Swift River

(Paperback)

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Description

What if the price of knowing who you are is losing the only family you've ever known

Summer, 1987. On the sweltering streets of the dying New England mill town of Swift River, sixteen-year-old Diamond Newbury is desperately lonely. It's been seven years since her father disappeared, and while her mother is determined to move on, Diamond can't distance herself from his memory. When Diamond receives a letter from a relative she has never met, she unearths long-buried secrets of her father's past and discovers a family and heritage she never knew she was missing. The more she learns, however, the harder it becomes to reconcile her old life with the one she wants to lead.

So begins an epic story spanning the twentieth century that reveals a much larger picture of prejudice and love, of devotion and abandonment - and will change Diamond's life forever.

Reviews

Truly amazing. Such an incredible blend of intimate and epic, so smart and funny and honest and generous-spirited. I like plenty of books but I love a novel this much maybe just once or twice a year. * Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Rodham *
Swift River is a fearless, cinematic exploration of loss and inheritance, written with fierce urgency and overflowing compassion. From the very first image of river-mud-caked shoes, Diamond's story-part coming of age, part epistolarian excavation of grief-instantly pulled me in and held me close through an addicting mix of hope and suspense. * Xochitl Gonzalez, author of Olga Dies Dreaming *
Swift River is a tender coming-of-age novel, a story of grief both personal and historical, one told with warmth and humor by a memorable, irrepressible heroine. Essie Chambers writes powerfully about the bonds of family, the many ways people fail and save one another, and the human instinct for resilience. * Rumaan Alam, author of Leave the World Behind *
A powerful novel about how our family history shapes us. Swift River broke my heart, and then offered me hope. * Ann Napolitano, New York Times bestselling author of Hello Beautiful *

Author Bio

Essie J. Chambers is an award-winning writer, producer and development consultant. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University and has received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, Vermont Studio Center, and Baldwin for the Arts. She previously held senior creative executive positions at ViacomCBS (Paramount) where she developed dramas and comedies. She oversaw the adaptation of the book Miracle's Boys to a mini-series directed by Spike Lee. Amongst her projects as an independent producer: the Sundance Film Festival award-winning documentary, Descendant, to be released by Barack and Michelle Obama's Higher Ground and Netflix this Autumn, and the critically acclaimed PBS documentary The New Public.