Product Description
Originally published in 1942, Cross Creek has become a classic in modern American literature. For the millions of readers raised on The Yearling, here is the story of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings's experiences in the remote Florida hamlet of Cross Creek, where she lived for thirteen years. From the daily labors of managing a seventy-two-acre orange grove to bouts with runaway pigs and a succession of unruly farmhands, Rawlings describes her life at the Creek with humor and spirit. Her tireless determination to overcome the challenges of her adopted home in the Florida backcountry, her deep-rooted love of the earth, and her genius for character and description result in a most delightful and heartwarming memoir.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 20 reviews)

Fla Stories

I bought this book for one story but it turned out all of the stories were great.
April 11, 2008

She Always Makes Me Cry

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings always makes me cry. The other reviews of this book here describe it so eloquently and throughly that I don't feel the need to add to that aspect. The book has a strong emotional pull that made me cry and made long to go to Cross Creek and see it for myself. Rawlings is one of my all-time favorite writers, ever since my seventh-grade teacher read the newly published book The Yearling to her class, a chapter or two each day after lunch.
March 30, 2008

Wonderful FL history

Wonderful view of an isolated place in FL (near Gainesville) circa 1930 written by a brave, independent woman.
November 03, 2007

A walk through old rural FL

Cross Creek is a series of entertaining if perhaps embellished anecdotes relating to Florida in the years preceding World War II told from the perspective of a educated emigré from the North. Some of the language, which was typical of the times, would no longer be considered politically correct and might be offensive to some. The book, however is totally delightful and gives some insight into life in rural Florida at the time. An excellent companion read is Tom Glisson's The Creek, which gives a native's view of the same time and area. Both books are a must read if you live or are interested in North Central FL.
May 12, 2007

A Classic of Regional Writing

Rawlings explores the lives and interations of the odd assortment of people living in Cross Creek, Florida in the early 1900s. It is often assigned reading for teens, but I doubt that most of them can appreciate it. Her accounts of neighbors feuding and subsistance living gives us many lessons in human behavior.
The lyrical descriptions of wildlife and the orange groves and wild landscape are very appealing. Your mouth waters as you read her essays on downhome foods like hush puppies. She turned those into a cookbook which I'll have to try out.
Modern readers squirm uncomfortably at her use of the N----- word and her characterization of blacks as irresponsible, drunken, immoral, etc. It is probably a faithful representation of common thinking at the time it was written, so recognize it as a snapshot of the times. Then move past that to luxuriate in the beautiful passages in the book. (I deducted 1 star for this)
The reader becomes absorbed in Rawlings' love of the land and the creation of a home. It gives much the same feelings as A Year in Provence or Under a Tuscan Sun.
November 16, 2006

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

Cross Creek Cookery
by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

The Yearling (Aladdin Classics)
by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
by Patricia Reilly Giff

Cross Creek
by John A. Alonzo, Martin Ritt, Sidney Levin, Robert B. Radnitz, Terence Nelson, Dalene Young, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Directed by Martin Ritt
Starring Mary Steenburgen, Rip Torn, Peter Coyote, Dana Hill, Alfre Woodard
Starz / Anchor Bay

Short Stories by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
by RODGER L. TARR

The Creek
by J. T. GLISSON