Swift River

A READ WITH JENNA TODAY SHOW BOOK CLUB PICK | A National Bestseller | Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize | One of The Washington Post’s Best Books of 2024 | An NPR Best Book of 2024 | An Elle Best Book of 2024 | A Boston Globe Best Book of 2024 ΓÇ£A book we all need to revive our soulsΓÇ¥ (Nicole Dennis-Benn): A ΓÇ£powerful novelΓǪ[that] broke my heart,and then offered me hopeΓÇ¥ (Ann NapolitanoNew York Times bestselling author of Hello Beautiful) about a complicated bond between mothers and daughtersthe disappearance of a fatherand the long-hidden history of a declining New England mill town. ItΓÇÖs the summer of 1987 in Swift Riverand Diamond Newberry is learning how to drive. Ever since her Pop disappeared seven years agoshe and her mother hitchhike everywhere they go. But thatΓÇÖs not the only reason Diamond stands out: sheΓÇÖs teased relentlessly about her weightand since PopΓÇÖs been goneshe is the only Black person in all of Swift River. This summerMa is determined to declare Pop legally dead so they can collect his life insurance moneyget their house back from the bankand finally move on. But when Diamond receives a letter from a relative sheΓÇÖs never metkey elements of PopΓÇÖs life are uncoveredand she is introduced to two generations of African American Newberry womenwhose lives span the 20th century and reveal a much larger picture of prejudice and abandonmentof love and devotion. As pieces of their shared past become clearerDiamond gains a sense of her place in the world and in her family. But how will what sheΓÇÖs learned of the past change her future? A ΓÇ£sparklingΓÇ¥ (The Washington Post)ΓÇ£poeticand propulsiveΓÇ¥ (NPR) debut of first friendshipsfamily secretsand finding the courage to let goSwift River heralds the arrival of a major new literary talent.