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Critical Praise

"A captivating, haunting novel about the complexities of the human heart and its attachments, terrain as slippery and beautiful and disaster prone as Daniel's South Florida."

    — Abraham Verghese, author of CUTTING FOR STONE

 

"Susanna Daniel’s powers of creation are so vast, and the South Floridian landscape she describes so vivid, that this life-long Manhattanite briefly thought of hurricane-proofing her own windows.  But what I found most stirring in SEA CREATURES is how deftly Daniel exposes one of the most agonizing realities of parenthood: that no matter how hard we try, or how endless our love for our children may be, we are hampered by our own limitations, sometimes even tragically."

    — Helen Schulman, author of THIS BEAUTIFUL LIFE
 

 

"Susanna Daniel brings an uncommon intimacy to her characters’ lives, and also to the landscape where those lives unfold—a cartographer not only of the shore and the ocean but of the passions, bruises, joys, and insufficiencies of the human heart."

    — Kevin Brockmeier, author of THE BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEAD

 

"Daniel returns to Stiltsville’s South Florida in a second novel filled with domestic upheaval, difficult choices, and far-reaching consequences….Daniel’s verdant descriptions of salt and sea continue to shine, as does her portrayal of a mother struggling to protect her son."

    — Publishers Weekly

 

"Don’t confuse the waterfront setting with light beach reading; this is substantive domestic drama…readers interested in families coping with disabilities will find Frankie particularly compelling as he navigates changing relationships and obstacles."

    — Library Journal

 

"A tender tale of a woman navigating the responsibilities and risks of parenthood."

    — Atlanta Journal-Constitution

 

"An intelligent page-turner (that is, the dream combination) about, among other things, South Florida, art, insomnia, and marriage."

    — Curtis Sittenfeld, author of PREP and SISTERLAND

 

 

"Daniel's writing is rich in description — of both its lush Florida settings and her characters' emotional landscapes — that draws the reader in."

    — Isthmus

 

" SEA CREATURES is perfect for summer reading, a more literary offering than your usual beach fare. Author Susanna Daniel crafts beautiful, dreamy descriptions of ocean life that threaten to lull readers into a sense of complacency."

    — The Daily News Journal (Tennessee)

 

"There’s a charmer at the heart of SEA CREATURES….Almost like an action-filled, emotional memoir….Gripping."

    — Associated Press