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I thought this was great. Kathy gets in the apartment complex pool one warm November day and refuses to come out. We then get her and her husband Virgil's versions of their courtship and marriage. My one complaint is I wish we had less of Virgil and more of Kathy. It is a fleeting character and relationships study, I can see why people would want more but I thought it was well written & well crafted. I'm going to look for more from the author.

"All around them was death, and Kathleen had never been more in love with Virgil in her life."

A reckoning of two people and a marriage in a pool. Well done!

Didn‘t hate it, didn‘t love it. I‘m confused on how to rate this short book. It takes place during the FMC day in the pool. One day. Yet it reminisces upon past years. The storytelling is unique, fascinating in an odd way, though it doesn‘t go deep. As of such, I just don‘t know how I feel about this slow around the bush way that we find out this great family is falling apart.

This held up to all the great reviews here - I loved it. A very creative approach to a story of a marriage and everything below the surface, which changes one day when Kathleen gets into a pool and doesn‘t come out.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I‘m developing a new appreciation for short stories and novellas. Somehow with this one, though, it dragged at times for me despite its short page count. I did really like the ending and the way the tension built.

Intriguing short novel. I need to sit with this one. I loved how the tennis imagery carried through this surprising novel. 4 🌟 (for now, this is a book that I need to think about and see how it stands up to time).

This slice of life novella tells the tale of a faltering marriage. As Sputnik 2 is launched on a warm November day, Kathleen climbs into her pool and refuses to come out. She finally wants honesty in her marriage on both sides. Told from both her and husband's POV, the novella describes how secrets cause harm in their marriage. 4 stars.

I read this during the warmest November I can remember. This book mentions the unseasonably warm November of 1957. So, wife and mother, Kathleen, decides to get in the pool at her family‘s apartment complex. Problem is, she won‘t get out! Luckily for readers, we get to take a walk down memory lane with her. How did she meet her husband, the handsome and charmed Virgil? Their marriage isn‘t exactly the perfect 1950s ideal. Loved it!

Loved this National Book Award Longlist novel set in the early sixties. A marriage on the verge of a breakdown, all while a wife remains in the pool all day. Flashbacks when they met and how we got to that pool. So much in this short novel. Vibes of Revolutionary Road, Cheever‘s The Swimmer and even The Awakening. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book goes inside the stereotypical young white 1950s family and blows it up, gradually peeling back the layers to expose husband and wife. And the central conceit of the wife refusing to get out of the pool all day really works. I really liked this one.

NBA longlist, fiction

On an unseasonably warm November day, Kathleen decides to go for a swim. Then she decides not to get out. In a tense, well crafted novella we see her marriage to beautiful, lazy Virgil Beckett come to its tipping point.

I loved it. Started this morning and just didn't want to stop reading. Anthony has a deft hand at saying more with less. Highly recommended!

One day, when her husband and kids leave for church, Kathleen refuses. Instead she descends into the apartment complex pool. It‘s the beginning of a day that changes everything.

With under 140 pages this book tells a lot about marriage and choices made. I loved it.

In the mean time we enjoy a short resurrection of Summer and the beach is filled with sunbathing people before autumn sets in, expected as of tomorrow!