Reviews for LEARNING TO SWIM
Newspapers:
A single woman dives headlong from a ferry into Lake Champlain to rescue a child, and then must figure out what to do with him. Compulsively readable, this is all about what we do for love. - Hallie Ephron, "On Crime: best books of 2011," Boston Globe
Sara J. Henry opens her first novel like a pro, at the tense moment when a young woman taking a ferry across Lake Champlain jumps overboard to rescue a child who’s been tossed from a boat going in the opposite direction. -Marilyn Stasio, "Crime Novels by Walter Mosley, Ian Rankin, Cara Hoffman, and Sara J. Henry," New York Times
Take a gulp of air before diving into Vermonter Sara J. Henry’s new mystery, because you’re likely to hold your breath for the whole first chapter. -Ruth Hare, "Vermonter's Debut Plumbs Emotional Depths," Rutland Herald
There may not be a madwoman in the attic in Sara J. Henry's Learning to Swim (Crown, $24), but there is a brooding male, a motherless child, a mansion and enough suspense to make this a strong debut. - Carole E. Barrowman, "Paging Through Mysteries,"Milwaukee Journal
Part mystery thriller, part family tragedy, part tentative romance, it succeeds on all levels. - "ET Native's Debut Drenched in Intrigue," Susan Alexander, Knoxville News-Sentinel
This debut novel is a stunner. This disturbing, moving, compelling book will keep readers engaged until the very last page. Sara J. Henry, who lives in Vermont, has crafted her first novel like a seasoned pro. It is smart, intense, and full of unexpected plot twists. - "12 Novels by Women Writers," Larry Cox, Tucson Citizen
This is a emotional and intelligent mystery, that doesn’t rely solely on the mystery part. The plot is compelling and the characters are well-written. It doesn’t have a storybook ending, which is part of its strength. - "A wonderful debut mystery novel," Vicki Rock, Daily American
Magazines:
Learning to Swim is a suspenseful mystery with a rich emotional texture. -Barbara Fister, Mystery Scene
In the quick read department, Learning to Swim is a fast-paced debut novel by Sara J. Henry, a Carleton U. j-school grad who now calls Vermont home. - Ottawa Magazine, February 2011
There are many points in this novel where the heroine could have made the easy choice, and taken a more cliched route. That she doesn't is just one of the reasons this book is worth your time. - RT Book Review, Jan. 16, 2011
In her debut, the first in a projected series, Henry proves herself to be a smooth and compelling storyteller. And her lead is highly appealing: an athletic, fiercely independent young woman who, like crime-fiction author Gillian Flynn’s feisty females, is capable of making delightfully acerbic observations. — Joanne Wilkinson, Booklist, Dec. 15, 2010
Freelance writer Troy Chance, the protagonist of Henry's impressive first novel, impulsively, and literally, dives into trouble when she sees a youngster fall from a ferry boat on Lake Champlain. ... Henry adroitly handles Troy's exposure to new emotions as she re-examines her life and relationships .... (Feb.) - Publishers Weekly
A compelling plot, a pervading sense of foreboding, well-constructed characters. - Kirkus Review
Once we dove into Sara J. Henry’s debut, we didn’t come up for air until it was finished. - "11 Books to Take to the Beach," Daily Candy
Blogs:
Learning to Swim is fast-moving, explosive at times. Emotional without being sentimental, it puts the “thrill” in “thriller.” Here’s hoping that Henry follows up with her second novel, very soon. - "Mystery Monday: Learning to Swim," Sacramento News & Review, Sheryl Beauvais
The fast-paced plot, captivating characters (including a seven year-old boy), and the relationships that develop along the way reveal an athletic main character who is undaunted, loyal and lovable. Henry is an assured writer who will undoubtedly attract a wide following with this first book. - "The List: 9 Summer Reads"
I became the main character, and I longed to take care of a six-year-old boy. She touched that part of me. I wanted to move to the Adirondacks in New York, maybe even Canada, maybe even brush up on my nine days of French – lol – I was so drawn into the story. - Kathy Holmes, The Book Review Club
