Swampy water almost seeps from the pages of this Everglades-set literary debut. Visiting the area to help her sick mother and overburdened brother, Loni Murrow has taken what she thinks will be a short leave of absence from her job as a bird artist at the Smithsonian. But from the moment she arrives and finds her family cleaning out her mother’s hoarded house, it’s clear the visit won’t be fleeting. Beneath her reluctance to be around family is a thicket of secrets surrounding the decades old death of her father, a fish-and-game warden killed in the line of duty. At the time, Loni overheard her father’s colleague saying it might have been a suicide. The family carefully avoids the matter, but Loni can’t let the silence continue when she finds in her mother’s belongings a letter from a mysterious Henrietta, who says she has something to reveal. Loni works on her bird illustrations while she’s in Florida, and enchanting descriptions of wildlife and a budding romance entwine with the family mystery to create a relaxing (until it gets very intense) tale with a satisfyingly earthy taste. Readers who enjoyed Heather MacDonald’s H is for Hawk are a good audience for Hartman’s first novel.
