Title: Stiltsville: A Novel
Author: Susanna Daniel
About the Book:
Set against a vivid and lush South Florida background during the years of Miami’s coming-of-age, Stiltsville offers a gripping, bittersweet portrait of a marriage—and romance—that deepens over the course of three decades.
One sunny morning in 1969, near the end of her first trip to Miami, twenty-six-year-old Frances Ellerby finds herself in a place called Stiltsville, a community of houses built on pilings in the middle of Biscayne Bay. On the dock of a stilt house, with the dazzling skyline in the distance and the unknowable ocean beneath her, she meets the house’s owner, Dennis DuVal—and a new future reveals itself.
Turning away from her life, Frances moves to Miami to be with Dennis. Over time, she earns the confidence of his wild-at-heart sister and the approval of his oldest friend. Frances and Dennis marry and have a child—but rather than growing complacent about their good fortune, they continue to face the challenges of intimacy, and of the complicated city they call home.
Stiltsville was called “an exquisite debut” by Publishers Weekly, and “a perfect balance of wit, weakness and tenderness . . . wonderfully buoyant” by BookPage. Susanna Daniel interweaves the beauty, chaos, and humanity of Miami with an enduring story of a marriage’s beginning, maturity, and heartbreaking demise.
Learn more about Stiltsville at the author’s website.
My Review:
Stiltsville, the debut novel by Susanna Daniel, spans over 20 years in the lives of one family, their friends, and offspring as they experience all facets of life. It was the summer of 1969 when Frances met Dennis DuVal in Biscayne Bay. She was utterly captivated by the ocean, and moved to Miami to begin a new life for herself–one that would would hopefully include Dennis. Eventually the two married and lived in Miami while still keeping the house Dennis’s father built, one that was built right into the ocean supported by strong beams. Many happy memories are formed in the isolated ocean home that is part of a community called Stiltsville. After a forceful hurricane destroys it and some of the neighboring stilt houses, Frances and Dennis spend the rest of their lives inland.
Though their lives together are mostly carefree and happy, Frances’s love and loyalty is put to the ultimate test, their daughter Margo experiences disappointment with her own failing marriage, and in the later years of their lives Dennis finds himself dependent on family and friends to see him through an illness.
Although Susanna Daniel has a beautiful and thought provoking writing style, which is probably what kept me from putting the book down permanently, I found it very hard to relate to the characters and the situations in which they found themselves. I was also hoping that more time would be spent in the stilt houses, and that I would be introduced to an eccentric cast of secondary characters. Instead, the story is narrated by Frances, and most of the plot occurs in Miami and mostly not on the water.
I didn’t find any of the characters particularly interesting, nor their lives. About halfway through to add some excitement, a serial killer murders several students in the Gainesville community where Margo attends college. It was at this point that the book suddenly turned into a page-turner; that is, until the killer was caught and then sentenced. I realized while reading this that while I enjoy character growth and development, I prefer quite a bit more spice in the plot; reading about a middle-aged woman who constantly reflects on the fluctuations in her weight is not exactly exciting to me. The use of foreshadowing throughout the novel did keep me going for the more mundane sections; Frances is upfront with telling the reader that something devastating will occur in her marriage, and I wanted to know what that might be.
I admire Ms. Daniel’s effort, but overall this just wasn’t the book for me. It was interesting to learn about some of the historical events in Miami’s past, but some liberties were taken with the timeline as noted in the Author’s Note at the end of the book.
*I received a copy of this book to review but I was not financially compensated in any way. The opinions expressed are my own and are based on my observations while reading this novel.*
Giveaway
One reader is going to win a copy of Stiltsville.
To Enter:
Leave a comment.
Bonus Entries:
- Subscribe to my blog by email.
- Follow my blog on Google Friend Connect.
- Blog about the giveaway and leave me the link.
- Follow me on Twitter and tweet the giveaway. You can tweet once per day. Leave me the link to your tweet.
- Like Simply Stacie on Facebook.
- Like Stiltsville on Facebook.
- Follow Simply Stacie on Networked Blogs.
- Join the Simply Stacie Blog Frog Community.
- Add my new button.
- Add any of my event buttons.
- Vote for Simply Stacie on Picket Fence Blogs. You can do this once per day.
Open to US & Canada.
Giveaway ends on Sept 29 at 11:59 pm EST. The winner will be selected by random.org and notified by email and will have 48 hours to reply back before a new winner is selected. Good Luck!
About Jennifer
Would love to read this one.
rsgrandinetti@yahoo(DOT)com
I follow as Renee G on GFC.
rsgrandinetti@yahoo(DOT)com
http://twitter.com/carafferty/status/25145970091
I subscribe via email.
hmhenderson AT yahoo DOT com
I voted for you today on Picket Fences
hmhenderson AT yahoo DOT com
I am ahuge m ystery fan and would like to read this book
rhondastruthersa t yahoo.ca
http://twitter.com/carafferty/status/25416881835
I am always looking for different types of stories to read.
e-mail subscriber
I follow on GFC.
I like Simply Stacie on Facebook.
I joined Simply Stacie Blog Frog Community.
I voted for you today.
I like stiltsville on facebook.
http://twitter.com/carafferty/status/25616941242
I voted for you on Picket Fences today 09/27
hmhenderson AT yahoo DOT com
Thanks for the chance!
GFC follower already
email subscriber aleksa91 hotmail
like you on Fb already
http://twitter.com/carafferty/status/25702166830
I am an email subscriber. Thanks
I am also a GFC follower. Thanks again
Love books and would like to read this. Thanks for the wonderful giveaway
Would love to read this.
http://twitter.com/carafferty/status/25800748458
I would like to read this work!
enter me please, thank you for the giveaway
Google Friends Connect – following your blog publicly as Louis
following you on twitter @left_the_stars
http://twitter.com/left_the_stars/status/25833245499
I’ll read anything – send it to me!
GFC follower
Voted for you today 09/29
hmhenderson AT yahoo DOT com
http://twitter.com/carafferty/status/25893313803
Please enter me
Winter is coming upon us and I need to stock up on new & interesting books to read when we’re snowed in. I’d like to read Stiltsville. Thanks for giveaway.
email subscriber
follower via GFC
voted for Simply Stacie on Picket Fence Blogs
Sounds like a great book! Thanks for the chance.
nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net
GFC Follower
nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net
I follow you on Twitter and I Tweeted
@NancyeDavis
nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net
***Ooops!! I forgot to include the link for the Tweet in my last post, please disregard! Sorry!!
I follow you on Twitter and I Tweeted
@NancyeDavis
http://twitter.com/NancyeDavis/status/25946897739
nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net
I like Simply Stacie on Facebook
nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net
I like Stiltsville on Facebook
nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net
I follow Simply Stacie on Networked Blogs
nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net
I joined Simply Stacie’s Blog Frog Community
nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net
I voted for Simply Stacie on Picket Fence Blogs
nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net
Voted for you on Picket Fences today 09/30
hmhenderson AT yahoo DOT com