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The Crocodile Bride
Set during the swampy summer in 1982, this stunning debut novel follows eleven-year-old Sunshine Turner and her troubled father Billy as the secrets of their family’s past swirl around them in the one-road town of Fingertip, Louisiana.
During a hot summer of June moods, grubworms, and dark storms, Sunshine discovers stones in her chest – and learns the dangers her coming-of-age will bring about in the yellow house she shares with her father. Without the vocabulary to comprehend Billy’s actions or her own changing body, Sunshine turns to an apocryphal story passed down from her grandmother: in the dark waters of the Black Bayou lives a crocodile with an insatiable appetite and a woman with a mysterious healing gift. As Sunshine’s summer unspools, she turns to the one person who will need no explanation of the family secrets she carries—the crocodile bride.
The Crocodile Bride is at once a heartbreakingly tender coming-of-age tale and a lyrical, haunting reflection on generational trauma. Reminiscent of Jesmyn Ward and Helen Oyeyemi, Ashleigh Bell Pedersen is a promising new voice in American fiction.
During a hot summer of June moods, grubworms, and dark storms, Sunshine discovers stones in her chest – and learns the dangers her coming-of-age will bring about in the yellow house she shares with her father. Without the vocabulary to comprehend Billy’s actions or her own changing body, Sunshine turns to an apocryphal story passed down from her grandmother: in the dark waters of the Black Bayou lives a crocodile with an insatiable appetite and a woman with a mysterious healing gift. As Sunshine’s summer unspools, she turns to the one person who will need no explanation of the family secrets she carries—the crocodile bride.
The Crocodile Bride is at once a heartbreakingly tender coming-of-age tale and a lyrical, haunting reflection on generational trauma. Reminiscent of Jesmyn Ward and Helen Oyeyemi, Ashleigh Bell Pedersen is a promising new voice in American fiction.
296 pages, Hardcover
First published April 19, 2022
39 people are currently reading
1197 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
May 13, 2022
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Crocodile Bride by Ashleigh Bell Pedersen is a coming-of-age story set in a small town in the marshy bayous of Louisiana. It is also the author's debut novel. For some, this will not be an easy book to read because it does talk about generations of abuse, especially among those who are poor, with personal histories of prior abuse, alcoholics, and people lacking any sense of self-worth. The story reflects three generations of poverty and hopelessness. There appears to be no way out. Our lead protagonist Sunshine Turner is only 11 years old at a time when the changes in her physical appearance draw interest. Firstly, I compliment the author on catching the steamy atmosphere and character of Louisiana. I’ve lived there, and it remains one of my favorite places to visit, but the heat is oppressive, and generational poverty is mind-blowing. In addition, Ms. Petersen weaves a story utilizing fantastical and lyrical tales of a crocodile that apparently can make magical things happen. To survive in this Godforsaken town, you have to imagine something saving you. Summer sure has to believe something will save her. The writing is first-rate, and the story is well told. I loved it. But it’s a tough subject. I’m pretty impressed with this book and these characters. Wow! #prettycover #sexualabuse #poverty #louisiana #bayou #crocodile #dsyfunctionalfamily #fantasticalfiction #lyrical #mystical #dreams #stories
🐊
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to NetGalley, and Hub City Press for the opportunity to read this book. Pub Date: May 2022.
#bookaddict #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #bookstagramer #bookshelf #booksbooksbooks #readersofinstagram #reader #booklove #bookreader #bookish #bookblogger #book-influencer
The Crocodile Bride by Ashleigh Bell Pedersen is a coming-of-age story set in a small town in the marshy bayous of Louisiana. It is also the author's debut novel. For some, this will not be an easy book to read because it does talk about generations of abuse, especially among those who are poor, with personal histories of prior abuse, alcoholics, and people lacking any sense of self-worth. The story reflects three generations of poverty and hopelessness. There appears to be no way out. Our lead protagonist Sunshine Turner is only 11 years old at a time when the changes in her physical appearance draw interest. Firstly, I compliment the author on catching the steamy atmosphere and character of Louisiana. I’ve lived there, and it remains one of my favorite places to visit, but the heat is oppressive, and generational poverty is mind-blowing. In addition, Ms. Petersen weaves a story utilizing fantastical and lyrical tales of a crocodile that apparently can make magical things happen. To survive in this Godforsaken town, you have to imagine something saving you. Summer sure has to believe something will save her. The writing is first-rate, and the story is well told. I loved it. But it’s a tough subject. I’m pretty impressed with this book and these characters. Wow! #prettycover #sexualabuse #poverty #louisiana #bayou #crocodile #dsyfunctionalfamily #fantasticalfiction #lyrical #mystical #dreams #stories
🐊
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to NetGalley, and Hub City Press for the opportunity to read this book. Pub Date: May 2022.
