience the area in all its perfection and imperfection in the 1930s, one who is willing to look at what life was like in that place in that time, I recommend Cross Creek very strongly.
    16 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2025
    Beautiful depiction of the old country life…farming, fishing, hunting, assistance and feuding with neighbors…life. A word of caution to those sensitive: because of the time period this book was written, there are terms used to describe people groups that were readily used then, but are deemed inappropriate in our culture today.
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2024
    I just finished the book, I loved it! I bought it after having visited her home, it was everything I hoped it would be and more. The insight of her life and that of old Florida was and is so amazing to me. The hardships and triumphs, she detailed so much and I felt like I was let in on a secret.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2021
    The descriptions of life were interesting and indicated a period of Florida history. I was appalled by her descriptions of the African American people. Vulgar names....monkey, chimpanzees, trainable, all things that perpetuated the stereotype of “less than”...but at the same time she seemed to have strong affection for several of them . Too long in some chapters on bird calls and local food.

Top reviews from other countries

  • N Q Ontario
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic
    Reviewed in Canada on December 31, 2022
    The kindle makes reading easy and no library returns. Great if you live out of town.
  • Isbar
    4.0 out of 5 stars A super graceful read
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 21, 2018
    A super graceful read. To be enjoyed on a long holiday or commute. Not a quick read, but has some beautiful descriptions especially The Magnolia Tree.
  • estarke
    1.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Boring
    Reviewed in Canada on May 21, 2024
    I can barely remember this book. I read about 50 pages and it was just forlorn to continue. If you are already depressed you may enjoy iy.