The Girls in the Stilt House

This novel was so packed with raw emotion it was overwhelming at times. There were many layers and themes, including gender, racism, and poverty.

I felt a personal connection to the two main characters, drawn in by their loneliness and the undefined and often unrecognized strength they both possessed. The plot was gripping in its intensity, and I found myself cheering for the two girls as they navigated the incredible obstacles in their way.

I usually read for a few minutes before bed, but this book had me staying up late, unwilling (and unable) to put it down. The ending… show more.

Set in 1920s Mississippi, this Southern novel weaves a harrowing tale of two teenage girls who are drawn into a dangerous world of bootleggers and moral corruption. Forced to come to terms with their hidden past, they discover that they are linked in ways that could cost them their lives.

As rich and lush as the Natchez Trace swamps where the story takes place, Mustian’s lyrical prose combined with her deep insight into the resiliency of the human spirit make this novel shine. You know a book is good when you wish you’d written it!

Set in the 1920s, this debut novel captures two young women of different backgrounds that end up living together in a shack in a Mississippi swamp. With the help of Matilda, Ada escapes her abusive father, though they still must both navigate the callous and sometimes lecherous locals that surround them. They both share a connection to their rural surroundings, which offer them food and isolation, as they determine how to escape those who aim to use or harm them. It portrays how grit and determination may not get you where exactly what you want, but can put you on… show more.

This book takes place in 1920s Mississippi, in a cypress swamp. I loved how it portrayed life in the rural South in the 1920s—hardscrabble, poor, and difficult. The specter of racism hangs over the story, always threatening Ada and Matilda with ruining their plans, because Ada is White while Matilda is Black.

The plot is that both girls must find a way to get away with murder. Kelly Mustian does a nice job of making this swamp world come alive, too.

The only drawback is that the book has the same plot as a ton of African American fiction—two characters,… show more.

This recent debut novel features two young women who are enmeshed in the racist and sexist culture of 1920s Mississippi. Ada, the white girl, deals with an abusive father and gets away for a time, but then has to go home, while sharecropper Matilda plans to get to the North and start a new life there. Bootleggers and human predators bring them into an uneasy alliance to gain their freedom.