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I know Labor Day is over, and September is in full swing… but I’m gonna keep reading from my summer reading stack until it’s officially fall on the 22nd 🙂
My latest summer read is “Florence Adler Swims Forever” by Rachel Beanland. I’ve had this book on my shelf since 2020, and I got it as part of a subscription I bought myself during the pandemic to refresh my reading life.
Like any book, I think the timing has to be right, and this one is no exception.
This book was published in 2020 and is historical/family fiction. It takes place in the 1930s in Atlantic City and is based on a true story, including members of the author’s family.
The story follows the Adler family during an eventful summer. There’s Florence, whose dream is to swim the English Channel (and she’s training to accomplish it), and her sister, Fannie, who is pregnant after suffering a miscarriage. The family lives in a small apartment above their bakery, and they’ve added Anna to the mix, who’s arrived from Nazi Germany.
As the summer rolls on, family secrets rise to the surface.
Admittedly, historical fiction is not my favorite genre, but I enjoyed this one. Being transported to 1930’s Atlantic City was interesting, and certain aspects of the setting lent themselves to this complex plot.
The piers buzzed with activity, and reverls streamed in and out of the grand lobbies of the big ocean-front hotels. Lights were strung from one side of the Boardwalk to the other, and the effect was dazzling—like a blanket of stars had been hung for their benefit. At the Chelsea Hotel the crowds began to thin, and they stopped to admire the city’s bright lights, spread out behind them. ‘Don’t you just love Atlantic City?’ Esther asked.
The characters are also central to this book. I find Florence interesting because of her love for swimming and her determination to reach her goal. Swimming, in the novel, is associated with freedom and power, and for Florence, swimming isn’t just a hobby.
Fannie is in a bittersweet situation. She’s happy that she’s pregnant after suffering a loss, but she is on bed rest in the hospital, which can feel isolating for her. She’s in a bit of a bubble, literally and figuratively, and she’s left to wonder a lot about what’s happening in the outside world.
After the setting and characters, the main part of the plot is the family secrets.
The central secret raises a compelling moral question: Is a lie still an act of love if you tell it to protect someone?
The book also deals with death and grief, but what I find interesting is that different characters grieve completely different things. There is grief over losing someone, losing a future, relationships, things left unsaid, and the person you thought you were going to become.
That broader interpretation of loss is one of the major themes identified in literary analysis of the novel.
What I loved most about this book was the beautiful prose. I have so many earmarked pages, but I don’t want to give anything away. However, here is another passage I loved:
For as long as Florence had been talking about swimming the English Channel, she’d been recording her training regimen, diet, and even her sleep in a small notebook with a pale blue cover. On it she’d written in bold lettering, FLORENCE ADLER SWIMS THE ENGLISH CHANNEL. As if it were already a fact.
I truly can’t believe I put off reading this book for so long! But it definitely had to be the right time, and I don’t know if I would have appreciated it as much earlier.
I’m going to try and squeeze in at least ONE more summer read this year; I’ll share my fall reading list soon, too!
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