Swift River

'I loved everything about it' Curtis Sittenfeld

By: Essie Chambers

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Paperback | 24 June 2025 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
304 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
19.9 x 13.0 x 1.8

Paperback

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** Winner of the 2024 BARNES AND NOBLE DISCOVER PRIZE | Longlisted for the 2024 CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE and the 2025 ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN FICTION | An ELLE, NPR and WASHINGTON POST Best Book of 2024 **

'Brilliant, funny, warm-hearted' Guardian

'I love a novel this much maybe just once or twice a year' Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Romantic Comedy

What if the price of moving forward is losing the only family you've ever known?

Summer, 1987. On the sweltering streets of the dying New England mill town of Swift River, sixteen-year-old Diamond Newbury is desperately lonely. It's been seven years since her father disappeared, and while her mother is determined to move on, Diamond can't distance herself from his memory. When Diamond receives a letter from a relative she has never met, she unearths long-buried secrets of her family's past and discovers a legacy she never knew she was missing. The more she learns, however, the harder it becomes to reconcile her old life with the one she wants to lead.

So begins an epic story spanning the twentieth century that reveals a much larger picture of prejudice and love, of devotion and abandonment - and will change Diamond's life forever.

'Swift River broke my heart, and then offered me hope' Ann Napolitano, author of Hello Beautiful

'Sensational' Paul Beatty, author of The Sellout

Industry Reviews

A beautiful multi-generational story of belonging, identity and what it means to find yourself when you've lost your family. Sentence by sentence, the writing can take your breath away.

Chambers' lyrical prose and rich, evocative descriptions create a vivid sense of place and time, immersing the reader in this expansive story of prejudice and love. - Glamour

Anyone longing to get swept up in another summer read like Where the Crawdads Sing, look no further. Opening in 1987 but spanning multiple generations, this is the story of 16-year-old Diamond, and the mysterious disappearance of her father. - i news

A brilliant, funny, warm-hearted first novel. - Guardian

Just the book we all need to revive our souls. It's told with such grace, humor, and above all, heart. I could follow Diamond and her captivating journey forever. It's heartbreaking. It's beautiful. This epic novel deserves all the attention in the world. A must read!

A fearless, cinematic exploration of loss and inheritance, written with fierce urgency and overflowing compassion . . . an addicting mix of hope and suspense.

Chambers masterfully weaves this story together, building characters and worlds so real I felt pangs of nostalgia while turning the pages. This is a voice I'd follow anywhere.

Diamond is a character to fall in love with - and an equal magic of Chambers' warm, deft and humane narration is the way that we come to see, through just one girl, her fractured family and her shards of community . . . the story of Swift River will go straight to your heart - it's a really special book.

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