Genre Fiction
![Susanna Daniel - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B001K8TX9A.jpg)
Sea Creatures: A Novel (P.S.)
In Sea Creatures, a riveting domestic drama by Susanna Daniel, a mother must make the unthinkable choice between her husband and her son.
When Georgia Qullian returns to her hometown of Miami, her toddler and husband in tow, she is hoping for a fresh start. They have left Illinois trailing scandal and disappointment in their wake, fallout from her husband's severe sleep disorder. For months, their three-year-old son has refused to speak a word.
On a whim, Georgia takes a job as an errand runner for a reclusive artist and is surprised at how her life changes dramatically. But soon the family's challenges return, more complicated than before. Late that summer, as a hurricane bears down on South Florida, Georgia must face the fact that her decisions have put her only child in grave danger.
Sea Creatures is a mesmerizing exploration of the high stakes of marriage and parenthood.
When Georgia Qullian returns to her hometown of Miami, her toddler and husband in tow, she is hoping for a fresh start. They have left Illinois trailing scandal and disappointment in their wake, fallout from her husband's severe sleep disorder. For months, their three-year-old son has refused to speak a word.
On a whim, Georgia takes a job as an errand runner for a reclusive artist and is surprised at how her life changes dramatically. But soon the family's challenges return, more complicated than before. Late that summer, as a hurricane bears down on South Florida, Georgia must face the fact that her decisions have put her only child in grave danger.
Sea Creatures is a mesmerizing exploration of the high stakes of marriage and parenthood.
Editorial Reviews
"A captivating, haunting novel about the complexities of the human heart and its attachments, terrain as slippery and beautiful and disaster prone as Daniel's South Florida." - Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone
"There's a charmer at the heart of Sea Creatures….Almost like an action-filled, emotional memoir….Gripping." - Associated Press
"While Miami has inspired its satirical works of genius, chilling mystery novels and excellent accounts of Cuban exile, we've mostly run short on first-rate literature that takes the city seriously enough to capture its eccentricities without flinching....Daniel, with Sea Creatures, gets it absolutely pitch perfect." - Miami Herald
"A tender tale of a woman navigating the responsibilities and risks of parenthood." - Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Don't confuse the waterfront setting with light beach reading; this is substantive domestic drama…readers interested in families coping with disabilities will find Frankie particularly compelling as he navigates changing relationships and obstacles." - Library Journal
"Daniel returns to Stiltsville's South Florida in a second novel filled with domestic upheaval, difficult choices, and far-reaching consequences….Daniel's verdant descriptions of salt and sea continue to shine, as does her portrayal of a mother struggling to protect her son." - Publishers Weekly
"A sophisticated story that holds the reader rapt….[Daniel] sets up each scene in Sea Creatures with masterful strokes….She builds momentum from the opening chapter, leading up to the crescendo….Daniel drives into tumultuous waters and emerges with a mesmerizing, beautiful novel." - Jeanna Kolker, Wisconsin State Journal
"Utterly enthralling….[Sea Creatures is] about love, loss, and longing in their most familiar forms. Brace yourself: you'll fall hard for the characters, and your heart will break preemptively-even before the hurricane blows through." - Catherine Newman, More.com
"What I found most stirring in Sea Creatures is how deftly Daniels exposes ...