#bookaddict #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #bookstagramer #bookshelf #booksbooksbooks #readersofinstagram #reader #booklove #bookreader #bookish #bookblogger #book-influencer
June 5, 2022
I started listening to this audiobook because of the narrator, a former student of mine. The plot sounded interesting-- a little Southern Gothic, which I enjoy. The novel opens with Sunshine, the preteen protagonist, wondering what the "stones' under her nipples are-- some kind of treasure? So this is a book about puberty, I thought. And yes, it's a book about puberty and parents and learning about sex and bodies and growing up. And then it became about nature-- the lake, the Black Bayou, the crocodile, the plants and woods around Sunshine's house, the blackberry vines on the bed sheet that made one wall of Sunshine's fort inside her bedroom where she reads books like "The Bridge to Terabithia" and "Thimble Summer." And it was about storytelling and ghosts and the passing down of trauma and love and survival from one generation to another and another through the legend of the crocodile bride. It was about alcoholism and the pain it causes to families and the difficulties we have in trusting our perceptions. At one point, I worried that the story would be too hard for me to listen to, but the pain in the family is handled so tenderly and the characters are written so authentically and with such complexity that I did not want to leave them at the end of the day. The last few chapters were sad and true, as Sunshine learns to escape her pain in a way her father cannot. A profound lesson is there about our limits in helping people we love who struggle with demons they cannot see beyond. I am amazed that this is a debut novel for Pederson. What incredible talent she has as a story teller and artist! The narration was equally astounding--beautifully distinctive characters and authentic voices throughout. I cannot recommend this book enough!
July 31, 2023
During a hot summer of June moods, grubworms, and dark storms, Sunshine discovers stones in her chest - and learns the dangers her coming-of-age will bring about in the yellow house she shares with her father. Without the vocabulary to comprehend Billy's actions or her own changing body, Sunshine turns to an apocryphal story passed down from her grandmother: in the dark waters of the Black Bayou lives a crocodile with an insatiable appetite and a woman with a mysterious healing gift. As Sunshine's summer unspools, she turns to the one person who will need no explanation of the family secrets she carries--the crocodile bride.
Now, this story hit in ALL the feels and was an emotional portrayal of a generation of women and their experiences through womanhood and the trials and tribulations they faced along the way. Written from multi perspectives of the women in one family, this story deals with difficult issues of what it means to be a woman; a wife, a sister, a daughter, a friend, and times it was a hard and emotional read.
Filled with southern charm, magic and atmosphere Pedersen creates a coming of age story that hits you right in the heat and really makes you question what I means to be a woman, and what you would be prepared to do for your family. I loved every page!
Now, this story hit in ALL the feels and was an emotional portrayal of a generation of women and their experiences through womanhood and the trials and tribulations they faced along the way. Written from multi perspectives of the women in one family, this story deals with difficult issues of what it means to be a woman; a wife, a sister, a daughter, a friend, and times it was a hard and emotional read.
Filled with southern charm, magic and atmosphere Pedersen creates a coming of age story that hits you right in the heat and really makes you question what I means to be a woman, and what you would be prepared to do for your family. I loved every page!
August 6, 2022
I read this book during a strange, hot summer of marauding monkeys and an assassination, which was somehow perfect. THE CROCODILE BRIDE takes place during a hot, stormy summer in Louisiana. Instead of monkeys, there is an alligator lurking in the swamp, and the threat of violence hangs over the yellow house on Only Road where eleven-year-old Sunshine lives with her troubled father. With careful, understated prose, Pedersen layers the traumatic experiences of three generations of women, resulting in an accretion of dread. You know something bad is going to happen, but in the end, Pedersen offers hope and healing. This is powerful stuff.
