Women Float

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 of the water 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, Livia, 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.