Reviews for LEARNING TO SWIM
"A single woman dives headlong from a ferry into Lake Champlain to rescue a child, and then must figure out what to do with him. Compulsively readable, this is all about what we do for love." - Hallie Ephron, "On crime: Best books of the year," Boston Globe, Dec. 18, 2011"In the quick read department, Learning to Swim is a fast-paced debut novel by Sara J. Henry, a Carleton U. j-school grad who now calls Vermont home. While standing on the deck of the Lake Champlain ferry bound for Vermont, the narrator, Troy Chance, sees a small boy tossed over the side of a ferry going the opposite direction. Without thinking, she jumps to his rescue, setting off a chain of events that see Chance become embroiled in a kidnapping plot with tendrils in the U.S., as well as Ottawa and Montreal. In bookstores Feb. 22." - Ottawa Magazine, February 2011
"Henry's compelling debut begins with a fascinating premise. There are many points in this novel where the heroine could have made the easy choice, and taken a more cliched route. That she doesn't is just one of the reasons this book is worth your time." (4 stars) - RT Magazine Book Reviews, Jan. 16, 2011
"A compelling plot, a pervading sense of foreboding, well-constructed characters" - Kirkus Review (I left out the part where the reviewer complained about all the details about food - my friends say the reviewer was hungry while reading my book.)
"When Troy Chance spots what she thinks is a small boy being tossed off the back of a passing ferry, she instinctively jumps into the icy waters of Lake Champlain. ... In her debut, the first in a projected series, Henry proves herself to be a smooth and compelling storyteller. And her lead is highly appealing: an athletic, fiercely independent young woman who, like crime-fiction author Gillian Flynn’s feisty females, is capable of making delightfully acerbic observations." — Joanne Wilkinson, Booklist, Dec. 15, 2010
"Freelance writer Troy Chance, the protagonist of Henry's impressive first novel, impulsively, and literally, dives into trouble when she sees a youngster fall from a ferry boat on Lake Champlain. Troy manages to rescue the boy, discovers that his fall was no accident, and after brief, anonymous reports to the police, embarks on an ill-conceived attempt to become the boy's protector. ... Henry adroitly handles Troy's exposure to new emotions as she re-examines her life and relationships ...." (Feb.) - Publishers Weekly
Video review from Quinn Cummings
 |
| CLICK TO PLAY |
