Karen Russell, at only 38 years old, has been a writer to watch for most of her life. She is a graduate of both Northwestern University and Columbia University’s School of the Arts, a MacArthur Genius Grant recipient in 2013, a Guggenheim award recipient, the National Book Foundation named her a 5 under 35 honouree in 2009, and her novel Swamplandia! was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize in 2012. With the accolades accruing, there is no doubt Russell’s skills are impressive. However, there is more to it than that, she is quickly becoming a defining literary figure of the early 21st century.
Russell’s debut was the release of her short story collection St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves in 2006. She has since had two more story collections, Vampires in the Lemon Grove in 2013 and Orange World and Other Stories in 2019. These stories stand out as they touch on and subvert nearly every genre of fiction: horror, history, sci-fi, mystery, adventure, romance, and more. Yet, I can guarantee you have never read stories like Russell’s. Her pieces often take myth and turn it on its head. The third story in Orange World, called “Bog Girl: A Romance,” tells of a young boy who falls in love with the two-thousand year old bog body while himself and his mother learn to deal with what it means to grow up. Or the first story, The Prospectors, which gives voice to the trials of teenage friendship and class struggle as two girls attempt to live through the night at a party hosted by ghosts. Each story is unique in its themes, setting, and message; the collection is unified by Russell’s concise and elegant descriptions, moments of humour, and the sensation that you’ve encountered, somehow, both new and timeless lore.
What stands out in Russell’s canon, though, is the aforementioned novel Swamplandia!. As the only novel of all her publications, Swamplandia! is the first opportunity readers get to see the inimitable Russell characters expanded upon in fully fleshed-out arcs. The novel is about a Floridian family who tries to keep their alligator-wrestling theme park in the swamps alive after the death of their mother, the headlining wrestler. The three children of the Bigtree family, Ava, Kiwi, and Osceola each take their own journey, whether to the mainland, deeper into the Everglades, or to another realm entirely, to discover an identity for themselves after losing the park and their family. The backdrop is a striking dichotomy between the mysterious swamps and the crass American commercial sphere, which appears more otherworldly to the kids who grew up in the glades, though both are haunting in their own right. Swamplandia! is the sort of novel that leaves you unable to read anything else for a good while, in the best way possible.
Russell’s stories are folk tales for adults and once you’ve read them you won’t be able to remember a time when you hadn’t. Everything she writes feels new, while also giving readers the impression that she’s telling stories that have always existed in the ether of humanity. As a final note, the stories in Orange World are just spooky enough to get you ready for Halloween without scaring you witless— a perfect read for this time of year.
