Wakulla Springs by Andy Duncan, Ellen Klages
My rating: 4/5 cats
Most girls who grew up in Shadeville knew the piney woods as well as they knew their own kitchens—the snakey places to watch out for, the shortcuts, the swimming holes and sinks, the back ways into everywhere. So it was a only matter of minutes before Vergie stopped at a narrow break in the dense green wall, and they stepped off the wiry grass and disappeared from view.
i have had this one on my to-read radar for a long time, but each time i considered it for my weekly tor-short journey, i would see the word “novella” and move along, because i gotta be quick and sleek about my free tor shorts in both reading and reviewing. today, however, i was feeling languid despite the number of very real to-do’s hammering at my brain-door, and decided to give a novella a chance. but whoooo-eeee—this is a monster of a novella; well into “short novel” territory and there was nothing quick or sleek about me today.
as long as you know what you’re getting into, this is a great choice for you other tor-devotees. it’s long compared to most of the other free tor shorts, but it’s very well-structured and it holds the reader’s interest through a number of linked narratives progressing through time, all centered around the mysterious wakulla springs in florida and all involving racism and hollywood to some degree. it’s a little winky to write about segregation during the age of black-and-white movies, but the story doesn’t belabor the point, it’s just something that’s there in the background as the individual stories unfold.
i was slightly disappointed once the shape of the novella became clear—i loved the first POV character, mayola williams, very much, and was disappointed to have her become backgrounded in the following segment in favor of the POV of her son levi. it was only a mild disappointment, though, and once the other segments developed, i became easily invested in them. but if we are being 100% honest, mayola is still my favorite and i wish she’d managed to live out all of her dreams.
the nature-writing is especially good—both familiar and otherworldly, full of dangers known and unknown and superstitiously suspected. there are some striking and memorable “social” scenes, mostly around the topic of segregation; who is permitted to swim in a particular body of water based on the color of their skin because of who “owns” the water, while creatures much older than man’s petty laws continue to prowl as they always have, and always will, unaffected and timeless.
there is a particularly grim-humor scene involving a segregated water fountain and an actor in blackface that feels like it should be shaken out a little and directed at people who are really concerned about genital scrutiny and who should be allowed to use which bathrooms & etc. i know i said before that this doesn’t belabor the point about black-and-white movies and segregation, but there are still a lot of subtextual worms rooting around in ideas of appearance and artifice, what is skin deep and what is essential. not just in that drinking fountain scene, although a white extra in blackface trying to use the whites-only drinking fountain being scolded by a black man is as ready-for-hollywood as it gets, but even outside of the hollywood invasion, the idea of what is “seen” and what is kept behind the scenes also applies:
“…Odell say they looking for girls to work in the Lodge up at the springs.”
“Doing what?”
“Kitchen work. Cleaning rooms. Maybe some waitressing too. I don’t know ’bout that, though. White folks don’t care much who make their food, but seems they real particular ’bout who puts it on the table.”
overall, it’s a beautifully-written story, but it’s not really SF/F. there are moments of dubious magic, and there are certainly fortuitous meetings and coincidences and maybe a talking animal, but it’s mostly just about people making their way through a world designed to shut them out and the similar occurrence in the natural world as boundaries blur; as humans venture into the wild for tourists’ delight, wild animals run through hotels to less-delighted reactions, and invasive species are introduced, adapt, and flourish in water deep enough to hold many secrets.
a lovely story, dark and deep, which you should read while i get on this lengthy to-do list.
read it for yourself here:
https://www.tor.com/2013/10/02/wakull…
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