FICTION

Swimming Home

Penguin Pr. Jun. 2017. 432p. ISBN 9780143129967. pap. $16; ebk. ISBN 9781101993507. F
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OrangeReviewStarSet in the 1920s, MacColl's (In Falling Snow) new novel opens with Catherine Quick at ease with her quiet life on one of Australia's Torres Strait Islands, swimming the days away in its welcoming waters. But her father's death forces her to live with her aunt Louisa in London, an arrangement that pleases neither woman. As Louisa, a busy doctor, and Catherine butt heads over the younger woman's behavior, charming and enigmatic American banker Manfred Lear Black enters their lives and talks Louisa into bringing Catherine to New York, where she can train as a professional swimmer with other women. Louisa eagerly accepts, wanting her niece to move forward in life. But Louisa harbors a secret, which, if revealed, will irrevocably transform her relationship with Catherine.
VERDICT Readers who enjoy their historical fiction with complex characters and a fast-paced narrative will undoubtedly find this novel a perfect fit.
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