How Not to Drown

De: Jaimee Wriston

Narrado por: Hillary Huber

Amelia MacQueen has lost her favorite son, Gavin, to a suspicious drowning, for which her daughter-in-law has been convicted, and she’s been awarded temporary custody of her 12-year-old daughter, Heaven, who she reluctantly takes in. The daughter of drug addicts, who has long been left to her own devices, Heaven does not appreciate her grandmother’s constant critical ministrations, and the pair quickly butt heads. She instead bonds with Uncle Daniel, Amelia's agoraphobic older son who never leaves his bedroom. Through the wall between their rooms, Daniel spins Celtic tales for Heaven from the Isle of Skye, where the family's ancestors lived.

Heaven decides that the best way to deal with bullying at school is to become a siren from one of those stories. She sings drowning songs in the swim-team pool, luring mean girl Bethany Harrison under at the deep end. Then, Amelia comes home one day to find her granddaughter serving Oreos to the cops who picked her up for snaking junk food from the neighborhood. As much as Amelia loved her son, Heaven is the last thing she would have asked for, but when Heaven goes missing during a dangerous storm one night, Amelia is forced to reexamine her outlook on family.

In vivid prose, Jaimee Wriston tells a wry multi-generational tale of redemption, exploring the bonds that make and break a family and the transformative power of storytelling.

©2021 Jaimee Wriston (P)2021 Dreamscape Media, LLC

A beautifully written, deeply meaningful book!

As a frequent Audible listener, I can say that Jaimee Wriston's newest book, How Not to Drown, is one of the very best. Both a multigenerational family story and a tale of a mysterious drowning, How Not to Drown traces a family's struggles back to nineteenth-century evictions of crofters on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Wriston's style is both lyrical and down-to-earth, and her sense of humor makes you laugh out loud. The voice of the narrator, Hillary Huber, is wonderful, especially in the role of Maggie on the Isle of Skye. Anyone who enjoys Celtic traditions, as I do, will love the seals, selkies, fairies, and guardian spirits. This is the perfect book for our post-pandemic summer. I hope to hear more of Wriston's books on Audible soon.

Wonderful story!

What a great novel! The characterization and the dialogue is wonderful. I enjoyed following Amelia’s character progression. All of the characters are interesting and well-developed. The novel shows how familial trauma can haunt us for generations. I loved the use of selkie folklore as well. It added another great layer to the novel.

Lastly, the performance of the novel was well-done. The narrator helped the wonderful dialogue come alive. I was especially impressed with her performance of Maggie.