Thank you to #NetGalley.

I don't know why I didn't read this book sooner since it was one of my favorite books of 2020. Hard to believe it's her debut novel too. Come to find out at the end of the book that it was based on a true story of her Great-Aunt Florence.

I cried, I laughed and cannot believe all the goings on in 1934 with anti-semitism in Atlantic City and in hotels that refused to cater Jews. It's not about that but about a family struck by grief, the youngest daughter Fannie on bed rest for a pregnancy, Florence who was a world class swimmer who was going to swim the English channel but then a tragedy strikes and her family refuses to tell Fannie until she had the baby 2 months later because they didn't want her to know and obviously upset her because of her risky pregnancy.

A lot of this book resounded with me since it mentioned that Fannie and Florence (which was my mom's name too) were 7 years apart and hardly "knew" each other growing up because of their age difference. My sister and I are 5 years apart and a lot of what was written really hit home.

I didn't agree that they never told Fannie the tragedy of Florence and obviously happened like this in real life with the author's family.

Other plots were included of Stuart, who was in love with Florence and was her swim coach sort of and Anna, who came over from Germany and was Joseph's (the patriarch of the Adler family) friend in Hungary on a visa. She was trying to get her parents in the U.S. and Joseph was trying to help in that case too. Then there's Esther, the matriarch of this family who was a tough broad who treated Anna like she shouldn't be there. I loved Gussie, the precocious 7 year old daughter of Fannie and Isaac (Fannie's) husband who worked in the Adler bakery who was a no-good man who I found out in the end was true.

A beautifully written and well executed book. I genuinely appreciate family sagas, so this one took the cake. The storytelling is very effective and you dive in deep into a story right from the start. You definitely want to dive right in.

This book was an interesting read about a tragedy and how it affects everyone in the story. It had a happy enough ending, but a lot of the book was sad. I enjoyed reading it though, and overall I liked the story. I received a free copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

My favorite book of 2020!! Gorgeous story about love and loss, loosely based on the author's family history. Florence Adler is an amateur champion swimmer, training to swim the English Channel when she drowns tragically off the New Jersey shore. Her sister is on bed rest while awaiting the birth of her second child, after many attempts. Their family makes the fateful decision not to tell her sister about Florence's death, a decision that reverberates throughout the book and affects each character. A stunningly great story.

This debut novel, from the view points of seven people closely involved in the daily life of the Adler family of Atlantic City in the summer of 1934, is a quiet but ultimately effective story well told. Interestingly, the story is based in fact.

One member is the titular Florence Adler, a distance swimmer we meet in the first chapter and who becomes the centerpiece of the rest of the novel. The unspoken subject of the novel is the power, the dangers, the unspoken ills of secrets over time. This is a story of one family tragedy that results in decisions that seem odd. Esther and Jacob are the parents of this family and when tragedy strikes, she decides that it must be kept from her daughter Fannie, currently on bed rest in the hospital with a high risk pregnancy. Esther is a force of nature.

Perhaps the most wonderful character of all is seven year old Gussie. Seeing the world through her eyes was a delight; and also felt right. Her father, Isaac, Fannie’s husband, was not a delight. I haven’t seen a villain like him for a while but he was still a person. There is much discussion of the difficulty had by Jews in Europe attempting to emigrate to the United States as Hitler increased his power and all Jewish people were marginalized in areas under German influence. There is also detail on Jewish traditions celebrated by the family.

All in all, this was an enjoyable, interesting reading experience, an excellent break from heavier tomes and my usual mysteries. I do recommend it

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I enjoyed this novel, but not sure it is one that will stick with me long after reading like some books do. The book did combine my two favorite genres - historical fiction and family dramas, so that part was probably the highlight for me.

A wonderful, sad story of a family's ability to protect their weakest members while learning to cope with a heartbreaking tragedy. Rachel Beanland introduces us to the Adler family, each member tells their own version of the story as we learn their connection to the family's core. This family will embrace each other's secrets as their own to keep the family whole. From patriarch Joseph to granddaughter Gussie, each contributes to the spell Ms Beanland has woven to keep you reading long after...one more chapter...has passed.

I loved this book!!!! Beautifully written and so emotional! This novel is told from several points of view and it allowed the reader to really feel what each of these characters was thinking and what they were going through to cope with the tragedy that had occurred. I also love that is was based on a true story. Do not miss this book! Absolutely fabulous!!!

Looks like I'm an outlier for this book as it clearly resonated for so many. For me, it was a story that didn't really go anywhere. It's one of those "moment in time" books where there isn't really a major plot but it's more about the characters. Unfortunately, I felt rather detached from them. There was almost a play-like quality to the story, as if I was watching characters on stage.

I loved the different POVs, especially Anna and Stuart. Despite each only receiving limited page space, these two were the stand out characters for me. They were the most authentic.

