Swimming With Ghosts by Michelle Brafman, narrated by Hillary Huber, Scott Brick, Sophie Amoss, and Pete Cross, is a insider look at summer swim leagues and the families that run them and are consumed by them. River Run swim club is Gillian Cloud’s legacy and where her father became famous for swan dive, but there’s a darker legacy she’s tried to gloss over. Her best friend, Kristy Weinstein, follows Gillian’s lead but also has a hidden past that can resurface at any time and destroy everything she’s built to mask her troubles.
From pep rallies, pasta parties, and tie-dye nights, these parents are dedicated to creating a fun atmosphere for their children as they swim races for their local club. But it is clear that Gillian likes to direct things a little too much. Change and unpredictability are not her friends, and it can be seen in how she helps others clear out the clutter of their homes and how she interacts with her husband, children, and friends.
Competition isn’t just in the lanes, it’s on the sidelines and in the team’s activities too. When a derecho comes to town and destroys everything, it upends more than anyone expects.
I listened to this on audio and loved the differentiation between the voices and characters. It was definitely an unpredictable roller coaster, but there were some cringe-y moments that made me want to yell at the characters. This is exactly the effect I think the writer is going for. I had a hard time understanding some of these characters motivations amid addiction. Communication and honesty are clearly not in their wheelhouse.
As a mom with a summer swim kid, I had different expectations. But overall this was a wild ride. Swimming With Ghosts by Michelle Brafman is not for the faint of heart. There are some deep-seated troubles in these characters and while the book ends with a little bit of hope and forgiveness, I suspect troubled waters are still ahead.
RATING: Quatrain
About the Author:
Michelle Brafman grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and now lives in Glen Echo, Maryland with her husband and two children. She is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego and Johns Hopkins University, where she now teaches fiction writing. Her award-winning short stories and essays have appeared in the Washington Post, Slate, Tablet, Lilith Magazine, Bethesda Magazine, Superstition Review, Potomac Review, minnesota review, Fifth Wednesday Journal, Gargoyle and elsewhere. A regular contributor to the Lilith Magazine blog, she has led its salon discussions at theaters and arts centers throughout the Washington, DC area. Brafman is also a former documentary filmmaker whose film American Lives: Jewish Stories, like her debut novel Washing the Dead, illuminates seldom told stories of the Jewish experience.