July 5, 2022
I was excited to read this after meeting the author at a recent BookPeople event. It did not disappoint! The writing was incredible, a perfect match for the mood and setting in the story, where I was fully immersed in that world. The way the story was wrapped up in the last few chapters was a fantastic creative surprise. Excellent choices there that I'll continue to think about. Well done, Ashleigh. And readers, check this one out!
June 16, 2022
Brilliant. If you’ve been a victim of domestic violence or know someone who has or just are interested in generational violence, this book is so on target. I can’t seem to get over it. It touches on points I knew but could never quite find words for. The mix of sympathy and fear and hatred are so accurate it helps explain why we stay with batterers and why it’s so hard for others to understand. Many thanks to the universe that this voice hit the page.
May 13, 2022
Every once in a while you will come across a perfect book. Every word in the right place, the pacing even, the characters interesting, and the setting a character in its own right. This was one of those books.
However, the strengths of this book will not make this an easy story to read. It is basically just a trigger, so beware if you must. The story is rife with generational trauma and justification of bad behavior in the name of love. The women in the Turner family take the blame upon themselves for the abuse the fathers, husbands, and brothers inflict upon them, knowingly or not. The story is told only from the side of the women, and we only get their insights and perceptions. We see their brokenness and how they try to mend themselves. Speaking of triggers, and to stretch my metaphor, this story could be used as a trigger to talk about family dynamics more honestly. Broken people keep breaking other people until the cycle is stopped.
I don't want to spoil the story, but know that some of the supports in these women's lives both give them helpful advice and a way to escape. Not all of the advice given is good; it was especially painful to read the scene of a pastor's wife gently suggesting submission and forgiveness to a women with physical evidence of her husband's beatings. The end of the book especially gives what should be a textbook definition of how to respond to a child who has been abused.
Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
However, the strengths of this book will not make this an easy story to read. It is basically just a trigger, so beware if you must. The story is rife with generational trauma and justification of bad behavior in the name of love. The women in the Turner family take the blame upon themselves for the abuse the fathers, husbands, and brothers inflict upon them, knowingly or not. The story is told only from the side of the women, and we only get their insights and perceptions. We see their brokenness and how they try to mend themselves. Speaking of triggers, and to stretch my metaphor, this story could be used as a trigger to talk about family dynamics more honestly. Broken people keep breaking other people until the cycle is stopped.
I don't want to spoil the story, but know that some of the supports in these women's lives both give them helpful advice and a way to escape. Not all of the advice given is good; it was especially painful to read the scene of a pastor's wife gently suggesting submission and forgiveness to a women with physical evidence of her husband's beatings. The end of the book especially gives what should be a textbook definition of how to respond to a child who has been abused.
Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
July 22, 2022
This book reminded me a lot of Where the Crawdads Sing! The main character experienced struggles related to sexual assault and a misunderstanding of growing up. The story of the crocodile bride was slightly confusing at first but really brought the whole story together at the end! I loved how the author included point of views from multiple generations of women from the same family, experiencing the same struggles! A great book to read if you loved Where the Crawdads Sing!!!
August 28, 2022
this book is many stories threaded together into a thick blanket of many names and memories. It sits heavy on your chest as you read through the night, making it hard to breath at times but also bringing comforting weight. a truly beautiful book about trauma, poverty, family, and environment in all their connections
October 23, 2022
This evocative and heartbreaking novel has stayed with me for months now. There is something about the author's deft intertwining of family stories and secrets with fantastical fairytales which excited my imagination and continues to reignite my thoughts as my mind revisits this sensitive and strange account of coming of age amidst confusing and dangerous circumstances.
December 2, 2022
preliminarily: this is without a doubt the best book i’ve read all year. somehow i’ll find a way to write my actual thoughts down but since it’s 4 am and i am crying that’ll have to happen later.
