Cygnet: A Novel

Kid is only seventeen, but she feels older than her years, and for good reason. Months ago, her parents left her with her grandmother, Lolly, and though Kid keeps hoping they’ll return, they haven’t. When Lolly dies, Kid is not only an orphan, but also the only young person on Swan Island. Swan Island, off the New Hampshire coast, is a kind of utopia for elderly men and women who have opted out of living life in the the rest of the world, known as the Bad Place. They have formed a separatist society where they can relish their age and wisdom and make their own rules. Young people like Kid are forbidden, and though the Swans were amenable enough to her temporary visit, the prospect of a permanent stay has alarmed and angered them. Not knowing where she truly belongs, Kid must decide how long she’s willing to hope for her parents’ return. Meanwhile, parts of the island are sliding and crumbling into the ocean, threatening the stability of Swan Island itself.

This wholly original novel questions the reverence with which youth is usually regarded and offers a new idea of happiness, acceptance, and dignity. For example, when a Swan nears the end of his or her life, there is rational discourse about how the life should end. Kid, attached to the dying Dutchess, is unable to understand what she perceives as detachment, even cruelty. Hers is an unwelcome perspective among those who have made a unique peace with the concept of death and departure. For Kid, Swan Island is an unpleasant reminder of the life she’s missing out on. But the world author Season Butler created has contentment and empowerment at its core.