Troy Chance thinks she knows who she is. She’s got a comfortable life, with all the right people at just the right distance. She’s safe. When an impulsive act of good sends her diving off a moving ferry in search of what might be a child thrown overboard, her previous self is washed away. Troy is soon balancing this upheaval against the mystery of the child’s abandonment, but solving it threatens to take away the catalyst of her new life. - David Slayton, "Into the Deep"
The story is a cross between the thrillers of Michael Robotham (whom Henry thanks in the acknowledgments) and the gothic sensibility of Daphne du Maurier's REBECCA. Troy Chance is a very likable heroine – independent and tough, at times; maternal and unsure in romance at other times. - Lourdes Venard, Reviewing the Evidence
Author Sara J. Henry has adeptly interwoven a highly gripping kidnapping mystery with the fascinating character study of a woman forced by extreme circumstances to reevaluate everything she thought she knew to be true about herself.” – Elizabeth A. White
It’s an increasingly rare experience not to see every turn of plot and logic coming around the page, and the ability to sell the reader on the character’s logic without shortchanging them on surprise is no small feat. Sara J. Henry pulled it off. -Jedidiah Ayres, "Dogpaddle"
While few of the scenes send a reader’s heartbeat into overdrive, character development and action keep pages turning as fast as the eyes can scan. As thrillers go, Learning to Swim entertains and engages, explores rough emotional terrain, and moves any reader with a heart of flesh. Highly recommended. - The Best Damn Writing Blog
The quality of the writing, the intricacies of the plot and the superb characterization so overshadowed the few nits I had with the story as to make them pointless to mention. This debut novel by Sara J. Henry is a must addition to everyone’s to-be-read list.- EJ Knapp
Sara J. Henry’s debut starts with a bang—or, more literally, a splash—and doesn’t let up until the final page. It’s a classic “what-if” scenario: what if you were on a ferry and noticed a child falling from the ferry heading in the opposite direction? What if you jumped off the ferry to save that child? What if that child had been pushed? -The Book Page
Henry takes her protagonist and the reader on an impassioned journey full of potential suspects. -Jen Forbus, Jen's Book Thoughts
This moving between countries, combined with the French-Canadian language barrier, enhanced the sense of a woman out of her element and struggling in unfamiliar territory ... Learning to Swim is the book I'm always hoping to read. -Didi Bourbon, The Poisoned Fiction Review
Learning to Swim is far from your typical straight-to-paperback thriller sold in airport newsstands or in the checkout aisle at your local drug store. Rather, it's a hybrid I call the literary mystery: part smart, well-written fiction/ part mystery novel. The literary mystery is quite possibly my favorite genre, and Learning to Swim is one of the best examples I've read in a long time. -Joanne McNeal, A Worn Path
Learning to Swim is Henry’s debut novel, and she is off to a fantastic start. It is an incredibly compelling book with great plotting and fantastic characters. -Jen Karsbaek, Devourer of Books
The main character, a woman named Troy, is like-able and candid, probably relate-able to most people in some ways -while being completely off-beat in others. Whatever you think of her, you'll want to slap her once in awhile (just like I think the lead detective on the case would like to do a few times -even though he never says so.) -Lynette Ecklund, Clattering Keys
Typically when you have a writer trying to relate a story from the thoughts of the main character, you end up with a slow moving dialogue, and the storyline can quickly get lost in the swirly fog of unnecessary mental banter. But in this book, I began to anxiously await another peek into Troy’s thoughts because her thoughts and notions are so common to all of us. And it’s this ability to connect with Troy that made this book so powerful. -Carrying a Cat by the Tail
Henry has created a very likable, down to earth protagonist in Troy Chance, and that's the main strength of this book. -I Love a Good Mystery
LEARNING TO SWIM is certainly a tightly written, logically plotted mystery with likable and believable characters, but it's the thematic heart and soul of the story that carries the reader along as Troy learns to let go of safety and certainty, and swim hard for the far shore. - D.L. Browne, I Love a Mystery
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