SWIMMING LESSONS by Mary Alice Monroe
Mary Alice Monroe is a writer with a cause. In most of her books she provides an environmental background that addresses some need to protect nature's children. In the THE BEACH HOUSE and again in its sequel SWIMMING LESSONS she uses the plight of loggerhead turtles as her backdrop. Wisely she puts a well-written plot in the foreground.
SWIMMING LESSONS is the story of Toy Sooner. She played a role in THE BEACH HOUSE but in SWIMMING LESSONS she is the star of the show. Toy is a single mother living on the Isle of Palms in South Carolina. She and her daughter rent a house that belonged to her beloved mentor Miss Lovie.
Still important in her life are Cara, Flo and Emmi, a collection of women who make up the group known as "the turtle ladies." Toy and her daughter Little Lovie are also a part of this group. The lives of these women sound almost idyllic but there are problems lurking beneath the surface. Flo is getting older and has to decide how she is going to face her senior years. Emmi is going through a bad divorce and doesn't know how to recapture the joy of being part of a marriage and family. Cara and her husband desperately want a baby but are so far unsuccessful and her body clock is ticking.
Toy has gotten her college degree and is working at the Aquarium in Charleston. She still fights her insecurities while gaining more and more experience with her beloved turtles. She rescues them and then cares for them.
The first third to half of the book focuses more on the turtles than on the humans in the story, and for me that was a problem. I wanted more of Mary Alice the storyteller than Mary Alice the environmentalist. But then suddenly the plot kicked in and I was hooked. I rode on the liquid wind of Mary Alice Monroe's words to the warm and heartfelt ending of the story.
There is a lot to be learned about loggerhead turtles and their plight in SWIMMING LESSONS but even better, there is a tender and dramatic story waiting to be explored. Mary Alice Monroe is a storyteller first and foremost and that accounts for her legion of admirers. The fact that she adds in an environmental angle in her books only shows the heart and depth of the woman behind the book.
Dive into SWIMMING LESSONS and let the beauty of Monroe's words and the glory of her passions wash over you. She is an exceptionally fine writer and also someone to admire for her devotion to her causes.
SWIMMING LESSONS, along with a companion children's book titled TURTLE SUMMER: A JOURNAL FOR MY DAUGHTER, is published by Mira Books. It contains 429 pages and sells for $21.95.