This is a memorable book. The characters are distinct and we get to know all of them. Hard-working and well-meaning Esther and Joseph, adventurous and tragic Florence, traditional and sad Fannie, despicable Issac, quiet and determined Anna, upstanding golden boy Stuart, and sweet, feisty Gussie. The writing depicts very well the times and how this family deals with a tragic event. The story seems to move slowly during much of the book only to speed up and seem a bit rushed in the ending.

This is an enjoyable summer read. It was interesting to learn in the author's notes that the story is based on a true event from the author's own family background.

I loved this wonderful story about a tragedy and a family coping in Atlantic City 1930’s. I grew to love the characters. I will be looking to more by this author. Recommended for book clubs. Thank you Net Galley for the chance to read this great book.

Very interesting, intriguing story about the effects of the sudden tragic death of the title character. A decision is made to keep the knowledge from one of them (the sister who is in on bed rest in the hospital awaiting birth of her third child, hoping to avoid the tragedy that occurred during her second pregnancy.) Set in Atlantic City in summer of 1934 it is filled with descriptions of that summer holiday destination, Gertrude Ederly, Dionne quintuplets, Lindbergh baby, the ominous news from Nazi Germany. I found it a very informative read, a well told story with wonderful character development. A perfect summer read.

Summer 1934 in Atlantic City NJ. The summer os just starting and Florence has one thing on her mind - successfully swimming the English Channel. Then tragedy strikes and begins the tale of a family dealing with the tragedy. Such a beautifully written first novel. Make sure to read the back of the book to see what on inspired this story.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the the eARC.

Summer Atlantic City 1934, we meet Florence Adler a college student with the goal to swim across the English Channel. Tragedy strikes and we follow members of the Alder family as they cope to make sense of unfortunate events. Secrets are kept. This is a character driven historical fiction novel told from multiple points of view.
I did enjoy it, with a couple of caveats. I thought the middle of the book dragged a bit and the ending was perhaps too neatly wrapped up. The summer setting in Atlantic City was well done, the characters are interesting and fairly well developed, and yes the Author’s note certainly makes the story more impactful.

Florence Adler Swims Forever is a wonderful story of a Jewish American family living in Atlantic City in 1934 and the lengths people go for the ones they love. My family actually went through something similar where we felt it was better to keep something secret temporarily for the health of someone else and I related to the struggles surrounding that aspect of the story. I loved reading from all the characters perspectives. and then to read the authors note after - made it all the more special of a story.

It was hard to believe that Florence Adler Swims Forever was Rachel Beanland's debut novel. The writing was masterful as was her storytelling. I commend her for being able to transport her family stories that were told over several generations into this wonderful, heartfelt book. The characters and her visual descriptions were both believable and so well done. Within its pages the many feelings of sadness, loss, grief, acceptance, deception, hope, frustration and above all love were felt. If Florence Adler Swims Forever was any indication of Rachel Beanland's art for writing and storytelling, I can't wait to see what she produces in the future.

Written in three parts, over the months of the summer of 1934, each chapter of Florence Adler Swims Forever, was told by one of the characters in the book. Their connections to other characters in this book were explained and their histories were detailed. Each of the main characters got to express their point of view in alternating chapters. Personal traits, feelings, and involvements with other characters were explained in detail. Esther, Joseph, Fannie, Florence, Isaac, Gussie, Stuart and Anna were introduced and their contributions to the story were presented.

Florence Adler Swims Forever took place in Atlantic City in the Summer of 1934. The Adler family had lived in Atlantic City for many decades. They owned a bakery in Atlantic City with a small apartment upstairs where they lived during the summer months. While they lived in the apartment over the bakery, their home, several blocks away, was being rented out for the summer. Joseph Adler had immigrated from Hungary to the United States when he was a young man. He had found work at one of the hotels in Atlantic City as a waiter. That was how he met Esther and fell instantly in love with her. Esther and Joseph married and had two daughters Fannie and Florence who were seven years apart in age. With lots of hard work, Joseph's and Esther's bakery became a big success.