Esther and Joseph were admirable as the family matriarch and patriarch, but I didn’t agree with the decisions they may. And Isaac was just a giant POS.

It’s hard to believe that Florence Adler Swims Forever is a debut novel. Rachel Beanland has stormed our literary beaches, and I hope she does it forever. Big thanks go to Net Galley and Simon and Schuster for the review copy. This book is for sale now.

The title character dies almost immediately, which is a bit unusual all by itself. The central storyline centers on Fannie, Florence’s sister, who is in the midst of a dangerous pregnancy. She’s already had one premature baby that died at 3 weeks, and so this one Is being closely monitored. Because of this, the family closes rank in order to prevent Fannie from knowing that Florence has died until after the baby’s birth, lest she miscarry. However, Fannie isn’t the main character; the point of view shifts between the present and the past, from one family member to another, eight all told, in fairly even fashion.

My first reaction to this premise—keeping her sister’s death from Fannie for what, two months—is that it’s far-fetched to think such a plan could succeed. But as the story unfolds, I realize that information was not a constant presence during the late 1930s, as it is now. There was no television yet; a radio was desirable, but not everyone had one. Fannie asks for a radio for her hospital room, but she’s told they’re all in use. Too bad, hon. Newspapers and magazines were explicitly forbidden for visitors to bring in; the lack of news is explained in general terms as “doctor’s orders,” and back then, doctors were like little gods. If “Doctor” said to jump, everyone, the patient most of all, leapt without question. And then I see the author’s note at the end, that this story is based on an actual event from her family’s history! It blows me away.

Besides Fannie and Florence, we have the parents, Joseph and Esther, who have a meaty, complicated relationship; Fannie’s husband Isaac, who is an asshole; Fannie and Isaac’s daughter, Gussie, who is seven; Florence’s swim coach, Stuart; and Anna, a German houseguest whose presence creates all sorts of conflict among the other characters. Anna’s urgent need to help her parents immigrate before terrible things happen to them is the story’s main link to the war. All characters except Stuart are Jewish.

Because I missed the publication date but was eager to dive into this galley, I supplemented my digital copy with an audiobook from Seattle Bibliocommons. This is a wonderful way to read, because when something seems unclear to me, I can switch versions, and in the end, I feel well grounded. The audio version is read by eight different performers, and the result is magnificent.

Read it in print, or listen to the audio; you really can’t go wrong. The main thing is that you have to read this book. As for me, I’ll have a finger to the wind, because I can’t wait to see what Beanland writes next.

A beautifully written debut novel from Rachel Beanland. The last page leaves you feeling like you know the characters and have experienced something that will stick with you for the next days or weeks. I cannot wait to ready more from this author.

Florence Adler swims forever is such a sad title when you actually realize the real meaning behind it. A death happens in the beginning of this story and it opens up to how a family copes with it. They decide not to tell Fannie who is in a high risk pregnancy and could lose the baby if she finds out of this death. I understand what this family was trying to do but wow, I was stressed for everyone trying to hide this secret. I also think if I was in Fannie’s situation I would be so upset if my family hid from me that my sister died! Not much else happens after this event takes place so I found myself losing interest quickly. I thought the authors note explaining that this was based off her family story made this feel more surreal.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Simon & Shuster for the copy of this book!

Set on the Atlantic City boardwalk and told from the perspectives of several members of a tight-knit Jewish family, FLORENCE ADLER SWIMS FOREVER is an engrossing, heartfelt debut.

The year is 1934, and Florence Adler, bolstered by her family’s support, is in training to swim the English Channel. The Adlers own a small business that allows them to spend the off-season in their beachfront home and cluster together in a small apartment above their bakery during the summer so that they can rent their house to tourists. The proximity to the beach has gifted Florence with a deep love of swimming, but it also has brought her family closer to Stuart, the young heir to a booming Atlantic City hotel who has sworn away his inheritance to coach a girls’ swimming team --- and fall in love with Florence.

The summer is off to a bit of an unusual start for the Adlers. Florence is preparing to leave for training in France; her sister, Fannie, is on bed rest in the hospital, awaiting her third baby after the dreadful loss of her second; Fannie’s daughter, Gussie, is living with her grandparents while her father, Isaac, sorts his life out; and the family is hosting Anna, a German girl whom their patriarch, Joseph, has rescued from Nazi-torn Europe.

And then the unthinkable happens. One sunny summer day, Florence heads out to sea for a swim and drowns. What makes the tragedy worse is that there was no good reason for it; she likely suffered a cramp or hit a swift undercurrent. All her family knows is that their baby, the light of their lives, is gone. Fearing another tragic loss, Florence and Fannie’s mother, Esther, decides that they all must keep the news from Fannie, who may not be able to bear the loss of her sister and her risky pregnancy. And so the Adler cohort --- Joseph, Esther, Isaac, Gussie, Anna and Stuart --- begin a summer of lies that starts to unravel long-held secrets and discontents.