Read
January 14, 2023this was so so good. full review to come <3
May 12, 2022
This is one of those books that kind of makes you sad while reading, the story is sad and you feel so sorry for Sunshine and her life. Books like this are hard to review because it is kind of just the story of Sunshine’s sad life but a well written story if quite sad. The sense of place is very well done, with hints of myth and magic in the bayou.
Gail Shalan’s narration was really well done this was my 2nd book from this narrator and I enjoy her voice.
This would make a good book club book, many facets to discuss. Still a tough book that I wish had a bigger ray of hope, but some people don’t get that and this is just their lives. That is what makes this tough to review. Sad book, sad people, sad story, well written.
3 stars
I received this book from the publisher Tantor Audio and NetGalley for a fair and honest review.
Gail Shalan’s narration was really well done this was my 2nd book from this narrator and I enjoy her voice.
This would make a good book club book, many facets to discuss. Still a tough book that I wish had a bigger ray of hope, but some people don’t get that and this is just their lives. That is what makes this tough to review. Sad book, sad people, sad story, well written.
3 stars
I received this book from the publisher Tantor Audio and NetGalley for a fair and honest review.
May 6, 2022
4.5⭐️
This was a realistic fiction about three generations of a family. Told in past and present POV, it left me melancholy.
The story had pain and sadness dripping from its pages. In many ways I could I identify with all of the women. We all have a story, don’t we? Things that left scars. Painful even to think about.
This debut novel by Ashleigh Bell Pedersen was well written. I chose to listen to this book on audio and the narrator was Gail Shalan. She was excellent and perfect for the story.
I was glued and teetered on the edge of the metaphorical ledge as I walked on. I was uneasy during most of it. But it wasn’t unbearable. There could be some triggers for some. But overall I highly recommend it. I hope this was helpful.
Thanks Tantor Audio via NetGalley.
This was a realistic fiction about three generations of a family. Told in past and present POV, it left me melancholy.
The story had pain and sadness dripping from its pages. In many ways I could I identify with all of the women. We all have a story, don’t we? Things that left scars. Painful even to think about.
This debut novel by Ashleigh Bell Pedersen was well written. I chose to listen to this book on audio and the narrator was Gail Shalan. She was excellent and perfect for the story.
I was glued and teetered on the edge of the metaphorical ledge as I walked on. I was uneasy during most of it. But it wasn’t unbearable. There could be some triggers for some. But overall I highly recommend it. I hope this was helpful.
Thanks Tantor Audio via NetGalley.
July 20, 2024
If you’re someone who struggles with the complexity of generational trauma, then this is for you. And if you’re someone who has done the work to undo that generational trauma, you’ll see yourself through this entire book and feel the validation of your work. You may cry. You may have uncomfortable visuals. (Trigger warning: SA) But this book needs to be in the hands of every single person who doesn’t believe the weight and longevity of their actions and how it affects the future generations of their families. Truly a 100000/10
March 27, 2024
Big sad! Magical realism! Multigenerational trauma! The bayou! This had so many elements of a book that could be my favorite, but it just made me so impossibly sad that I can’t really recommend it, unless you know you’re ready for it.
July 26, 2022
This was an emotional read. It reminded of some of the Oprah Book Club books I read several years ago.
January 27, 2023
Well that was definitely not an uplifting coming of age read. The Crocodile Bride had one traumatic, sad, cringey thing happen again and again. The story was unique and the characters and setting throughout the book was so well done. But be warned there is neglect, sexual abuse, physical abuse, depression, suicide. Some scenes left me needing a breather. And I didn’t completely understand part of the last section. If you read it, I’d love an explanation of the beginning chapters of section 4.
April 8, 2023
I don’t know that I would recommend this book to anyone unless they asked for something specifically about inherited trauma, abuse, substance abuse, and the effect that those things have on mental health.
The writing was awesome, and the characters were beautifully created. I loved the use of a shared, community legend. The crocodile bride is a beautiful story. The setting was so atmospheric. I love stories set in swampy, moody areas.