Florence Adler was the younger of the two Adler daughters. She was an excellent and strong swimmer and had high expectations of adding her name to the few women who had succeeded in swimming across the English Channel. On that fateful summer day, Florence, greeted her niece, Gussie as she made her way onto the beach. Florence's intention was to go out for a practice swim but first she gave Gussie the attention she craved. Florence also made small talk with her family's guest, Anna. Anna was from Germany. Florence's father, Joseph was able to bring Anna to the United States on a Student's Visa. Life in Germany for Jewish families was getting more and more dire. Joseph and Anna's mother had known each other when they were younger. Joseph had been able to help get Anna to the United States but was unsuccessful so far in being able to help Anna's parents. Anna was sharing Florence's room and living with the Adler's. Florence eventually put on her red bathing cap and excused herself to practice her swimming. A little while later, the sharp trills of whistles could be heard. All of those on the beach ran to where the life boats were seen going to save someone. As everyone held their breath, Florence was transported back to shore. Many worked to save her but it was too late. The Adler's tragically lost their younger daughter that day. Their grief was insurmountable but they had to keep it a secret for a while. Fannie Adler, the older Adler daughter was on bed rest for a complicated pregnancy. She was being kept in the hospital until she was ready to deliver. Fannie had lost the baby from her previous pregnancy and they did not want anything to go wrong with this pregnancy. Esther Adler felt that Fannie should not be told about her sister's death. Keeping secrets proved to be a very difficult and sometimes heartbreaking thing to do for all those involved in trying to keep it. Florence Adler Swims Forever was about Florence's death and how it affected the people in her family and those that loved her most.

Once I began reading Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland I could not put this book down. The characters were delightful and yet complex. I loved how the story came from the author's own family history. It was a wonderful book that I recommend highly. 5/5 strong stars.

I received a complimentary copy of Florence Adler Swims Forever from Simon & Schuster through Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This precisely written based-on-real-people novel captured my heart far more than I expected! The cast of characters felt very real to me, probably because they were modeled after real people.

Florence Adler is a swimmer in the 1930s, with a goal of swimming the English channel. She is a loving aunt to niece Gussie, and she's very close to her sister Fannie. Fannie is married to Isaac and still grieving the loss of their infant son, but she's pregnant again and determined to do whatever she can to keep her baby safe this time. Fannie's and Florence's parents Joseph and Esther own a successful bakery which they built from the ground up. The family's Jewish faith is very important to them. To round out the main characters there is also Stuart, Florence's swimming coach, and Anna, the German daughter of family friends who has been sent to America to escape Hitler's regime.

One overarching theme in this book is secrets, and nearly every character has at least one. Watching them struggle to keep certain things hidden and the fallout when the secrets are discovered kept me turning pages. I enjoyed reading the same events from different characters' points of view. The author clearly had a good command of cultural history and the Atlantic City area during that time period because it felt so real to me that I could almost picture it.

Another note: keep reading after the last page (which ended rather abruptly if you ask me - I was left wanting more) to read the author's acknowledgements and learn about the family upon whom the characters were modeled.

I don't know what I thought this was going to be about - I liked the title and when I cracked it open, it immediately placed itself in Atlantic City, which is right down the coast from our shore house - but it was a much different book than I was expecting. Something happens early on and I thought oh wow this author is really going for it. I liked it despite hating one of the characters from jump and the presence of a child narrator which I also rarely like. Fair play - there are numerous narrators, be prepared.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Really enjoyed this book. An easy to follow story about a family who suffers a loss and the steps they take to protect a loved one. Love the setting of long ago days at the boardwalk and the lifestyle of a summer tourist beach town. Well written with relatable characters.

The title character of this book is dead before we even get to know her. Her personality, strengths, flaws are all revealed through the people who knew and loved her during her short life. Her orthodox Jewish family’s response to her death is a blend of the traditional and the bizarre as they attempt to protect Florence’s sister. The other (multiple) story lines in this book include a family trying to leave Nazi Germany, a summer’s childhood spent at the Jersey shore, a son trying to grow up independent of his wealthy, controlling father, and a con man trying to sell swampland in Florida.

“Florence Adler” is an appealing historical novel that provides a window into a long lost place and time.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Wonderful! A very sweet and delightful book, despite the heart-rending beginning. I was wholly unprepared for the “shocking tragedy” that the back page blurb mentioned and was subsequently kind of angry with how the first quarter of this book caught me off guard and was so dang sad. But the rest of the book was definitely worth suffering through the sadness of the start. The author’s notes at the end explaining her reasons for writing this story are meaningful as well.

Wonderful story about Atlantic City life and a Jewish family. I had no idea how hard it was to get paperwork together for Jewish people to escape to USA. Florence was gone so quickly but set into motion changes to so many lives. A sequel would be nice to see what happened to the characters.

