Swimming (Ballantine Reader's Circle) [Paperback]

Joanna Hershon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 25, 2002 | Series: Ballantine Reader's Circle

Twenty years ago, Vivian Silver abandoned her dreams of travel to marry the mysterious Jeb Wheeler, seduced both by his unnerving charm and his acres of untamed New Hampshire land. The hand-built house and swimming pond become the center of the universe for their entire family. Lila, their youngest, is consumed with love for her two older brothers, Aaron and Jack, and remains blind to the simmering tension between them. For beneath the surface of their idyllic setting lies a depth of explosive feeling that none of them can control.

Into this heated atmosphere glides Aaron’s girlfriend, Suzanne, whose presence is threatening, exciting; Lila thrills to the ominous quality of Aaron’s absolute adoration for this young woman. Before her visit is over, Suzanne will unleash the forces of rage between Aaron and Jack, compelling one brother to commit an act against the other that can never be taken back.
A decade later, living in New York, Lila still searches for Aaron, who disappeared that night, and Suzanne, whose mystique still exerts a hold on her memory. For Lila to move past her family’s tragedy, she must piece together what happened that fateful weekend–and recover the things lost down by the water–before she can at last let them go.

A stunning literary novel that captures the lingering effects of longing and loss, Swimming is by turns a gripping family story, a heartbreaking coming of age journey, and a suspenseful psychological investigation into the meaning and limits of fidelity, identity, and intimacy.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In her first novel, Swimming, Joanna Hershon juggles a number of heady themes, from fraternal rivalry to fate to the perilous nature of desire. A layered narrative, this tale of familial struggle begins in the 1960s and ends three decades later, evoking such authors as Carolyn See or Carol Anshaw. Like them, Hershon painstakingly investigates the psychological innards of her characters, as if hoping to find what's hidden in their minds. Slowly and carefully she teases out motivations and misgivings, filling in the picture piece by piece.

At the heart of Swimming are the Wheeler brothers, Aaron and Jack, locked in a fierce competition. Aaron's handsome and successful, but repressed. Jack's an outlaw and a drifter, but seems to possess a freedom that eludes his more conventional brother. The boys grew up in the woods with a hippie mother and a stern, elusive father. The isolated house with its hidden pond has a curious power--it's the place where each character meets his or her ultimate test. The water itself becomes the symbol of the Wheeler family's soul, a cloudy medium in which some drown and some float. And indeed, the fallout from one tragic evening on the shores of the pond occupies most of the second half of Swimming.

Hershon has mastered the art of the group scene, and her novel contains many well-wrought dinners, beer bashes, and restaurant meals--forced encounters, in which the Wheelers are nudged out of their shells. And she's got a fine eye for detail: at one dinner, for instance, Aaron notes that "his mother, though animated, looked exhausted, like someone who stayed up all night turning lights on and off." Such vivid observations, combined with accessible, well-delineated characters, make Swimming an absorbing read. --Ellen Williams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Brother kills brother, and a younger sister makes their story her own in this lush but unsteady modern-day Cain and Abel tale by first-timer Hershon. On a beautiful summer weekend, Aaron Wheeler brings his college girlfriend, Suzanne, home to meet his family in New Hampshire. Golden boy Aaron is a few years older than his volatile, difficult brother, Jack; their little sister, Lila, is eight. The visit is pleasant if tense, as Suzanne finds herself drawn to Jack against her better judgment. Late one night after a party, Suzanne and Jack end up swimming alone together at the lake behind the house. As Jack makes it back to shore, naked, Aaron is waiting for him. Jack's death is made to look like an accident--it is said that he fell on the rocks--and Aaron disappears, dropping out of college. When Hershon picks up the narrative 10 years later, the story is resumed from Lila's point of view. Now living in New York City and teaching private English classes, she stumbles through her daily life, glimpsing Aaron or Jack in all the men she sees. A chance encounter with Suzanne focuses her determination to discover what really happened that night in New Hampshire and to find Aaron again. Hershon's carefully worked prose aspires to hothouse perfection, but overworked metaphors and forced turns of phrase undermine its effectiveness. At moments, the narrative invites readers to sink beneath its surface, but Hershon fails to sustain the dark, atmospheric morass she cultivates. (Feb. 1)Forecast: Strong in-house support, a five-city author tour and a dreamy jacket will give this novel a head start, but mixed reviews might stall its progress.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 356 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 7th edition (June 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345442768
• ISBN-13: 978-0345442765
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #439,921 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Impressive First Time Out, March 19, 2001

