Night Swim by Jessica Keener

January 10, 2012 by Fiction Studio

Paperback, 279 Pages

Review Copy

Review 

All family's are unique, all have secrets and many have problems. Sarah's is no different, while their problems are escalated with alcoholism, the family dwells in comfort, living in their nice home and fountain of money, they keep things pretty low key...at least to anyone looking in that is.

Inside the walls of the home lives a father who is over the top, loud and controlling and a mother who is distant, stoned and breezy, live in maids who fill in for said debilitated mother and children who all retreat into personal solace. But even with its ups and downs, the family works, the kids are used to the fights, the outbursts and the drinking and have their own private way of dealing with things, from music to hiding the children find structure in the daily routines of life and the caregivers who are always there.......until Sarah's mother dies in a car accident.

What is left is a depressed, lonely man who finds comfort in a woman who wears too much lipstick, younger brothers who have emotional problems and an older brother who leaves as soon as he can. Sarah is lonely and misses her mother, even as flighty as she was, she was always a constant in Sarah's life. Surrounded by a world of men, Sophie travels her teen years alone and makes some normal and unhealthy choices in her life. Without parents or any adult shaping her choices, Sarah is left to clean up her own messes. Heart breaking to say they least, but surprisingly through it all Sarah shapes herself into becoming a healthy well rounded adult.

When I starred Night Swim the first few chapters told me I was diving into a slow paced family contemporary piece, riddled with alcoholic parents, confused adolescence and the typical family drama associated with these issues.......what really wound up happening though was an amazingly written story featuring a cast of highly developed characters and a fascinating MC, Sarah. Even with its dysfunction and tragedy surrounding the family, the issues never became overboard or took away from the coming-of age story it presented.

Sarah shares her story through a flashback and I never missed being in Sarah's present or getting the details of her future, traveling her teen years and watching her transform into a young woman was enough to anchor me to the book. I felt almost like I wanted to be a mother to her, talk to her about love and relationships, shield her from the mistakes I saw her making.....yet at the same time I saw the same teenage girl in her that I saw in myself. Swim with Sarah into a river of childhood, loss and the coming of age discovery's of a young woman, encapsulating the inevitable choices in sexuality that come to us all....the mistakes and memories that define us and make for truly great stories.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys contemporary fiction, although this book centers around a 16/17 year old teens journey, it was written for adult readers.

Rating

Night Swim is recommended to adult readers and contains language, sexual situations, alcoholism, racial commentary and mild violence.

4/5- Contemporary

A very special thanks Jessica Keener for review copy and Tlc Tours