"There's a charmer at the heart of Sea Creatures….Almost like an action-filled, emotional memoir….Gripping." - Associated Press
"While Miami has inspired its satirical works of genius, chilling mystery novels and excellent accounts of Cuban exile, we've mostly run short on first-rate literature that takes the city seriously enough to capture its eccentricities without flinching....Daniel, with Sea Creatures, gets it absolutely pitch perfect." - Miami Herald
"A tender tale of a woman navigating the responsibilities and risks of parenthood." - Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Don't confuse the waterfront setting with light beach reading; this is substantive domestic drama…readers interested in families coping with disabilities will find Frankie particularly compelling as he navigates changing relationships and obstacles." - Library Journal
"Daniel returns to Stiltsville's South Florida in a second novel filled with domestic upheaval, difficult choices, and far-reaching consequences….Daniel's verdant descriptions of salt and sea continue to shine, as does her portrayal of a mother struggling to protect her son." - Publishers Weekly
"A sophisticated story that holds the reader rapt….[Daniel] sets up each scene in Sea Creatures with masterful strokes….She builds momentum from the opening chapter, leading up to the crescendo….Daniel drives into tumultuous waters and emerges with a mesmerizing, beautiful novel." - Jeanna Kolker, Wisconsin State Journal
"Utterly enthralling….[Sea Creatures is] about love, loss, and longing in their most familiar forms. Brace yourself: you'll fall hard for the characters, and your heart will break preemptively-even before the hurricane blows through." - Catherine Newman, More.com
"What I found most stirring in Sea Creatures is how deftly Daniels exposes ...
Readers Top Reviews
DebWhittaker
Maybe a little hurried in tying up all the loose ends and a somewhat hard-to-believe thesis of Patagonia. But the same great writing style, sympathetic minor characters (Lidia ) and beautifully descriptive passages. Recommended!
E.H.
So much to learn in this book in a most gentle way. Do read it.
PT Cruiser
Susanna Daniel's "Sea Creatures" is such an engrossing story that I had a hard time putting it down. Right from the very first pages where she introduced Georgia, her husband Graham and three year old son Frankie who didn't speak, there were questions to be answered. She told us they were starting over and moving back to Georgia's hometown of Miami and they were leaving their former town in disgrace. We learn little by little about why this move is happening and about her husband's serious sleeping disorder and her son's lack of speech. The thing I liked best about Daniel's novel was the way she developed her characters, especially Georgia. I felt like I was really inside her head and could understand why she did some of the things she did and be sympathetic, even when I didn't agree with her decisions. It's kind like when a really close friend does something you don't necessarily think is wise but you can totally understand and support her. This is how Susanna Daniel made me feel about her Georgia character. It's a rare author who can do that for me. The story was tense at times and thought provoking at others. I enjoyed reading about Stiltsville which is an actual group of houses out in the middle of Biscayne Bay about 30 miles off the shore of Miami. (I looked up photos of them on the web and could just about guess where the one that belonged to a character stood.) The sleep disorder Graham had was also intriguing, as it is an actual disorder. The story is in the many ways it affected this family. Her son's lack of speaking was a mystery, especially since he was intelligent and could use sign language. Georgia's love and patience with him was part of what made her such an endearing character. I loved the book.
Kindle
Georgia has come to the above belief at age thirty six. She has been married for ten years to Graham who struggles with a frightening parasomnia, sleep walking that can turn destructiveits persistence. Her son Frankie is three, and after a few experimental words at eighteen months, has lapsed into elective mutism. She survived a series of miscarriages, the death of her mother, and the loss of their livelihood, all of which have reinforced her vigilance for the worst in the world. While establishing themselves in Miami, her stepmother refers her to a job with a man living in a cluster huts on stilts in the bay. Charles is collectively known as The Hermit. The author's deep exploration of choices at the end of one's world is a significant strength of this story. As Charlie notes on the death of his daughter, " some people pick up, keep going. Some people drink, divorce. Some people drown." Charlie has drowned, and his reaching out to Georgia and Frankie form a vital vein in this book. In many ways, this plot concerns itself with the way people without hope come to literally make it through the night. The writing is deft and fluid. We are enraptured by Georgia and her choices. I do admit at times, however, I was muddled by her self judgements. I am still pondering if some of them were of a piece with what we know of Georgia or simply devices to further the plot. Another reservation I have is with the medical episodes. Some of them ring false to me in the actions of the medical community. I am also not entirely sold on the details of Graham's parasomnias, although on checking I read that they in fact can be quite destructive and resistant to treatment. I do not think my resistance on this point subtracted from my enjoyment of this lovely book. The author is able to engage us in the plot without resorting to undue embellishment of any extreme happenings. Certainly I found the world of sea creatures to be as enticing as they are for Georgia.
