Swimming for Sunlight
A Novel
-
- $16.99
Publisher Description
When recently divorced Katie Ellis and her rescue dog Bark move back in with Katie’s grandmother in Florida, she becomes swept up in a reunion of her grandmother’s troupe of underwater performers—finding hope and renewal in unexpected places, in this sweet novel perfect for fans of Kristan Higgins and Claire Cook.
Aspiring costume designer Katie gave up everything in her divorce to gain custody of her fearful, faithful rescue dog, Barkimedes. While she figures out what to do next, she heads back to Florida to live with her grandmother, Nan.
But Katie quickly learns there’s a lot she doesn’t know about Nan—like the fact that in her youth Nan was a mermaid performer in a roadside attraction show, swimming and dancing underwater with a close-knit cast of talented women. Although most of the mermaids have since lost touch, Katie helps Nan search for her old friends on Facebook, sparking hopes for a reunion show. Katie is up for making some fabulous costumes, but first, she has to contend with her crippling fear of water.
As Katie’s college love Luca, a documentary filmmaker, enters the fray, Katie struggles to balance her hopes with her anxiety, and begins to realize just how much Bark’s fears are connected to her own, in this thoughtful, charming novel about hope after loss and friendships that span generations.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Larkin enthralls with a revealing view of one woman's life as she moves on after a painful divorce. Katie leaves Rochester, N.Y., with her fearful yet loyal dog, Bark, after she and her husband, Eric, divorce. She travels to Port St. Lucie, Fla., to live with Nan, the grandmother who raised her. Katie harbors distressing memories of her father's death and her mother's abandonment, and treasures the time she spent with Nan while growing up in Florida. Nan shares an album of old photos that show her working as a mermaid at a popular Florida underwater show, and her fond memories spark an effort to reconnect with her colleagues. Soon the aging former mermaids decide to put on a show as a fundraiser for the local community center. As Katie is a talented tailor and costumer, she is nominated to make the mermaid costumes. When Katie's college flame, Luca, arrives to help film the mermaids' reunion, Katie must decide whether she is willing to take a chance at rekindling their relationship. Emotional and heartwarming, Larkin's touching story is complete with romance, nostalgia, and genuine friendship.
