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That sinking feeling: The Swimmers, by Julie Otsuka, reviewed

26 February 2022

9:00 AM

26 February 2022

9:00 AM

The Swimmers Julie Otsuka

Fig Tree, pp.176, 12.99

Julie Otsuka has good rhythm, sentences that move to a satisfying beat. Even as her tone shifts — from tender to funny to cynical to sinister — the beat goes on uninterrupted. In this, her third novel, the narrative has a steady flow. The Swimmers traces the cracks that develop in an underground pool, and in a woman’s mind, and the slow and unavoidable deterioration of both.

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