Fiction Book Reviews

Book Review: The Girl Who Stopped Swimming

By Sandy Amazeen Mar 3, 2008, 21:46 GMT

From her lovely home in the Florida gated community of Victorianna to David, her husband who is more comfortable dealing with the lines of code in the computer software he designs then with people, Laurel Hawthorne has worked hard at building a life separate from her DeLop upbringings. DeLop is the stereotypical southern town populated by poor, uneducated meth users and drunks living below the social services radar. Thirteen years had passed since Laurel last saw a ghost so it was unsettling to see the ghost of a dripping wet girl standing in the bedroom one night. Laurel followed the ghost and discovered Molly, her daughter Shelby’s best friend drowned in their pool. Although the drowning was eventually ruled accidental, Laurel has reason to suspect Molly’s death was more sinister. With the arrival of Laurel’s mouthy, unconventional sister Thalia, uncomfortable family issues raise their ugly heads while the specter of David’s possible infidelity looms large. Meanwhile, ever in the background is Shelby’s pen pal Bet Clemmens, a waif from DeLop that Laurel has allowed to visit occasionally. Dark secrets and a possible serial killer are artfully interwoven into a spellbinding thriller that exposes the strength of family ties and the depth of a simple need to belong.