There are a lot of trigger warnings for this book. It was very dark and probably something I wouldn’t read again because it genuinely made me so sad. I think I took away from it that inherited trauma is so real, and ignoring pain because it scares us or makes us uncomfortable is only going to cause more problems. It is better to talk about things and share how we have coped with hard situations.
The writing was awesome, and the characters were beautifully created. I loved the use of a shared, community legend. The crocodile bride is a beautiful story. The setting was so atmospheric. I love stories set in swampy, moody areas.
There are a lot of trigger warnings for this book. It was very dark and probably something I wouldn’t read again because it genuinely made me so sad. I think I took away from it that inherited trauma is so real, and ignoring pain because it scares us or makes us uncomfortable is only going to cause more problems. It is better to talk about things and share how we have coped with hard situations.
December 16, 2025
nothing could have prepared me for this
this book grabbed me by the throat, squeezed really, really hard, dragged me through a cruel swamp of generational trauma and did not let go until the very last page.... it was just as heavy, harrowing and completely hypnotic as it sounds
legitimately had to put this down a few times because it made me too nauseated to continue without gathering up some courage (if i could turn back time, i'd check the trigger warnings beforehand instead of jumping in blind)
i'll definitely be carrying these characters and their stories around with me for a while, processing, recovering, healing
this book grabbed me by the throat, squeezed really, really hard, dragged me through a cruel swamp of generational trauma and did not let go until the very last page.... it was just as heavy, harrowing and completely hypnotic as it sounds
legitimately had to put this down a few times because it made me too nauseated to continue without gathering up some courage (if i could turn back time, i'd check the trigger warnings beforehand instead of jumping in blind)
i'll definitely be carrying these characters and their stories around with me for a while, processing, recovering, healing
February 16, 2024
BEST READ OF 2023. Phenomenal. This story creaks and aches, uneasy, wrapped hot and stuffy in the oversaturated wonder of childhood. Effortlessly magical, weaving family folklore in and out of reality so that they make a fabric you can’t distinguish between. Trauma and family, a doomed small town and a flicker of hope for the future, generational violence and the endless loop of failing to escape, to break the cycle. Prose that is rich with precision, small turns of phrase that add up to something awfully real and aesthetically stunning. The most beautiful book about an ugly thing you can imagine.
May 5, 2023
Breathtaking and Brilliant
Sunshine Turner, her aunt, grandmother and many more generations grapple with growing up, with abuse and neglect, and with the elusive question of Why.
Pedersen is a brilliant weaver of words. Her use of things in nature to describe feelings, moods, and more is absolutely poetic. The bayou is part of the charm and is a character in its own right.
A must read and possibly the best book of 2023 for me personally.
Sunshine Turner, her aunt, grandmother and many more generations grapple with growing up, with abuse and neglect, and with the elusive question of Why.
Pedersen is a brilliant weaver of words. Her use of things in nature to describe feelings, moods, and more is absolutely poetic. The bayou is part of the charm and is a character in its own right.
A must read and possibly the best book of 2023 for me personally.
May 14, 2022
This is a great and well written coming of age story from Louisiana. Very descriptive and very close attention to details. Reading (listening to the audio) both the writer and the narrator dropped me into the bayou and sadly I became Sunshine! This story make me sad, angry, and made me uncomfortable the entire time. This is a great start for the new series and author debut.
April 24, 2023
Wow wow wow. Maybe a contender for my favorite book this year. To me, this is a story about women and the skills that we carry— the guilt and shame thrust upon little girls about things we don’t even understand, that morphs into a sword and a shield over time to protect our futures & end generational cycles of violence and trauma. So beautifully written and worth your time!!!
June 7, 2024
Dark, beautiful, tragic and uplifting all at once- this is a a stunningly written story about a coming of age in a deeply scarred family with personal history murkier than the bayou water. Can Lou, Billy, LJ and Sunshine escape the belly of the gator or will they be swallowed by the beast?