By 

Falco Gingrich - See all my reviews

This review is from: Swimming (Hardcover)

"Swimming" is without a doubt an impressive debut from a talented writer. It is not an entirely successful debut, but it interesting even in its flaws, and that is more than I can say for most novels I read. The tale is kind of an emotional whodunit, or perhaps a whydonit. The first part of the story takes place in 1987 when college student Aaron Silver brings his girlfriend Sunanne to meet his family in rural New Hampshire. The family is a bit odd, and there are unexplained and perhaps inexplicable tensions between Aaron and his wild brother, Jack, and soon sparks begin to fly between Jack and Suzanne. Much emotional mayhem ensues until the visit climaxes in a tragedy that the book cover describes but I will not, since I wished I hadn't known it when I was reading. The novel then picks up ten years later, focusing on Lila, the younger sister, who is obsessed with the events of that night and begins stalking Suzanne in an effort to learn the truth about her brothers.

Hershon's writing is at its most successful when she is conveying the very real emotional confusion people feel at what seem like key moments in their life. "Swimming" seems to me especially effective at demonstrating the intense importance of these private feelings and the sometimes horrific consequences of privileging irrational passion over logical responsibility. In the heat of the moment, the author wants to argue, the selfish and thoughtless decisions we make, radiate outward into our lives and the lives of others. The book is also wonderful when it examines the confluence of memory and sadness, demonstrating how we process our own bad decisions, what we chose to remember, forget and to fabricate.

On the other hand, "Swimming," splashes around in the pond a bit too loudly and clumsily at times. The opening prologue is both unnecessary and so badly written I cannot even believe the same person composed those few pages and the book that follows. In the main body of "Swimming," the writing is never bad or clunky, but it is sometimes burdened by too much attention to craft. The flap copy tells us that Hershon received her MFA from Columbia University, and this book reads to me like MFA fiction. Obviously some people like that sort of thing, but I find her endless and belabored details of clothes, rooms, smells, plants, and anything else on which she happens to draw a bead ultimately kind of tedious and rarely in service of the story she wants to tell. If anything, the resonance of her tale and her characters gets lots sometimes in her descriptions. This book could have been a bit slimmer, and if Hershon had reserved her truly impressive talents for elements of the story with emotional consequences, it would have been a sleeker and far more poignant volume. As it is, it reveals an unquestionably talented author whose next work I would most certainly seek out.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping read, April 17, 2001

By 

Meg Upshaw (Laupahoehoe, HI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Swimming (Hardcover)

I really could not put this book down. Hershon developed the characters from Page one, and did not leave any facet of their personalities unexplored. They are all honest and human, which is what makes it easy to identify with one or more of the characters. I cannot belive this is her first book, as it is wonderfully haunting. I would recommend it 100 percent.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dive right in!, July 2, 2001

By 

Diane "dianemax" (Newfoundland, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Swimming (Hardcover)

This is an excellent debut for Joanna Hershon. I picked this book up at the library and was not disappointed in its progression. While the prologue did not have much to do with the rest of the novel, I feel that its purpose was to set the background for what was to come.

The story begins in 1987 when Aaron brings his girlfriend, Suzanne, to his family's home in New Hampshire. We get a glimpse into his parents relationship, or lack thereof as Jeb really doesn't communicate with anyone. We meet Aaron's brother Jack and their little sister Lila. There seems to be an ongoing rivalry between the brothers that is never really explained. Jack is the wild one, he has no fears. He lives on a day to day basis and has no real plans for his future. Aaron on the other hand is his complete opposite. He plans everything, he's the good looking one with the world at his feet. And yet, despite all of this, he still feels like he has to compete with Jack. Then there is Lila. When we first meet her she is eight years old, but already wise beyond her years. She is doted on by both of her brothers and she is equally in love with them. She loves to be at the centre of their attention. Only a short time after their arrival, Aaron and Suzanne accompany Jack to a party. It is here that we get a glimpse into what Suzanne really wants...and that is a chance to be with Jack. The real tragedy occurs later that night, in the woods, by the pond. The forces of jealousy and anger rear their heads and a life is snuffed out. They are three people who have no idea that their actions will have consequences that reverberate for many years to come, especially on the life of a little girl lost...Lila.

The rest of the book deals with the issues of obsession and the healing power of redemption. It is an eerie account of one woman's search for the truth, the truth of what really happened that night by the pond, and the quest to find her true self. It is a moving story of love and loss.

I really enjoyed this novel and will definitely look for further books by this acclaimed writer.