The First Rule of Swimming

A Novel

Formats and Prices

On Sale
Sep 24, 2024
Page Count
337 pages
Publisher
Little Brown & Company
ISBN-13
9780316217378

Format

ebook

Format:

ebook

This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around September 24, 2024. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.

In this “exquisitely crafted” novel, a Croatian woman goes to New York to search for her missing sister–and confronts her family’s dark history ( Booklist).

Magdalena does not panic when she learns that her younger sister has disappeared. A free spirit, Jadranka has always been prone to mysterious absences. But when weeks pass with no word, Magdalena leaves the isolated Croatian island where their family has always lived and sets off to New York to find her sister. Her search begins to unspool the history of their family, reaching back three generations to a country torn by war.

A haunting and sure-footed debut by an award-winning writer,  The First Rule of Swimming explores the legacy of betrayal and loss in a place where beauty is fused inextricably with hardship, and where individuals are forced to make wrenching choices as they are swept up in the tides of history.

“Suspenseful . . . well-paced.” — The New Yorker

“Gracefully interweave[s] three generations of family stories and lies.” — O, The Oprah Magazine

“Examines lives bruised and twisted by history, like weather-beaten trees that nevertheless manage to produce the sweetest fruit.” — The New York Times Book Review