Customer Reviews

Swimmer in the Secret Sea

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It must be 20 years ago that I first happened on this uncommonly good book and I still remember it vividly, and recommend it frequently. The simplest of stories: a much-awaited first child, a stillbirth, and the aftermath for the young parents, but the telling--poetic, haunting, near-perfect, one of the finest modern novellas of loss, grief and transcendance. Buy two--you'll want to give one to a friend.

This beautiful book is a lasting testament to the failed pregnancy of a simple and poetic couple. A thin book, but as profound as it is brief. It's the kind of book that makes you want to force it into a friend's hand and watch his/her face as they silently read it. I can't imagine a more moving account or a more glistening example of bravery than this.

This tiny novella is a powerfully gut-wrenching story that honestly portrays the sorrow of stillbirth without any sugar coating. Worth seeking out by all but expectant parents (the subject matter would just be too painful to read).

A very short but tender and sensitive look at a pair of young artists, deeply in love, whose baby dies at birth. I first read this book when it was new, in 1975, and recently found it in a box and read it again. While the subject may be heartbreakingly sad, its treatment is starkly realistic and exquisitely executed. In less than a hundred short pages, Kotzwinkle gives you much to think about - love, death, and the brevity of human life in the overall scheme of things. - Tim Bazzett, author of PINHEAD: A LOVE STORY

Finding this book was like coming across an old friend. I read the short story in Redbook as a young mother in 1975 or thereabouts and never forgot it. On impulse, I Googled 'Swimmer In the Secret Sea' and learned that it had been expanded into a book. I love this story. Someone might hear of the subject matter and think that it was a depressing story but they would be wrong. It's full of love and acceptance of all that life has to offer; both painful and joyful. Sometimes in the same moment.

I purchased this book for my husband after we lost our twin boys at birth. From reviews I thought it might be a good book for him to see what another father's viewpoint was after the loss of a baby, but unfortunately I didn't think it was as moving as I expected, especially after having just gone through a similar experience.