Book Review: Night Swim by Jessica Keener

Date Started: January 4
Date Finished: January 7
Medium: Paperback (from TLC Book Tours)
Pages: 279
Date Published: January 10, 2012

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Sixteen-year-old Sarah Kunitz lives in a posh, suburban world of 1970 Boston. From the outside, her parents’ lifestyle appears enviable – a world defined by cocktail parties, expensive cars, and live-in maids to care for their children – but inside their five-bedroom house, all is not well for the Kunitz family. Coming home from school, Sarah finds her well-dressed, pill-popping mother lying disheveled on their living room couch. At night, to escape their parents’ arguments, Sarah and her oldest brother, Peter, find solace in music, while her two younger brothers retreat to their rooms and imaginary lives. Any vestige of decorum and stability drains away when their mother dies in a car crash one terrible winter day. Soon after, their father, a self-absorbed, bombastic professor begins an affair with a younger colleague. Sarah, aggrieved, dives into two summer romances that lead to unforeseen consequences. In a story that will make you laugh and cry, Night Swim shows how a family, bound by heartache, learns to love again.

Personal Review:
This novel is a beautifully wrought, heartbreaking look into the facades families often put on and the damage done to the children in the process. Sarah, the main character, is a poignant, mature voice in her rapidly crumbling world.

This book is written in parts. The first part, in particular, felt frenetic and disjointed, but while these words have negative connotations, they seem to work in this book. Keener paints a portrait of a seemingly perfect, stereotypical family in the early 1970s. In reality, though, nothing is as it seems and the family is falling apart at the seams--oldest son, Peter, runs to California; the youngest Kunitz sons dissolve into their own worlds; Sarah rebels and is forced to make decisions far beyond her sixteen years.

I did lose track of the timeline a few times in this book; a few of the details didn't quite line up. The characters, particularly Sarah's two younger brothers, seemed to act much younger than their years. However, these were only minor details, and didn't hinder my understanding of the novel.

I felt the first part (half) of the novel lasted a bit too long; much of the book focused on the dynamics in the Kunitz family, and not much happened. It was certainly important for Keener to introduce readers to Sarah's homelife, but I felt it took up too much space in this less-than-300-page novel. I kept waiting for an "aggrieved" Sarah to "div[e] into two summer romances that lead to unforeseen consequences."

And when it happened, I couldn't put the book down. After the death of her mother, Sarah struggles to handle her grief and, as so many teenage girls are wont to do, she run into the arms of boys. In addition to Sarah being such an interesting, strong character, I was also impressed by Keener's characterization of Sarah's flings. Keener doesn't rely on the stereotypical "bad boy." These flings have unforeseen consequences for Sarah, and the reader is drawn in to her tragic world.

Keener is a wonderful new author with a powerful coming-of-age story on offer. Sarah's rebelliousness lends a fresh take on this classic theme, and I certainly look forward to more from Keener.

Rating:

About the Author, Jessica Keener:
Jessica Keener has been listed inThe Pushcart Prize under “Outstanding Writers.” Her fiction has appeared most recently in:Connotation Press: An Online Artifact, Night Train, andWilderness House Literary Review. A recipient of a Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist’s Grant Program, and second prize in fiction from Redbook magazine, her feature articles have appeared inThe Boston Globe, Design New England, O, The Oprah Magazine and other national publications. Night Swim is her first novel. Visit her website: www.jessicakeener.com, and find her on Facebook and Twitter.






Other Tour Stops:

  Tuesday, January 10th: Books Like Breathing

Wednesday, January 11th: Elle Lit.

Thursday, January 12th: Reviews by Lola

Monday, January 16th: Tina’s Book Reviews

Tuesday, January 17th: Coffee and a Book Chick

Wednesday, January 18th: Good Girl Gone Redneck

Tuesday, January 24th: A Soul Unsung

Wednesday, January 25th: Boarding in My Forties

Thursday, January 26th: Sarah Reads Too Much

Monday, January 30th: Stephany Writes

Wednesday, February 1st: The Lost Entwife

Monday, February 6th: sidewalk shoes

Wednesday, February 8th: Reflections of a Bookaholic

Tuesday, February 14th: The House of the Seven Tails

Monday, February 20th: Peeking Between the Pages

Thursday, February 23rd: Jenn’s Bookshelves

I received a copy of this book courtesy of TLC Book Tours in exchange for my honest opinion. My review of this book was not influenced in any way.