ASIN: B00D208K98
Genre: Fiction
Overview from Amazon.com
Lonely California pastry chef Win never learned how to swim, despite growing up just miles from the Pacific Ocean. Even Janie, her flaky pro-surfer single mother, couldn’t convince her to brave the water, solidifying Win’s fear when she leaves her at the tender age of 9. But when Win turns 29 and decides to take swimming lessons for the first time — finally confronting her hydrophobia and trying to make sense of why her mer-mother suddenly swam off all those years ago — she must also deal with a desperate crush she’s developed on her New Age neighbor, mysterious postcards that keep arriving in the mail, and her bad habit of pathological lying. This touching and humorous look at female relationships and the dramas that come for contemporary women turning thirty also doubles as a loving ode to the small coastal town of Carpinteria and the laid-back SoCal lifestyle that guides it. Poetic and moving, Maureen Foley’s fiction debut is both a perfect beach read and an insightful look at love, accidental families and the power of friendships.
Review
3.5 out of 5 Stars
I find that sometimes novellas will leave me feeling unsatisfied as if there is unfinished business that was suddenly rushed to an end in an effort to complete the story. That is definitely not this case with Women Float.
The main character, Wen, is complex and comes across as three dimensional. In addition, despite her insecurities, and in some instances major flaws, I found myself wanting things to get better for her. Wanting her to improve and get her life in order.
There was one particular quote about a ¼ of the way through the book that just really stuck with me, because of the imagery it created for me. Wen is looking at an anonymous postcard that she received and she’s thinking to herself: “I want the postcard to be from Selima. Or my mom. Or Mia. Any of the countless women who’ve leaned their heads towards mine and told me huge important things, like how to separate egg yolks and whites and were to pick boysenberries.” I think if we have been lucky we all have people in our lives who have shared the secrets of life.
This is a nice easy read for the beach, sitting in the back yard, or in the house on a rainy day with a hot drink.