Book Reveiw -- The Girl Who Stopped Swimming

This was not the typical dark novel I read, but it was very good. If I didn't have to work and sleep I would have finished it in one day. As it was I stayed up way too late one night to get most of it finished. Just in case you can't see where this is going I really liked this book. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.


I still can't seem to get over how well this book was written. Jackson seems to seamlessly transition from the present to the past throughout this book. Laurel is visited early on by the ghost of her daughters friend. The ghost leads Laurel to her body in the families swimming pool. The police quickly close the case, considering it an accident. Laurel feels that Molly's ghost would not have visited her if there were not more to the story.
This launches Laurel into a walk down memory lane, where she remembers her childhood ghosts. She has worked so hard to keep her past out of her present life. She lives in a beautiful community with no ghost sightings since moving there.

Laurel is forced to take a hard look at her life, and family relationships. She learns some secrets that have been hidden in her family for years. She also learns what she thought was a perfect life is not so perfect.

I loved the way this book takes Laurel thought her emotions. I love how it turns out, especially the interactions she has with her husband and daughter. It was not overly drastic or completely devastating. Her eyes were opened to the things around her that she was ignoring, past and present and it was difficult to take in.



What I really liked abut this book was the way all the information was presented. It felt like it could all be real. A family whose past is shameful to them and full of secrets. A family who escaped extreme poverty and wants nothing to do with that life, except a little holiday charity. Everything down to the ghost had a feeling like it could be true. I am not used to reading such books and if was a very refreshing change of pace for me.

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