October 19, 2025
WOW. i liked that a lot.
as someone who is not from the rural south and has not personally experienced domestic abuse, this still found a way to make me cry.
strangely enough, i did not cry when catherine died, or when margaret bell died, but rather when our horrible father billy did!
and i thought that was beautiful because even though he was horrible, we got to see him grow up and how he was treated by his father, and the generations of trauma on top of their whole family. i still despise him for the way he treats sunshine and lou, but i love him for the way he treats them with love. people like him are why people struggle to escape an abusive household and i think i also cried out of relief for their freedom in a way.
this book was genuinely soul shattering for me. using a story of a crocodile who swallowed the world and a lonely crocodile bride who was chained to helping him with her warm touch and passing it down generation to generation, i saw the reflections of the story in their family's own life. starting with sweet catherine, who came up with the story, and how she herself withstood decades of verbal and physical abuse from john jay, staying for her kids sake and happiness. billy and lou, her children, who went two separate paths. billy becoming an alcoholic and a sexual assaulter like his father, lou choosing to flee her own abusive marriage and finding someone she truly loved. lou being the mother that sunshine never had, the parental figure when billy couldnt be. sunshine becoming swallowed and eventually "cutting the belly of the crocodile open," freeing catherine from the line of abuse, which resulted in losing(?) billy. holy cinema.
im really picky with books and this actually gagged im actually speechless
p.s. i just wanted to mention this because i think its funny but when sunshine was using jl's pads, i was struck by the fact that they were the Always brand bc we use them in todays world and while 1982 is not that far away, i searched up the launch of always pads and its 1983 soo
as someone who is not from the rural south and has not personally experienced domestic abuse, this still found a way to make me cry.
strangely enough, i did not cry when catherine died, or when margaret bell died, but rather when our horrible father billy did!
and i thought that was beautiful because even though he was horrible, we got to see him grow up and how he was treated by his father, and the generations of trauma on top of their whole family. i still despise him for the way he treats sunshine and lou, but i love him for the way he treats them with love. people like him are why people struggle to escape an abusive household and i think i also cried out of relief for their freedom in a way.
this book was genuinely soul shattering for me. using a story of a crocodile who swallowed the world and a lonely crocodile bride who was chained to helping him with her warm touch and passing it down generation to generation, i saw the reflections of the story in their family's own life. starting with sweet catherine, who came up with the story, and how she herself withstood decades of verbal and physical abuse from john jay, staying for her kids sake and happiness. billy and lou, her children, who went two separate paths. billy becoming an alcoholic and a sexual assaulter like his father, lou choosing to flee her own abusive marriage and finding someone she truly loved. lou being the mother that sunshine never had, the parental figure when billy couldnt be. sunshine becoming swallowed and eventually "cutting the belly of the crocodile open," freeing catherine from the line of abuse, which resulted in losing(?) billy. holy cinema.
im really picky with books and this actually gagged im actually speechless
p.s. i just wanted to mention this because i think its funny but when sunshine was using jl's pads, i was struck by the fact that they were the Always brand bc we use them in todays world and while 1982 is not that far away, i searched up the launch of always pads and its 1983 soo
November 13, 2024
In the swamplands of Louisiana, a company town named Fingertip was built to provide homes for the local factory workers. A year's mortgage was ninety-nine cents. This offer brought a couple from Tennessee down South, John Jay to work in the factory and Elizabeth to keep the house. Eventually, they had two children, Billy and Lou. Elizabeth does her best to give the children a happy home, but John Jay has become an alcoholic womanizer who terrorizes the family and beats them whenever they dare to cross him.
Years later, that couple is gone but the children remain. Lou married a youth pastor right out of high school but left him with her daughter when he turned out to be abusive as well. Billy has stayed right in the same house. He has never married but somehow, one day, his baby daughter, Sunshine, is left on his porch and he raises her as a single father. Billy loves Sunshine and does his best but his childhood legacy has left him with the same drinking problems and depression that makes Sunshine's life problematic at best.
This is a debut novel for Pederson. I listened to it and the narrator gets the Southern accent well. She also manages somehow to personify the experience of children growing up with abuse and still loving the only parents they know. Sunshine is a tough little girl, desperate to make a home with what she has been given and taking care of others who should be taking care of her. Southern legends are interspersed in the story, adding a regional flavor. This book is recommended for women's fiction readers.
