Swimming Naked by Stacy Sims
Every summer Lucy's family rented the same small house on a
lake in Canada.
Her parents, Frank and Fey, would load the station wagon,
pile the luggage in the middle seat, and Lucy and her sister Anna
would ride in the back in their pajamas. One summer, Lucy's mother
surprised her by taking her to the lake in the early evening. She
told Lucy that the two of them were going "skinny
dipping". This was to be their secret and Lucy kept it
her whole life.
As that vacation winds to a close, a tragedy occurs. Frank is
struck by lightning and his mind is permanently addled. Mentally
he has become child-like and one day he goes away, never to
return. His departure illuminates a lifetime of ambivalence
between Fey and her daughters, as their lives seemingly go in
different directions, and Fey's emotional state becomes more and
more erratic.
Lucy eventually settles in
Ohio working as a photography curator. After years of living
in an emotionally dysfunctional family, she is a guarded and
thick-skinned adult, with a bit of an edge. With her
father gone, and her relationship with her mother strained, her
only family left is her sister Anna, who is in and out of rehab
for alcoholism.
Eventually Lucy discovers that her mother is terminally ill.
Reluctantly, she goes to be by her side in Florida, despite their
past estrangement. With her difficult childhood memories
hanging over her, she does her best to comfort her mother.
She makes excuses for her sister, who is back again in rehab and
chosen not to come to her mother's side.
Just when Lucy thinks she can come to terms with her mother's passing, Fey tells her that her father is still alive and living in Florida. This revelation puts Lucy's world in a tailspin, and brings her past crashing back.
You cannot help but identify with Lucy and her problems as Stacy Sims cleverly strips away the veneer of this family, revealing their warts, their sins and things best kept private. The characters in this novel are hard people to like. But just when I thought I couldn't stand them anymore, I found myself loving them as I wiped the tears from my eyes.
Swimming Naked is an emotional debut novel about a young woman coming to grips with her past - a past shaped by her mother. It is Lucy’s one treasured memory - an evening swim with her mother - that helps her to forgive and, ultimately, let her go. This novel illustrates how the power of a single memory can transform an entire relationship.
About the author:
Stacy Sims has worked
in advertising, public relations and graphic design. She
currently writes a monthly column for Cincinnati Magazine.
This is her first novel.
Swimming Naked