This touching family tale is loosely based on the author's own family. Its freshness and originality stand out right from the beginning when the author boldly kills of the title character in the first chapter. Florence Adler is in training to swim the English channel when she inexplicably drowns in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Her mother decides to try to keep her death a secret because she doesn't want Florence's pregnant hospitalized older sister to find out and suffer a miscarriage. Meanwhile, the family has taken in a mysterious young woman whom Florence's father has helped emigrate from Nazi Germany. This is only a small portion of what this family is dealing with in a summer full of secrets and revelations. At times this book will break your heart, at times it will make you smile at times it may even make you angry. Ultimately, however, the book is a tribute to the resilience of family even in the face of almost unbearable tragedy.

I received this book "Florence Adler Swims Forever" from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own. I liked that it was "based" on a true story and set in Atlantic City NJ. I thought that this was an interesting different story. An enjoyable read. The authors notes at the end were really interesting too.

Atlantic City, Summer 1934: A family grapples with tragedy and secrets. The narration rotates among different characters, which provides a more well-rounded picture. I would have liked more resolution in the end.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC.

I originally picked up Florence Adler Swims Forever because of the gorgeous cover, and because it was about family secrets. I went in without knowing much more than that.

After a compelling surprise in the beginning of the book, I was completely drawn in. Typically when a story is told from multiple POVs, I get frustrated by the lack of character development, but that wasn’t the case here. I also loved learning more about Jewish traditions surrounding death and grief, early understandings in the US of Hitler’s growing power in Europe, and (oddly) real estate development in Florida.
If you enjoy family-driven historical fiction and/or stories about secrets and sacrifice, I think you’d like Florence.

I’d recommend avoid reading the full synopsis, and make sure to read the author’s note at the end!

Thank you to @simonandschuster for the advance copy via @netgalley

This book had so many different themes going on but weaved together in a very satisfying read. It’s about children and siblings reaching for their dreams and trying to get along, and trying to not disappoint their parents. And about mothers and fathers wanting what’s best for the children. Told under the backdrop of Atlantic City beach New Jersey in the 1930s just as the situation in Germany gets untenable for Jewish families, this is one Jewish American families story of that summer. I will definitely recommend this book to friends and colleagues.

Have you read a book where you not only got a great story, but also gained amazing new historical, religious, and cultural knowledge? I have gotten lucky with quite a few of these recently, and the just released FLORENCE ADLER SWIMS FOREVER by Rachel Beanland is no exception. Facts relevant not only to the story but to the historical time period may be mentioned just briefly in the context of the book, but they are so interesting that they then may inspire you to look online for more extensive details and rich background regarding — But watch out, here is your rabbit hole warning! They prove to be so intriguing in all the best ways: how and why did I never know this before... or wow, I didn’t know anything about that and now I know so much more..., etc; that you may lose large chunks of time diving into all of these various historical tidbits.

However, first before we discuss those facts, let’s briefly touch on the unique story of the book inspired by the author’s grandmother’s true life experience dealing with, alongside her other family members, her aunt’s unexpected tragic drowning death. Florence, in the book and in real life, was training to be the first Jewish woman to swim the English Channel inspired by Olympic Gold Medalist Gertrude Ederle’s famous pioneering swim in 1926 where she became the first woman to swim the Channel. However, while doing a training swim in the waters of Atlantic City she drowns, and her niece alongside her parents are there to witness the lifeguards unsuccessfully reviving her after their rescue. But the crossroads and pinnacle of the book occurs, just as in real life, when Florence’s mother decides that all the family will lie and hold the truth of Florence’s passing from her sister, who is in the hospital on bed rest for an extremely high risk pregnancy after previously losing her premature son. The book then proceeds to follow along seven various family members and friends, some based accurately on real life people, others varying greatly from their real life counterparts, and lastly some characters that are completely fictitious, during the summer of 1934 as they each navigate the death of Florence. As mentioned by the book publishers and author, this book tries to explore the lengths someone will go to to protect the people that they love and to give their child every chance possible, as well as at what costs they are willing to take to do so. In various interviews, the author has mentioned the women in her family have always admired the strength in Florence’s mother decision to withhold the truth, which they deem to be the correct choice. However, the jury is still out for the author whether Florence’s sister should have gotten to receive the shocking news. In today’s world of social media and instant 24-7 news, would it even be possible to keep such a secret today? To also give a perspective of how grief was sometimes handled during those times, Beanland has said because of the extreme pain and grief, her family even destroyed all the family photos of Florence and never mentioned her name after her death.

