The Swimmers: A Novel

I had initially thought The Swimmers was an essay collection. It had the feel of a writer extolling the virtues of swimming together. Then it pivoted to the story of a woman losing her memory and moving into a home. Only afterwards did I notice the "A Novel" section of it.

The novel starts with the story of swimmers. These are a group of casual swimmers that go at their swimming time each day. They are not accomplished like the fast masters swimmers at another time. They have their unspoken rules and each have their own lap goals. One day a mysterious crack appears in the pool. This leads to fear and eventually a pool shutdown period.

The pivot is then to the life of an older women who is moved to a memory care home. She no longer has her freedom. The stipulations are called out in detail. The family makes sacrifices to put her there. She doesn't want to be there. It feels like a poor way to live out one's life.