Judaism plays a big role in the book's plot. Esther immediately calls upon the Jewish community to help cover up Florence’s death, while at the same time shirking several Jewish traditions in order to keep the news quiet, causing a bit of discord in the family and the community. But what Esther doesn’t know is that Florence and Fannie argued just before Florence’s death, and Fannie believes that the entire family has taken Florence’s side. Why else would they limit their visits and turn so glum when she brings up her sister? In a painful yet endearing moment, Stuart and Anna enlist Gussie to join the super-secret “Florence Adler Swims Forever Society,” a union with one shared goal: to make sure that Fannie doesn’t learn the truth about her sister’s death until she delivers a healthy baby.

As June turns to July, and the date of Florence’s would-be departure nears and passes, the Adler family begins to unravel. Esther, mourning the loss of her daughter, can no longer bear Anna’s presence in their home --- especially since Joseph has yet to supply a suitable explanation for his interest in her and her family. Anna, terrified for her parents living under Nazi rule, starts to take swimming lessons with Stuart as a way to insert some control into her life. And Isaac, facing the potential birth of another child, is feeling stifled by his life and makes some questionable investments that put not only his marriage but also the Adler family and even his estranged father at risk. Through it all, it is poor seven-year-old Gussie who holds the biggest secrets of all: her parents’ unhappiness, her love for Stuart, and the blossoming affection between Stuart and Anna.

The book is divided into three parts, each taking place over the course of a month. Within each part, we are given the perspectives of six different characters. Although this ultimately proves to be a very interesting way to tell the story, I found it difficult to attach to any one character when I began reading. For those who struggle with multiple perspectives, I urge you to read on anyway --- the Adler family and their friends are close-knit enough to keep every character in the forefront, and the structure of the novel allows each storyline to live on its own while furthering the plot as a whole.

FLORENCE ADLER SWIMS FOREVER is a perfect generational saga that explores the depths of the risks we are willing to take to protect those we love. The Adlers are complicated, and their decision to protect Fannie may seem unbelievable, but Beanland renders them so beautifully that she manages to pack the full breadth of human emotion into nearly every scene. Her prose is tender and frank, but it is her keen eye for emotional nuance that makes the book soar. It is not easy to begin a novel with such a gripping tragedy and convince your readers to sit with their heartache as they read on, but Beanland writes with such grace and compassion that the book is instantly engrossing, even for those who prefer “happy” stories.

Perfect for readers of AS CLOSE TO US AS BREATHING, THE BOSTON GIRL and WE ARE NOT OURSELVES, FLORENCE ADLER SWIMS FOREVER announces the arrival of a tremendous new talent and is sure to top many “Best Of” lists in a year that needs more heartfelt, unforgettable fiction.

Set in Atlantic City in the summer of 1934. From the start of the book I fell in love with the characters. A cast of 3 generations dealing with tragedy, love, fears and dreams. The characters will stay with you long after reading.

Florence Adler Swims Forever is an emotional page turner. I’m looking forward to more from this talented author, Rachel Beanland.
Thank you Netgalley.

For me this novel was just okay. Having grown up in South Jersey, I did enjoy the parts about Atlantic City and the surrounding area.

Thanks NetGalley for offering this copy to review.

This is a family saga that is told in 3 parts over 3 months in 1934. It begins with Florence Adler getting ready to swim the English Channel. Then there is a horrible tragedy. The Adler family and a German refugee and a swim coach deal with grief, loyalty, a character's pregnancy, some romance, a rocky marriage, and a secret.

I was transported to pre-World War II Atlantic City was at the time. I felt the Adler family's pain. Loss is something we can all relate to. Knowing that the story is based on the author’s family made the book very powerful.

Thanks to netgalley For providing an advance copy. Loved this book, especially the setting, which takes place in the 1930s. The entire premise of the book is preposterous, yet you will be sucked into it and questioning whether or not what was done should have been done. Great characters that I will remember forever.

Beautiful story and beautifully written
Story of family ties that bind and break and reunite
Love loss hopes dreams and trials.
I look forward to more from this author

Florence Adler Swims Forever is told tells the story of an extended Jewish family living in Atlantic City in the 1930a – the parents, their two daughters and granddaughter. The family suffers a terrible loss and choses to not tell the pregnant daughter that is in the hospital on bedrest. The lies and secrets of this family are slowly presented to the reader as each person deals with their own demons. I would like to have seen more robust characters in the novel to understand some of the reactions. The story dragged a bit in the middle and the ending was quite abrupt. Thank you to Net Galley and Simon and Schuster Publishing for allowing me to read and give an unbiased review.