Book Love: Florance Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland

It is rare that I add a book to my "to be read" and get to it within a month.  Usually it's a few months and sometimes over a year, if it's a book I'm waiting to be released.  For this book, I added it to my list on June 30th. I picked up my library hold on July 17th.  Took it to the lake for our lake vacation a week later but didn't get to it then.  Finally picked up it on August 2nd and finished in a little over 48 hours.  That is a VERY fast "I want to read this book and then read this book" timeline for me! 

From what I had heard, I was thinking it would have as similar tone to A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams, one of my all-time favorite books (I am constantly playing the game of "what 3 books I would I pick as my favorites if I went on the What Should I Read Next? podcast and A Hundred Summers is one of the two I've come up with.  There are too many possibilities for book #3!  And, sadly, too many possibilities for the book I dislike.)

I have been disappointed by books having a different tone or feel more than once but this time.  This time I think I guessed pretty close.  It was a delightful read that felt perfect for summer.  I really enjoyed my time with the Adler family.

Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland tells the story of Florence Adler's family.  It is Atlantic City, 1934.  The world is on the cusp of World War II and the worst of the Great Depression is behind America.  Florence Adler is 19 years old and is training to swim across the English Channel.  She has a real shot because she's a fantastic swimmer and has been training for this. 

Then she drowns on a training swim in Atlantic City.

This happens within the first chapter or two of the book.  I knew it was coming but I was also sad to see her character gone.  She only briefly appears but seems to be a dynamic and interesting person. 

The rest of the book covers how her family handles her death.  Or doesn't handle her death.  Florence's only sister, Fannie, is on bed rest in the hospital, still a few months from delivering a baby.  Fannie has a living daughter who is 7 and a year previous lost a baby boy who was born a few weeks early (reading about what they did with babies in incubators back then...YIKES, VERY different from NICUs now!).  The family is concerned she'll lose this baby too and thus, the bed rest.  Florence and Fannie's mother is VERY concerned hearing of her sister's untimely and unfortunate death would cause Fannie to lose this baby as well so everyone is put on strict orders NOT to tell Fannie.  And an elaborate ruse begins.

And if that feels far fetched, the author based it on a true story from her own family, where her great-great aunt did drown and it was kept from her sister while the author's grandmother, 6 at the time, witnessed the whole thing.  But the whole story isn't a historic retelling, the author changed a lot of details and characters even though the basis of the stories are the same.

The story is told from multiple perspectives, all of whom I found interesting.  There's Fannie stuck in her hospital bed.  Her husband, Isaac, who is in a bit of financial trouble.  Fannie and Isaac's daughter, Gus, who witnessed her aunt's drowning.  Esther, Fannie and Florence's mother who started the whole charade and their father, Joseph who is somewhat reluctantly going along.  Anna, a Hungarian born German woman whose family had connections to Joseph in Germany and who the Adlers are sponsoring and hosting to keep her out of Germany and away from the Nazis.  And then Stuart, Florence's lifeguard coach and possibly suitor.  They were all connected to Florence in different ways and her death impacted each of them in different ways.

Some of the story is told with memories, going back to when Florence was alive but mostly told over the course of that summer in Atlantic City.  The glamour and fun of living near the beach.  The possibilities that summer brings and how choices made can affect the rest of our lives.

The Adlers are Jewish and 1934 is a hard time to be Jewish, even in America.  I appreciated how their faith was respected and given space, especially in regards to death and how they tried to respect customs, even while keeping this secret. 

I was a little leery to pick this up, knowing it started with a drowning and that did NOT seem like a cheery summer read.  And drowning is not cheery, not at all.  However, even while the Adlers were in the midst of grief, there is still a positive tone and a determination to survive and finding a way forward.  It was ultimately hopeful even if it was horrible circumstances that got them there.

Most of us aren't traveling this summer but this was a good way to take a little vacation while still in Indiana.  This could easily become a frequent reread for me.  It felt light but also a little heavy, just like most of this summer has felt!

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