Now onto the interesting historical details that I just had to look into after the book’s completion, like for example, Martin Couney’s premature baby incubator exhibits that were famously held in Coney Island, Atlantic City, World’s Fairs, and other Exhibitions. Being born 2 1/2 months premature I was astonished to learn of the origins of the incubator and neonatal care. I had never heard of this carnival side show attraction that eventually led to US hospitals and physicians finally adopting the incubator preemie care and standards set forth by Couney and his team of doctors and nurses. Martin Couney used incubators modeled after France’s invention to save the lives (per his accounts) of 6,500 preemies from hospitals across the nation at a 85% success rate- but what is more mind blowing is that all of the expensive daily preemie care was being taken care of by the tourists’ entry fees without any charge to the parents. From 1903 to 1943, for 4 decades, he did these exhibits advocating for preemies, and even became friends and professional peers with Julius Hess, believed to be the ‘father of American neonatology’. This book has highlighted a time period where pregnant women still smoked, no set of quintuplets had had all babies survive before, and incubators were a ‘new-fangled’ treatment.

Secondly, because of Florence’s death and her Jewish background, the rituals and traditions of Jewish mourning are performed and mentioned in the book. I was able to access a wealth of information and learn so much regarding these rites and their translated meanings through a not-for-profit called MyJewishLearning.com, in case anyone else would like to know more regarding these as well. The book also highlighted the old laws of no mourning rituals, burial rites, or marked graves for infants who passed before 31 days old as they were not considered viable or human beings. Recent law modifications regarding neonatal mourning practices were made in 1992 as a result of the work of Rabbi Stephanie Dickstein.

Next, the book also highlighted the ‘social discrimination’ against Jews that still continued in the hotel industry at that time, as well as the controversies surrounding interfaith marriages. Online articles from that time period cite that the AAA was asked to withdraw their seal of approval from any hotels that deny accommodations to Jewish guests or have any discriminatory guest policies . An article from 1956 also revealed that 3/10 AAA-approved Michigan accommodations barred Jewish guests. I had no idea that US restaurants and hotels barred Jewish guests in that time period, just unbelievable and abhorrent. It reminded me of the movie based on the historical true life GREEN BOOK, that African Americans relied on while travelling to help them know which accommodations would allow their stay or dining — similarly, in some Jewish people’s cases they relied on AAA’s approval and star ratings to determine the same and yet these weren’t always reflective of establishments that were non-discriminatory and allowed entry for all. Some hotels even to skirt the anti-discriminatory law signaled their true intents by making sure to list that there were churches nearby in their details. Jewish guests would at times write letters or call for reservations at some hotel establishments only to be denied or told there were no accommodations, just to be told the opposite if they called or wrote back with non-Jewish names. For more articles and information, a source that I found very useful was the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, if anyone would like to know more.

Lastly, because of Florence’s desire to swim the English Channel, Gertrude Ederle’s English Channel completion, background, and life were also fascinating to look into. The “Queen of the Waves” and “America’s Best Girl” not only smashed all previous records held by all the men who had completed the Channel swim before her finish in 1926, but she also held the record until 1950! She was voted the top American athlete in 1926, even edging out Babe Ruth. She inspired thousands of American women to learn to swim and earn Red Cross swimming certificates. There are some amazing videos online showing her prepping for the swim, swimming amidst strong waves and currents, completing the Channel swim, and being celebrated in NY’s first ticker tape parade amongst throngs of celebrating crowds numbering in the millions.

If you are a fan of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel TV show or are nostalgic for a place like the Atlantic City Boardwalk, where mermaids swam in glass tanks or horses high dived at the Steel Pier, pick up a copy of FLORENCE ADLER SWIMS FOREVER from your local indie bookstore or library for your summer beach or pool read!

Thank you to Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest opinion and review.
Florence Adler Swims Forever is the story of the Adler family in 1930's Atlantic City. Florence has returned from college for the summer and is ready to swim across the Atlantic Ocean. Along the way, her family have their doubts. Some try to stop her, others cheer her on until tragedy strikes and the family is taken down a path they never imagined.

I had really high hopes for this debut novel from Rachel Beanland. It has been on my Want to Read radar for months now, so I was ecstatic to get an ARC! I dove in right away, but found that the novel didn't hold my attention. I almost had to force myself to read it. I wasn't expecting the huge tragedy so early on, and although that didn't sway me from the story, I found that once the tragedy took place, not much else happened in the story line. I had a really hard time getting excited for the other characters in the book. They didn't really seem to have a story line other than Florence's story line, which was great for the first part of the book, but after getting towards the middle, end, there just wasn't much substance there for me.