Years later, that couple is gone but the children remain. Lou married a youth pastor right out of high school but left him with her daughter when he turned out to be abusive as well. Billy has stayed right in the same house. He has never married but somehow, one day, his baby daughter, Sunshine, is left on his porch and he raises her as a single father. Billy loves Sunshine and does his best but his childhood legacy has left him with the same drinking problems and depression that makes Sunshine's life problematic at best.
This is a debut novel for Pederson. I listened to it and the narrator gets the Southern accent well. She also manages somehow to personify the experience of children growing up with abuse and still loving the only parents they know. Sunshine is a tough little girl, desperate to make a home with what she has been given and taking care of others who should be taking care of her. Southern legends are interspersed in the story, adding a regional flavor. This book is recommended for women's fiction readers.
March 25, 2023
This is a book about breaking cycles of generational trauma set against the stormy, verdant backdrop of the Louisiana bayou. Told through the alternating stories of three generations of women - the novel's central focus is the generational knowledge that informs, and intercepts, the execution and dissolution of numerous types of abuse.
If you have experienced any kind of trauma - any - don't read this book without a trusted friend/professional to talk to. Pederson explicitly names so many variations of abuse with such a heavy hand (sexual, physical, emotional, the gambit) it felt almost targeted for folks that may be going through/have gone through something similar. While the depiction of mental illness and family trauma felt honest and accurate, no comfort or resources are given to a reader that might be going through something similar. The story simply runs its course. In my not-professional opinion, any novelist leaning this hard into overtly triggering topics should start their acknowledgements page with trauma hotlines & resources for victims, à la Tara Westover's memoir "Educated."
I'm not one to shy away from taboo (as my Goodreads history demonstrates) but the uncompassionate way in which these topics were handled in this book really affected my reading of the novel. For my own peace of mind: if you were similarly triggered when reading this book, you are not alone. There are people who will listen. Don't be afraid to ask for help. ❤️🩹
If you have experienced any kind of trauma - any - don't read this book without a trusted friend/professional to talk to. Pederson explicitly names so many variations of abuse with such a heavy hand (sexual, physical, emotional, the gambit) it felt almost targeted for folks that may be going through/have gone through something similar. While the depiction of mental illness and family trauma felt honest and accurate, no comfort or resources are given to a reader that might be going through something similar. The story simply runs its course. In my not-professional opinion, any novelist leaning this hard into overtly triggering topics should start their acknowledgements page with trauma hotlines & resources for victims, à la Tara Westover's memoir "Educated."
I'm not one to shy away from taboo (as my Goodreads history demonstrates) but the uncompassionate way in which these topics were handled in this book really affected my reading of the novel. For my own peace of mind: if you were similarly triggered when reading this book, you are not alone. There are people who will listen. Don't be afraid to ask for help. ❤️🩹
June 19, 2023
Like the butterfly shaped stain on Sunshine's linoleum floor, The Crocodile Bride shows us generational stains we rather not look at. Yet from the perspective of an introspective young girl desperate to live up to her name, we see beauty in the dirt. Ashleigh Bell Pedersen's first novel is one of Southern gothic folklore, early 80s nostalgia, and small town secrets fading away into the backwoods of America's most traumatic yet ordinary settings. Living through three generations of women who shared freckles, abuse, fantasies, and poverty brought me plenty of tears. The good cathartic kind. But the author's prose and characters' honesty are more than enough to stay up all night tearing through the chapters, imagining we are under a blackberry-vined tent alongside the Turners. I'm glad to have met them, and I won't ever forget.
October 31, 2023
This book was a book club choice for the club i'm in. It is set in Louisiana and I love that, since I am also there. It was a good book, but I didn't understand why some parts were in the book. There is a gay character whose name I can't remember. He just floated through and I'm not sure what his purpose was. The book is about generational trauma and, unfortunately, there is lots of it. Sunshine, the protagonist, lives with her no-good daddy and has never met her mother. Her aunt lives across the street with her daughter, J.L., who is another character not quite present. The dream sequence near the end of the book is also something that went on too long. But the beautiful description of the swamp is very good, especially for an author who has never lived in Louisiana.
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