Rated of 5
by Jill S. (Chicago, IL) Diving Into 'The Swimming Pool'
Each of the characters in The Swimming Pool are constantly treading water in their search to uncover elusive family secrets. One of the biggest mysteries: what happened years ago when Cecil McClatchey, suspected in his wife's murder, dies in a car accident. Fast forward: Cecil's grown son Jed, returns to the Cape with his sister for the first time in years, and decides to confront Marcella, Cecil's one-time lover. The result: Jed and Marcella dive headfirst into an affair that ends up rocking their world with unexpected revelations.
The book is haunting and well-plotted, yet the shifts are often too abrupt and improbable; I wanted to be carried away more than I was. Readers of Jodi Picoult and Anita Shreve may find this book to their tastes. I wanted it to make some deeper waves.
Rated of 5
by Carol G. (Little Egg Harbor, NJ) The Swimming Pool
As an Italian American and spending many summers at the Cape, the book was thoroughly enjoying. The book was easy to get into and held one's interest - 2 things important to me and for recommending books as a Book Club Leader. The book should be enjoyable for most age groups. I read a lot of Debut novels and this one hit the spot.
Rated of 5
by Jane H. (Owensboro, KY) The Swimming Pool
This is an amazing "first book" by a new author. I felt it could have benefited by a little tighter editing in the first half ... but that's about all the criticism I have. Great story ... I thought it was going to be predictable, but pleasantly wasn't. It has a haunting quality of a novel written by a veteran author and old soul. Characters were well developed -- I could see this in a movie version very easily. Good job....want to read more from this author!
Rated of 5
by Deb Y. (Blanco, TX) Et tu, Benjamin?
This is a new treatment of the Mrs. Robinson/Benjamin Braddock - older woman/younger man story. It is an old story, but Holly LeCraw breathes life into it with some plot twists and well-chosen words. It is definitely a page-turner, or at least it was for me, and very well written, in my opinion. Holly's writing is top-notch! And this book is certainly recommended.
Rated of 5
by Patricia S. (New Canaan, CT) Like father, like son
Like father, like son-- and so the story moves to the second generation-2 families looking for the pieces of the puzzle to life and love. Holly Lecraw's first novel draws you in from the beginning and leaves you breathless at the end. In between, she writes of fragile families, unable to communicate the truth that might complete the puzzle. Bookclubs should find this ripe for discussion.
Stranger than fiction, blending tragedy and farce, How to Create the Perfect Wife is an engrossing tale of the radicalism, and deep contradictions, at the heart of the Enlightenment.
Although heavy on the scientific details, which slowed down the story for me (OK, I admit, I was one of those liberal arts majors who skipped out on...
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Loved this book. Magical, quirky, enchanting I could go on. All books do not have to be literary fiction, sometimes it is just so comforting to read...
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Can an wiser, older narrator view the past with more wisdom than he might have possessed forty years earlier in the summer he was thirteen? Ordinary...
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U.S. ebook sales up in 2012, but rate of growth is slowing(May 16 2013) In 2012, trade book sales (i.e. non academic book sales) rose 6.9%, to $15.049 billion, and e-book sales continued to grow, although the rate of growth...
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by Jill S. (Chicago, IL) 
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by Carol G. (Little Egg Harbor, NJ) 
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by Patricia S. (New Canaan, CT) 
