Review: LITTLE NOTHING, by Dee Holloway

Dee Holloway's Little Nothing is a really enjoyable novella that combines sapphic romance, alternative history, and low fantasy. Despite the magical elements, it feels grounded with immersive details of daily life in Florida in the lead-up to the U.S. Civil War. The story is also full of suspense and action, and the conclusion is very satisfying. My only complaint is that it's short, although the length fits the story being told; I want more from this author. 

Cover of Little Nothing, Dee Holloway

"Little Nothing" is a nickname that, while belittling, also provides protective cover for Johnnie,  the daughter of an escaped slave, Maria. Also, "little nothings" are what Johnnie's mother and Bess, the narrator and the daughter of Maria's employer, call the minor charms and curses that they weave into braids, ropes, and clothing in order to guard their loved ones and their secrets.

Aside from her innkeeping family, Bess loves Johnnie, who makes her living by catching and somewhat taming limerunners. Limeys are water horses with cloven hooves and sharp teeth; they spawn in the wetlands and start out as swimmers but eventually run on land, too. Some people call them demon steeds.

I really like their relationship. Bess and Johnnie respect each other's strengths, and while Bess is nervous about Johnnie's work and terrified of the risks that Johnnie runs as a message-bearer for the Union, Bess does her best to protect Johnnie. However, it turns out that Bess herself is also at risk, as a tool to be used against her sweetheart. But they work together as a very effective (and loving) team.

Each of the lovers also has strong family relationships, although those characters are less fully developed. Most of the other characters are basically sketches, from the local madame to the trappers who frequent the inn to the Confederate soldiers who want Johnnie to provide and control limerunners as a weapon in their arsenal against the Union. As it turns out, the Rebels are arrogant to think that they can control Johnnie and Bess so easily.

Along with the central relationship and plotting, I also really enjoy the worldbuilding in this book. Aside from the limerunners and the plaiting magic, there are also references to a community of runaway slaves and a spirit or goddess who looks over them. I grew up in a town in North Carolina, and I've never visited the Everglades, but I have walked around some wetlands and paddled a canoe on the Black River, so I have some familiarity with swampy terrain and enveloping heat. Everything feels authentic.

The language is also great, whether slow and thoughtful, simple, complex, pulse-pounding, or lyrical. Here's a paragraph that expresses some of the tensions throughout the book, along with the romance:

My heart ached to see her: girlish, suddenly just seventeen, my age. She liked people to think she was older, though the whole town knew her age, that Maria had fled down Florida's length with Johnnie growing inside her. She liked to be thought tough, capable, dangerous as any of the trappers, and those things were true. But the ticklish softness at the hollow of her throat was true, too, and the scars on her arms from feral limeys' teeth, and her face when she was praying at night before we slept.

Here's an interview with Dee Holloway and an excerpt of her reading from the first chapter of Little Nothing:
https://queerwords.org/2023/07/11/dee-holloway/

And here's where you can buy the novella:  https://queenofswordspress.com/product/little-nothing/

Content warnings: Violence, death, sexism, racism, slavery, sexual scenes although not graphic 

Comparisons: Sarah Gailey's River of Teeth; Eden Royce's Spook Lights: Southern Gothic Horror

Disclaimer: I received a free e-ARC of this novella for this review from Catherine Lundoff (a friend of a friend) at Queen of Swords Press.