Creatures A Novel

Crissy Van Meter — 2020

A Belletrist Book Club Selection “Van Meter’s debut is an unwavering triumph . . . A coming-of-age that’s as human as it is wild.” —The New York Times Book Review On the eve of Evangeline’s wedding, on the shore of Winter Island, a dead whale is trapped in the harbor, the groom may be lost at sea, and Evie’s mostly absent mother has shown up out of the blue. From there, in this mesmerizing, provocative debut, the narrative flows back and forth through time as Evie reckons with her complicated upbringing in this lush, wild land off the coast of Southern California. Evie grew up with her well-meaning but negligent father, surviving on the money he made dealing the island’s world-famous strain of weed, Winter Wonderland. Although her father raised her with a deep respect for the elements, the sea, and the creatures living within it, he also left her to parent herself. With wit, love, and bracing flashes of anger, Creatures probes the complexities of love and abandonment, guilt and forgiveness, betrayal and grief—and the ways in which our childhoods can threaten our ability to love if we are not brave enough to conquer the past. Lyrical, darkly funny, and ultimately cathartic, Creatures exerts a pull as strong as the tides.

Reviews

Ryan Mateyk@the_rybrary

Jul 4, 2024

POPSUGAR 2020: A book published in 2020 Whales are emotional and complex creatures, the sea is dark and vast. This book is a whale in the sea; an exploration of the vast emotional complexities that come with being human. Crissy Van Meter weaves through different time periods in our small cast of character's lives, exploring complicated family relationships, longing and love. Reading this was a melancholy experience; it's not an uplifting book but there are definite glimpses of joy and love and happiness. I can't think of how to describe this, other than it is a quietly beautiful and complicated book.

Mahogany Skillings@bibliogeekgirl

Mar 21, 2022

Creatures is the story of Evangeline/Evie and the days leading up to her wedding. But the story covers so much more. We travel through her memories of childhood on Winter Island, her coming of age when she leaves for the Mainland, how she returns to winter Island for good, and her relationship with her husband after the wedding. Creatures reads so lyrically that you feel in your bones there will be some magical realism. However, none comes. Every moment keeps you grounded in reality and struggling with love and loss in this story about the ways our families and friends can hurt us. At the same time, they can heal us so wholly that our lives are reinvented. The overall story is covered in a mist that feels gloomy. Within that gloom though, you are offered a ray of sunshine as secrets are revealed, stories are told, and forgiveness is found.