The Floating Girls: A Novel

by Lo Patrick

Overview

A marsh girl with secrets. A Southern summer soaked in mystery. A story as haunting as the marsh itself.

Twelve-year-old Kay Whitaker sees more than the adults around her want to admit. Life in the heat-heavy swamps of Bledsoe, Georgia, is always complicated—especially when your family is barely holding itself together. Her mother's attention is fading. Her father's warnings are sharp. And the weight of being the only girl in a house of boys feels heavier by the day.

Then a stilt house appears across the creek. And with it, a boy named Andy Webber—quiet, strange, and followed by whispers about his mother's suspicious drowning. Despite her father's firm warning to stay away, Kay can't resist him—or the mystery surrounding his family. But when her own sister disappears without explanation, Kay's search for answers unearths more than she's ready to face.

As old rumors resurface and long-buried truths rise with the tide, Kay finds herself navigating a world of adult secrets, fractured loyalties, and a community quick to bury its past. What she uncovers will test her courage, her voice, and the very meaning of family.

Told from a perspective both fierce and fragile, The Floating Girls is a Southern Gothic coming-of-age thriller that blends lyrical prose with emotional suspense. Lo Patrick's debut is an atmospheric masterpiece about the price of truth, the ache of growing up, and the enduring pull of the past.

Praise for The Floating Girls:

★ A Publishers Weekly Starred Review

★ Townsend Prize finalist

"A powerhouse of a Southern novel. At once a poignant coming-of-age tale, a murder mystery, and an evocative tribute to the marshlands of Georgia. Lo Patrick is a standout new Southern voice." —Andrea Bobotis, author of The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt

"Kay is the smartest, funniest, most curious young narrator I have come across in some time." —Tiffany Quay Tyson, author of The Past is Never

"Fans of Where the Crawdads Sing will love this immersive mystery set against the salty air of Georgia's marshes." — Lindsey Rogers Cook, author of Learning to Speak Southern

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781728248752
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	07/12/2022
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

LO PATRICK is a former lawyer and current novelist living in the suburbs of Atlanta. Her debut, The Floating Girls, earned a starred review from Publisher's Weekly, was a finalist for the Townsend Prize for Fiction, and was a Reader's Digest Editor's Pick.

Editorial Reviews

"Superb debut...the crackling energy of Kay’s narration—a winning mixture of insight and naiveté, humor and pathos, vulnerability and strength—provides a welcome counterbalance to the oppressive setting and the pain the characters try to suppress. It’s a masterly achievement." — Publishers Weekly STARRED review

"Many readers are looking for the next Where the Crawdads Sing, and will find The Floating Girls…is a close cousin...it has its own unique charms, featuring a winning young protagonist that will remind readers of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird." — Augusta Chronicle

"Readers will be unable to peel their eyes and hearts away from Lo Patrick’s The Floating Girls as secrets are revealed in the span of a Georgia summer." — Deep South Magazine

"Don’t sleep on Lo Patrick’s powerful coming-of-age and family drama set in the humid backwaters of Georgia...The Floating Girls has been compared to To Kill a Mockingbird, thanks to its child narrator, exploration of heartbreaking family secrets, and highlighting of social issues." — Reader's Digest editor's pick

"[A] compelling mystery...Kay is the smartest, funniest, most curious young narrator I have come across in some time. Her voice stuck with me long after I finished reading." — Tiffany Quay Tyson, award-winning author of The Past is Never

"Fans of Where the Crawdads Sing will love this immersive mystery set against the salty air of Georgia's marshes. In Patrick's atmospheric prose, the water and its characters come to life" — Lindsey Rogers Cook, author of Learning to Speak Southern

"To read The Floating Girls is to feel a small-town slowness seep into your bones. The book's narrator, Kay Whitaker, is a stubborn young girl you’ll never forget. A cracking story that unfolds in gorgeous prose in the stultifying heat of the American South." — Hayley Scrivenor, author of Dirt Creek

"The Floating Girls is a powerhouse of a Southern novel...this lush and mesmerizing debut has a beating heart of its own. Lo Patrick is a standout new Southern voice." — Andrea Bobotis, author of The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt

From the Publisher

The Floating Girls is a powerhouse of a Southern novel…This lush and mesmerizing debut has a beating heart of its own. Lo Patrick is a standout new Southern voice.”

author of The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt Andrea Bobotis

A compelling mystery…Kay is the smartest, funniest, most curious young narrator I have come across in some time. Her voice stuck with me long after I finished reading.”

award-winning author Tiffany Quay Tyson

To read The Floating Girls is to feel a small-town slowness seep into your bones. The book’s narrator, Kay Whitaker, is a stubborn young girl you’ll never forget. A cracking story that unfolds in gorgeous prose in the stultifying heat of the American South.”

author of Dirt Creek Hayley Scrivenor

Fans of Where the Crawdads Sing will love this immersive mystery set against the salty air of Georgia’s marshes. In Patrick’s atmospheric prose, the water and its characters come to life.”

author of Learning to Speak Southern Lindsey Rogers Cook