What do You think about Swimming Lessons (2007)?
One of the things I love about Monroe is her sense of place. The coastal Carolinas have a unique, provincial charm and Monroe is the queen of communicating that. In the course of telling her story, Monroe delivers quite a bit of knowledge about the challenges of protecting the habitat of sea turtles both with regard to protecting the nests and anthropogenic ocean threats. The focus of the story is on the friendship of four women of different ages and places in the social strata. The main character is this book of the series is a single mother. The greatest weakness of the story is that the bad decisions she makes in this book run counter to the idea that the influence of the women who supported her in the previous stories had any positive impact. First, we're led to care about a character and then we suffer through one bad decision after another. But the overall merits of the story and the quality of the author's voice more than compensate for this frustration. If you dream of close friends and family and a cottage by the sea, this is your book.
—Tom Long
This is the second book I read by Mary Alice Monroe. A few very minor characters in the first book I read show up in this one as well, so you get to find out their story. Also the author is great at keeping you interested in sealife which is a huge part of her books. I never thought that sea turtles could be so fascinating, but Monroe is great at educating the reader while still keeping them interested in the novel. Like Elin Hilderbrand and Nancy Thayer, Mary Alice Monroe's books are set on an island off the East Coast. If you want to be transported to sunny small town island life than I recommend her books.
—Airynn
Swimming Lessons, by Mary Alice Monroe seemed to be the perfect audio book to ease into summer with. I generally love most books set on the shores of lovely South Carolina, and when I read that this one included a story about the cycle of life of the Loggerhead turtles of the Isle of Palms, it had a special meaning to me.Several years ago while on vacation, we were fortunate enough to be able to see these magnificent creatures lay their eggs along the shore. It was fascinating even though the area was later roped off as to not frighten the turtles away.In this story, we meet the Turtle Lady, Toy Spooner. She is a single mother who fled with her young daughter, Lovie, from an abusive relationship. She finds work at an aquarium, and it is here that before long we begin to see sparks between Toy and her boss Ethan. Some of the sea turtles in this story are sick and some weigh over 200 lbs. Toy is convinced to apply for a grant at the aquarium so that a turtle hospital can be set up to help these sick creatures heal.But this story has a bit more to it than just Toy, Lovie and sparks flying with Ethan. Lovie’s father comes back into the picture complicating matters, all while several of Toy’s friends are dealing with their own personal issues.Swimming Lessons is a light sort of read, in the style of Dorthea Benton Frank, or Anne Rivers Siddons. The ending was satisfying in that as the turtles begin to heal and prepare to go back out to sea, Toy, too, a once wounded woman also begins to heal.I did not realize that this story was in fact a sequel to an earlier book, The Beach House, which I never read. I don’t feel it was necessary to have read that book to appreciate this story. If you are looking for a light summer read to add to your list, give this one a try.
—Diane
