Curses and Other Buried Things

August 21, 2023
A teenager strives to break a generations-old curse in which the firstborn daughter always meets a tragic end in this propulsive story by George (The Summer We Forgot). Because of her family burden, Susana Prather—who grew up in south Georgia Okefenokee swamplands—knows she likely doesn’t have much time left to live. Like every Prather woman before her, she wakes on the morning of her 18th birthday covered in swamp water; it’s only a matter of time before she sleepwalks into the marsh and disappears. Susana is determined to be the one to break the curse, and as the enchantment continues to take hold, she delves into her family’s history and finds herself plagued by dreams of her ancestor Suzanna Yawn, the first woman affected by the blight. Complicating matters are personal issues with friends and old flames, as well as her grandparents’ tight-lipped refusal to divulge the family’s past. Alternating POVs of Susana in the present day and Suzanna from 1850 onward examine the parallels of each protagonist’s life and offer thoughtful, if occasionally overwrought, introspection. Sumptuous, dark details increase the creeping atmosphere of this judiciously rendered psychological exploration of blame, healing, and trauma. Suzanna is of Muscogee Indian Nation descent. Ages 13–up.