The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson


Oct 12, 2012

Laurel’s life is going according to plan.  She has come a long way from her trailer- trash beginnings in the hills of Alabama.  Happily married with an adored 12-year-old daughter, she lives in a “perfect” gated Florida community.  She hasn’t seen her uncle’s ghost since leaving Alabama and she has managed to shield her husband and daughter from a past she longs to forget.  But her world begins to fall apart when she finds her daughter’s best friend in Laurel’s pool – after the girl’s ghost appears to Laurel.  Police investigate and find the drowning to be accidental; but Laurel doesn’t believe it for a minute.  Much to her husband’s horror Laurel brings in her eccentric sister, Thalia, to help see that justice is done so that her daughter and their family can live in peace.  Thalia’s methods are incongruous and often outrageous.  She stirs up the family and the neighborhood and forces Laurel to deal with a truth that is unknown to even Thalia.  This is a fast read and has a level of suspense and mystery that will keep the reader turning pages.  The window it provides into southern culture provides color and wry humor.

Reviewed by Jed D.
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