Three parts, one big read
Taken as an analysis of jurisprudence in early Floridian social life, or as a naturalist’s handbook to the flora and fauna of mangrove swamps, or taken as a social documentary of pre-WWI life, or as an exhaustive study on racism, the book stands tall. But it is all of these things and more. These main themes are interwoven to such an extent that the book never flags. Quite an achievement.
Part one of the book concerns the arrival of EJ Watson to a trading outpost on his skiff in the swamplands of southern Florida. As the boat pulls up Watson is confronted by an armed group of 20 men who want to arrest him for his part in the slaughter upstream of several individuals. Watson denies involvement, but as he raises his gun he is cut to pieces in a hail of gunfire.
