Blackwater
Book description
Blackwater is the saga of a small town, Perdido, Alabama, and Elinor Dammert, the stranger who arrives there under mysterious circumstances on Easter Sunday, 1919. On the surface, Elinor is gracious, charming, anxious to belong in Perdido, and eager to marry Oscar Caskey, the eldest son of Perdido’s first family.…
Why read it?
2 authors picked Blackwater as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I love a sprawling family saga set in a small town. My husband’s father came from a small town in South Georgia that was founded by one of his ancestors. My husband’s grandfather, after visiting Chicago and being impressed by the big department stores he saw there, decided that what his tiny little town needed was a huge department store of its own. He built one, and amazingly, it was a success for many years, with folks coming from all around to marvel at its architectural sophistication and its dazzling array of wares. Like the fictional town of Perdido, Alabama,…
From Jill's list on Southern Gothic that are dark and twisted.
This delicious saga of Southern Gothic horror is written by Michael McDowell, who wrote paperback horror in the 1980s and also penned the screenplay for Beetlejuice. Blackwater is his masterpiece, originally published as six separate books throughout 1983. Blackwater reads like an epic soap opera.
It follows 50 years in the life of the Caskey family in Perdido, Alabama, as two women battle for control of the family’s destiny. There’s Elinor, a red-headed schoolteacher who arrives in town during a river flood and eventually marries into the family. Her mother-in-law Mary-Love is a hideous scoundrel who rules the family…
From Benji's list on that destroy some devious scoundrel.
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