Walking into the River (1992)

The remains of Ernest Hemingway's macho mystique are liquidated in this autobiographical first novel by one of Papa's granddaughters. The big-game hunter's son is described as a cross-dressing wreck; the granddaughter, raised by an alcoholic mother and an abusive stepfather, heroically breaks the cycle of drink and despair. In Walking into the River, Hemingway offsets this grim family romance with vinegary vignettes from a Southern childhood. She writes of the outdoors with love, careful observation, and a smattering of Jungian symbolism — an agreeable and potent mixture. B+