From
ThriftBooks-Dallas, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
AbeBooks Seller since 2 July 2009
Pages are clean and are not marred by notes or folds of any kind. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0316217387I2N00
When Magdalena learns that her younger sister has disappeared, she does not immediately panic. A free-spirit, Jadranka has always been prone to mysterious absences and she has never seen a future on Rosmarina, the isolated Croatian island where their family has lived for generations. But when weeks pass with no word, Magdalena leaves behind her Adriatic home and sets off to New York to find her sister. Magdalena's search begins to unspool the dark history of their family: from the brother and sister who fought as partisans during WWII, at a terrible price; to their children, forced to make devastating choices under the pall of the Soviet era; to their children, the sisters at the center of the novel, who carry the family's secrets in their blood. A haunting and sure-footed debut, THE FIRST RULE OF SWIMMING explores the legacy of betrayal and persecution in a place where beauty is fused inextricably with hardship, where nonconformity - especially by women - is stifled by cultural taboo, and where the lure of leaving is countered by the summons of family and home.
About the Author: Courtney Angela Brkic is the author of Stillness: And Other Stories - named a 2003 Best Book by the Chicago Tribune, a Notable Book by the New York Times, and a Barnes & Noble Discover pick. Her memoir The Stone Fields was shortlisted for the Freedom of Expression Award by the Index on Censorship. Brkic has been the recipient of a Whiting Writers' Award and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. She teaches in the MFA programme at George Mason University, and lives in New York City.
Title: The First Rule of Swimming: A Novel
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Publication Date: 2013
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: As New
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket