CRACKER GOTHIC

A Floridian whose mother is diagnosed with dementia finds solace by returning to her roots in this debut memoir.

Duncan’s book opens with a description of a road trip from North Carolina to Florida, a familiar journey for the author after learning that her mother had dementia. At the age of 18, Duncan left her hometown of Green Cove Springs in North Florida to attend college in North Carolina, where she graduated and married. She confides that she had made no plans to return to live in the town where she grew up, remarking on the “stifled economy, the lack of opportunity, the boring weather,” and “the swamps.” Her father died a few years after her graduation, and the onset of her mother’s dementia led to the author’s returning to Florida more regularly. During her mother’s illness, Duncan’s husband committed suicide. Green Cove Springs, the town she once took a “direct tangent away from,” became her place of emotional refuge. The author celebrates the town’s past while telling her own story and that of her family bloodline—the “product of outside blood mingled with generations of Florida Crackers, the old pioneer families of Florida, descendants of swamp dwellers.” In this richly embroidered account, Duncan’s writing is effortlessly atmospheric. Describing the Congaree River, she notes: “Thick, blue-gray, opaque mists hang above its broad, flat surface, backlit by the orange dawn.” The author interweaves evocative descriptions with detailed historical background that reaches back to Ponce de Leon and personal anecdotes, such as recalling the soothing nature of sewing with her mother at the time of her illness: “I loved the sweet smell of steam on cotton, the satisfying feel of a sharp blade cutting through fabric, the hum of this dear old machine from my childhood.” Some readers may feel that Duncan is overly guarded when recounting her story—for instance, little is disclosed about her life in North Carolina. Others will interpret this as a poetic blurring of self and provenance, where readers grow to know the author by learning about where she was raised. Illustrated with striking black and white photographs by Duncan, along with historical shots, this is a poignant and compelling memoir that explores familial, cultural, and spiritual ties to a birthplace.

An acutely observed panorama of small-town Florida.