Welcome to Litsy!

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I‘m developing a new appreciation for short stories and novellas. Somehow with this one, though, it dragged at times for me despite its short page count. I did really like the ending and the way the tension built.

Intriguing short novel. I need to sit with this one. I loved how the tennis imagery carried through this surprising novel. 4 🌟 (for now, this is a book that I need to think about and see how it stands up to time).

This slice of life novella tells the tale of a faltering marriage. As Sputnik 2 is launched on a warm November day, Kathleen climbs into her pool and refuses to come out. She finally wants honesty in her marriage on both sides. Told from both her and husband's POV, the novella describes how secrets cause harm in their marriage. 4 stars.

I read this during the warmest November I can remember. This book mentions the unseasonably warm November of 1957. So, wife and mother, Kathleen, decides to get in the pool at her family‘s apartment complex. Problem is, she won‘t get out! Luckily for readers, we get to take a walk down memory lane with her. How did she meet her husband, the handsome and charmed Virgil? Their marriage isn‘t exactly the perfect 1950s ideal. Loved it!

Loved this National Book Award Longlist novel set in the early sixties. A marriage on the verge of a breakdown, all while a wife remains in the pool all day. Flashbacks when they met and how we got to that pool. So much in this short novel. Vibes of Revolutionary Road, Cheever‘s The Swimmer and even The Awakening. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book goes inside the stereotypical young white 1950s family and blows it up, gradually peeling back the layers to expose husband and wife. And the central conceit of the wife refusing to get out of the pool all day really works. I really liked this one.

NBA longlist, fiction

Oh wow! Compact story that manages to do so much, unpacking a relationship with the backdrop of a quickly changing world. Shades of John Cheever

On an unseasonably warm November day, Kathleen decides to go for a swim. Then she decides not to get out. In a tense, well crafted novella we see her marriage to beautiful, lazy Virgil Beckett come to its tipping point.

I loved it. Started this morning and just didn't want to stop reading. Anthony has a deft hand at saying more with less. Highly recommended!

One day, when her husband and kids leave for church, Kathleen refuses. Instead she descends into the apartment complex pool. It‘s the beginning of a day that changes everything.

With under 140 pages this book tells a lot about marriage and choices made. I loved it.

In the mean time we enjoy a short resurrection of Summer and the beach is filled with sunbathing people before autumn sets in, expected as of tomorrow!