Sweet Creek by Lee LynchSweet Creek by Lee Lynch is a moving small-town drama where four women learn that you can’t outrun your past.

Chick and Donnie run Natural Woman Foods, a café and metaphysical shop rolled into one. The store is the hub of town. It’s where most happenings begin and end and people of all backgrounds come together. Chick and Donnie have built a legacy in Waterfall Falls. They’re the picture of stability.

Inside, Chick is crumbling. Coming to Waterfall Falls had been a fresh start for her and Donnie, a way to leave the wild nights behind. She had no idea that an enemy from her old days would be settling down in the same town. Now, with shadows following behind her, attacks on the store, and noises coming ever closer at night, Chick feels trapped. Her stalker is becoming bolder while Chick flounders. She can’t even tell Donnie – Donnie would want to help and end up hurt. Chick could never allow that..

Donnie knows her cheerful Chick just isn’t herself, but she doesn’t know why. Donnie isn’t feeling much like herself either, these days. Back in the day, Donnie was a fighter, scrapping with Chicago gangs and finding her way in the Black Panther movement. Now she’s made a new life with Chick and put the violence behind her, but it’s always there bubbling under the surface. With racists and homophobes at every turn, Donnie worries what might send her past her boiling point. When a surprise visitor from her youth comes barreling into town in desperate need of rescue, Donnie feels obligated to help an old friend. Will a glimpse of the past send Donnie back to her old ways or will she use her street smarts to help Chick out of whatever trouble she’s in?

Katie and Jeep have stumbled into a lesbian vortex, otherwise called Waterfall Falls, on the search for Women’s land.

Katie is a reporter looking for something more. She’s looking for spiritual awakening and she’s sure it’s here on the Women’s land. When Katie meets R, the unofficial leader of the Women, she leaves Jeep behind and immerses herself in R’s world, certain that R is holds the key to enlightenment. On the Land Katie learns about the living forest, the plight of women at the hands of the patriarchy, and the effects of deforestation on every woman’s life. She’s sure this is her story. But when filming her documentary begins mangling her personal life, Katie must figure out if it’s possible to share her passion with the world without destroying her relationships.

Jeep followed Katie only to end up stranded in a dusty small town with nothing to her name and no way to leave. Even if she could leave, where would she go? She’s already run away from everyone who’s ever loved her. There’s nothing to do except try and make something of herself in this little town. Chick and Donnie are happy to take her under their wing. Jeep is moving up, finding herself connected with other musicians, finding friends, and even holding down a grown-up job. With life coming together for the first time, Jeep has to wonder, why isn’t it enough? Why is it that there’s one woman who never strays too far from her thoughts?

Chick and Donnie have built a life together. Katie left her high-profile career in the city to pursue spiritual awakening with the Women. Jeep is finally finding her way in life after running away for far too long. Even with their success, all is not as it seems in Waterfall Falls. With their futures at stake, will these four women be able to face the past in order to move forward?

The Characters

Chick is love in action. She’s big, soft, and comforting. Chick pours her heart into everyone that she meets and sees the best in everyone, even when it’s hard to find. Behind her kindness, there is the deepest hurt. Her cheerful demeanor is a tribute to her strength and resilience.

Donnie is a glorious Black butch woman. She’s got a tough exterior, but she’s marshmallow inside, especially for Chick. She’s resolving her youthful years with aging and figuring out where her sensibilities fit in today. I loved getting to know Donnie, to watch how pridefully she tended to her family and friends.

Katie Delgado is a bit of a paradox. She’s serious, but also a bit flighty. Ever since Katie was a child, she’s been on the run from her roots. She’s worked hard, becoming the first woman reporter and first Latina reporter in several networks. Katie has been successful, but it isn’t enough to keep her from running, always in hopes of finding what, or who, will make her complete.

Jeep reminds me of a Labrador Retriever. She’s light-hearted, playful, and fun. She’s loyal while she’s around, but she may run off in the heat of the moment. Jeep had some of the saddest and most joyful moments in Sweet Creek and watching her growth and watching her evolution was at once heartbreaking and uplifting.

There were many supporting characters each given their own lives, histories, and personalities. They were vital to the story and were written to perfection.

The Writing Style

Lee Lynch worked magic with time in this book. The back-stories surfaced at just the right time. Time passed in a way that kept the story going at a good pace. The language was respectful to ages of the main characters. The movement between the characters’ perspectives was seamless and the ending was perfect.

Pros And My Favourite Parts

I loved the time warp in this book. Several characters were still in the mindset of decades past with heavy focus on the butch/femme dynamic and lesbian spaces, something I don’t read about often these days. It was a neat blast from the past!

Cons And Heads Up

Heads up, there is heavy drug and alcohol abuse in this book. There’s some mild physical violence both on page and alluded to, child abuse that’s not seen but is spoken about, as well as cheating and some hinting at prostitution. Both homophobia and racism are themes throughout the book and there is a subplot riddled with transphobia. There is a theme of cancer, mental health, and gender dysphoria.

The Conclusion

I highly recommend this book if you’re looking for a thought-provoking drama that will draw you in and make you think. Lynch touches on so many hot topics – racism, homophobia, transphobia, women’s space, cancer, truth and lies – and she does it in a way that challenges you to put yourself in the characters’ places.

TLDR (too long didn’t read)

Four women are faced with the shadows of the past as they try to build new futures in a small town where all is not as it seems. I recommend it as a deep drama that will reel you in and make you think.

Excerpt from Sweet Creek by Lee Lynch

“Many women return to the land to escape something.”

“It’s not about escape for me, R.”

“Oh?”

“I’ve been intimate with the evil that men do out there – crime and criminals, political deals, natural disasters, abuse of kids, animals, women. It’s numbing. It’s been corrupting my sense of purpose. I need some moral grounding because I don’t think I ever had a personal sense of what’s right and wrong for me. And that’s something you need in my business.” It frightened her to even think it, but she said, “If it’s still my business. I’m thinking I don’t have what it takes.”

“Or you have too much.”

“Meaning?”

“Don’t they call newscasters ‘talking heads’? Implying empty heads? Surely you can do better than that.”

Did R really believe she could do better? “Some of them primp and read the prompters, but I know fine investigative reporters who also read news into the cameras. Don’t believe everything you hear, R.”

“I know only one investigative reporter whose personal ethics and spiritual journey have led her to Goddess country.”

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Bits and Bobs

If you enjoyed Sweet Creek by Lee Lynch then you should also look at

The Other Side of Forestlands Lake by Carolyn Elizabeth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: I received a free review copy of Sweet Creek by Lee Lynch. No money was exchanged for this review. When you use our links to buy we get a small commission which supports the running of this site