I was lucky enough to win a copy of "The Girl Who Stopped Swimming" from a fellow blogger. It's not what I typically read, it's not my typical fantasy or sci-fi. Nope, it's a ghost story with quite a bit of relational and psychological drama thrown in! I happen to eat up drama, so I loved this book!

Laurel Gray Hawthorne has built for herself a wonderful life. She has a husband, a beautiful daughter, and they live in a quite suburban neighborhood where no one really rocks the boat. But Laurel has a secret that even her husband doesn't know. She has what's commonly called "the sight" and grew up seeing ghosts.

Laurel hasn't seen a ghost in a long time though. The neighborhood is too new, and she's firmly locked away that part of her past into a dark part of her memory. That is, until the ghost of her daughters best friend appears in her bedroom, beckons her to the window, and points out the girls own freshly dead body in Laurel's pool.

The drama unfolds quickly from there as things Laurel had neatly packed away in her memory come rushing back into her life.

One thing that was fascinating about this book is that there are several threads that weave in and out through the book. The unfold slowly and there were a lot of things that managed to catch me by surprise! The ghosts do play a big role, as does Laurel's dysfunctional family, neighborhood secrets, and finally, what lead to the dead body in the pool. ( )

More or less agreeing with most of the already-posted reviews, will just mention: did anyone notice the broken-crockery motif, also prominent in another book sort-of-involving quiltmaking, Whitney Otto's How to Make an American Quilt?

Received in a bookring. ( )

Laurel Gray Hawthorne has created a peaceful life in suburban Florida. David, her husband and world class super geek, is a successful coder; her 13-year-old daughter, Shelby, is a spectacular dancer and social butterfly. Laurel, herself, has found a fair amount of success as an artist and is generally content living in her quiet, gated community.

All floats smoothly along until Laurel, a notorious sleepwalker, takes a midnight stroll one summer night, finding herself face with one of Shelby’s friends who appears to be only partially there. Laurel is led to the backyard pool by the specter, where the very same girl is lying, lifeless, in the water.

Although the authorities are willing to let the incident pass as teenage negligence, Laurel is unconvinced. She enlists the help of her sister, an often estranged, sometimes beloved, always eccentric theater owner living in Mobile who is intent on shaking up Laurel’s picture perfect delusions of comfort. The duo begins digging in the town’s gossip circle as well as the family’s deep roots to uncover a darker mystery than the police suspect.

Joshilyn Jackson’s The Girl Who Stopped Swimming was my first mystery read (yes, ever) and my second southern literature. I feel a bit like I cheated in both categories. I expected wince-worthy gore and ghosts regarding the former and long drawn out descriptions regarding the latter.

I was pleased that neither turned out to be true. The writing moves quickly and energetically while still maintaining an authentic commentary on small town Southern living. The analysis of the region digs deeper than many pieces in the same vein, covering cultural and class diversity all within a day’s drive. Jackson also does a fantastic job of capturing tumultuous family dynamics, generation to generation without dragging the reader through too much backlog.

With respect to the supernatural portion, it was neither cheesy nor violent and at times even tender and endearing. Thrill-seekers shouldn’t be daunted by this lovey-dovy description, though; there is fun to be found! While some of the hard edges are softened by the emotional buffering of the family thread, there is quite enough adventure to satisfy seasoned mystery readers.

I picked the book up as light summer reading to clear my head and while the prose is easily digested, the storyline itself is deeper than the average page turner, making it a good, albeit substantial, beach read. The Girl Who Stopped Swimming gets two thumbs up from this novice mystery reader. ( )

Story Overview
Laurel Hawthorne is haunted by ghosts. During her childhood, she is haunted by her Uncle Marty. But Marty disappeared when Laurel and her husband David moved into the gated community of Victorianna. But one night, Laurel -- a lifelong sleepwalker -- is awakened by another ghost. This time the ghost is Molly -- a neighborhood girl and a friend of her daughter Shelby. Molly's ghost is brand-new -- in fact, her body is floating in Laurel's swimming pool.

Although Molly's death is ruled an accident, Laurel cannot help but think that Molly's ghost wants her to uncover what happened to her. Worse, her daughter Shelby is acting like she might know more than she lets on. And Bet Clemmens -- a relation of Laurel's who has come to visit with Shelby for the summer (a way for Laurel to make peace with her poverty-stricken roots of DeLop) -- seems to be helping Shelby cover something up.

Laurel's computer geek husband David is no help in a crisis like this. So Laurel turns to the only person she knows can help -- her estranged sister Thalia. Thalia is a larger-than-life, straight-talking actress (she has her own rundown theater) who views Laurel's marriage as a jail, and her home in the gated community as the prison cell. Against David's wishes, Laurel brings Thalia home with her to help find out what happened to Molly. In the course of their investigation, the skeletons in their family closet begin to rattle their bones, Laurel's marriage is shaken to its core, and the sister's relationship is redefined and pushed to its limits.

My Thoughts
I loved this book! The story flies along with numerous twists and turns, and the characters -- especially Thalia -- are wonderfully written and memorable. The supernatural aspects of the story are well-handled. Much like Alice Hoffman (who brings a kind of magic realism to so many of her books), Jackson is able to work in the ghosts in a believable and plausible way. You believe in what Laurel sees, but you also find yourself nodding your head when Thalia debunks Laurel's ghost stories.

Although the primary story is finding out what happened to Molly, much of the book is really about Laurel and Thalia coming to terms with their childhood, their mother, what happened to Uncle Marty, and their mother's hometown of DeLop. DeLop -- a fictional town -- is almost like a character in the book. The poverty and neglect that the town spawns affects everyone who comes in contact with it -- whether they admit it or not. Laurel -- who has tried to hide the reality of DeLop from David and Shelby -- must finally come clean with herself about what is going on there.

Another rich subplot is David and Laurel's marriage. Thalia has always made it her mission to end the marriage -- which she believes is holding Laurel back from being her "true" self. When Laurel begins to doubt the strength of her marriage, the author does a wonderful and believable job of showing why a marriage that looks "all wrong" on the outside might actually work at its core.

I could go on and on about all the rich details in this book -- Laurel's quilts, the social niceties of a gated community, the use of the book Watership Down (which this book totally made me want to read!). I think Joshilyn Jackson did an amazing job with all aspects of this book. Bravo!

My Final Recommendation
This is a satisfying, fun and rich read. Once you start, you'll get pulled into the story -- so be prepared to dedicate some time to finish it up as you'll want to know what happens sooner rather than later! I just adored Thalia, who I think added some needed humor to what is really a fairly grim and depressing story. This was a great read, and I recommend it wholeheartedly. ( )