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Swim to Me A Novel Betsy Carter 9781565124929 Books

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Swim to Me A Novel Betsy Carter 9781565124929 Books

"Sometimes to be who you really are, you have to pretend you're already who you want to be."

At two-years old, Delores Walker's mother drops her into a lake leaving her to learn how to swim. During a summer vacation the Walker family drives from New York City south to Weeki Wachee Springs in Florida where Delores is captivated by the world of sequined tales and underwater fantasy. Several years later, 17-year old, Delores hops a Greyhound bus with a one-way ticket to become a mermaid in Weeki Wachee!

SWIM TO ME by author Betsy Carter is a quirky slice of 70s vintage Florida come to life, complete with aqua color schemes! It's delicious on so many levels!

There's tension in the Walker family and eventually, Delores' father, Roy walks out. Her mother is forced to work two jobs and care for Delores and her young brother, Westie. Delores discovers money and uses it to escape from the Bronx and move South to Weeki Wachee. She's determined to find her own way and make something out of her life.

SWIM TO ME is filled with a landscape of characters that could only exist in the sweltering muggy swamplands of northwest Florida. There's Thelma Foote whose business sense is able to keep Weeki Wachee running. Lester, a Merman, secretly in love with Delores who lays on a rock hoping to burn his acne away. TV Producer, Alan Sommers who comes up with the idea of Delores delivering the local weather on TV from a bathtub which makes her a huge star and an unlikely success. SWIM TO ME is a story about family, love, reinvention and it has a wonderful surprising ending.

On a personal note, I was fortunate to take my father to Weeki Wachee for his 70th birthday. He didn't know what to expect, but once we arrived, he understood, young beautiful women dressed up like mermaids. He loved watching the show and having his picture taken with several of the mermaids sitting on their rocks. There is a special magic of mermaids in Weeki Wachee Springs. It may have been the best time we've ever shared.


Tags : Swim to Me: A Novel [Betsy Carter] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <DIV> It's a fresh start for Delores Walker when she boards a Greyhound bus bound for Florida. Leaving the Bronx far behind,Betsy Carter,Swim to Me: A Novel,Algonquin Books,1565124928,Literary,Adolescence,Amusement parks;Fiction.,Teenage girls;Fiction.,Weeki Wachee (Fla.),Weeki Wachee (Fla.);Fiction.,AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY FICTION,American Contemporary Fiction - Individual Authors +,Amusement parks,FICTION Literary,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction General,Fiction-General,Fiction: general & literary,GENERAL,General & Literary Fiction,General Adult,Mermaids,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),Monograph Series, any,Teenage girls,United States

Swim to Me A Novel Betsy Carter 9781565124929 Books Reviews

This was different really enjoyed especially how you can change your circumstances by the way you think positive thinking can help you see possibly
This story about Wiikii Watchee and the Circus is loosely based in the Gulf Coast Tampa area. Since I live in St. Petersburg and have lived in Venice I know that the distance makes it a little more difficult than it seemed to be in the commute between these cities for the story. The characters were pretty well developed which made the story interesting, but I thought the ending was weak.
Once I started this book I was facinated by the story and just could not put it down. I felt it was so well written and kept my interest up on every page. The ending left me wanting something, it wanted more story at the end that is what was wrong. I wish the author could have kept going on a bit more with what transpiried after the theme park was changed and how they all were affected by it. I wanted to hear more about her father and brother too.
Betsy Carter takes us through the events of a teen aged girl's separation from her home and a family that may reasonably be characterized as toxic. At the same time, Carter creates a wonderfully nuanced look into the near-lethal feelings of her heroine's parents toward each other and the limitations of their lives. At times, the work can be compared to "A Streetcar Named Desire" for its emotional intensity and the author's capacity to engage the reader. WELL DONE.
I bought the kindle version if this book for a dollar on , not knowing anything about the author or anything. I just liked the colorful cover and the story intrigued me. I thought it was a great story and would recommend it but the editor needs to 're- read the book. Almost halfway through, this chapter appeared and I was completely confused throughout because it evidently belonged at the end...and it was found...again..nearer to the end. Big error..if they fix that, I would give it four stars. Mary F
"Swim to Me" was a pleasant escape, but unfortunately not as good as I'd hoped. The story has promise, but never really gets off the ground, sunk as it is by leaden prose. The characterizations are shallow, the setting not evoked as well as it could have been. Some conversations between characters seem natural, but others very much do not. For example, if you were reunited with a family member after two years apart would you sit silently while others in the room discuss business, never exchanging a word with your relative? Some vocabulary is used incorrectly, and the geography is often wrong. A hurricane comes into Tampa from the west, for example, then abruptly turns around and goes back into the Gulf of Mexico.

But what I did like about "Swim to Me" was that it made me remember childhood trips to Weeki Wachee in the 1970s, driving through Tampa and to Orlando. If all you want is a little nostalgia for old Florida, with low literary expectations, "Swim to Me" can fit the bill.
The biggest problem was a chapter from near the end(?) popping up in the middle. Estranged people are suddenly talking when no reconciliation had happened yet. Either this is part of a series or there was no resolution...of anything. All relationships, jobs, futures were all left hanging. There were good parts of the narrative and plot that kept me going to the end.
"Sometimes to be who you really are, you have to pretend you're already who you want to be."

At two-years old, Delores Walker's mother drops her into a lake leaving her to learn how to swim. During a summer vacation the Walker family drives from New York City south to Weeki Wachee Springs in Florida where Delores is captivated by the world of sequined tales and underwater fantasy. Several years later, 17-year old, Delores hops a Greyhound bus with a one-way ticket to become a mermaid in Weeki Wachee!

SWIM TO ME by author Betsy Carter is a quirky slice of 70s vintage Florida come to life, complete with aqua color schemes! It's delicious on so many levels!

There's tension in the Walker family and eventually, Delores' father, Roy walks out. Her mother is forced to work two jobs and care for Delores and her young brother, Westie. Delores discovers money and uses it to escape from the Bronx and move South to Weeki Wachee. She's determined to find her own way and make something out of her life.

SWIM TO ME is filled with a landscape of characters that could only exist in the sweltering muggy swamplands of northwest Florida. There's Thelma Foote whose business sense is able to keep Weeki Wachee running. Lester, a Merman, secretly in love with Delores who lays on a rock hoping to burn his acne away. TV Producer, Alan Sommers who comes up with the idea of Delores delivering the local weather on TV from a bathtub which makes her a huge star and an unlikely success. SWIM TO ME is a story about family, love, reinvention and it has a wonderful surprising ending.

On a personal note, I was fortunate to take my father to Weeki Wachee for his 70th birthday. He didn't know what to expect, but once we arrived, he understood, young beautiful women dressed up like mermaids. He loved watching the show and having his picture taken with several of the mermaids sitting on their rocks. There is a special magic of mermaids in Weeki Wachee Springs. It may have been the best time we've ever shared.