This is a really lovely collection of short stories. Swearingen’s stories read as a cross between Jay McInerney and JD Salinger, both of whom I love. For me the standout was the titular How To Walk On Water, which is about a man whose mother survived an attack by a serial killer while he was a child in his crib. Swearingen’s writing is both literary and totally accessible, and I found this collection weird, wonderful and compulsively readable. Like all books of short stories, I connected more with some then others. But regardless Swearingen is a lovely writer who sucks you into her prose. I’d be very interested in reading a full book, maybe a mystery, from her.

Thanks to NetGalley, New American Press and the author for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

How to Walk on Water is one of the best books I’ve read this year. It’s one of those books that you’re sad to finish because you just want the experience to continue. Characters who are deeply flawed but you find yourself rooting for them.

Haunting, beautifully written short story collection from a writer to watch. The stories plunge into intense, off-kilter situations. The settings focus on the Midwest; the title story is set in Seattle. The images are keenly observed and compressed, extending beyond the frame of the page to suggest backstory and foreshadow the future -- the forgotten mirror, the torn postcard, the open can of corn. My two favorite stories were "Boys on a Veranda" and "Advice for the Haunted," seemingly but vaguely linked in an enticing way.

Highly recommended.

Many thanks to NetGalley and New American Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Do I have to stop saying I’m not a fan of short story collections now? This is the third this month I’ve very much enjoyed. These are dark and haunting and very easy to fly through.

A thrillingly enjoyable debut collection of short stories about people who seek out trouble. These stories have the feel of a Hitchcock movie or a film noir - they possess the same urgency and addictive allure, the thrill of following characters as they make bad decisions and sink further from normalcy. In many of these stories the motivator is boredom or frustration at the mundanity of their daily lives, a loose covering for the tumult bubbling within. As one character explains, ‘sometimes a man hides from trouble, and sometimes a man goes looking for it because he can’t resist its pull, because trouble is a release of sorts’. In one story, a couple purchases the apartment of a recently deceased recluse and lives amongst her possessions, drinking her tinned soup and wearing her silk underwear. In another, a petty criminal returns to his mother’s where he attempts to relive the night she was violently raped, whilst he as a baby slept peacefully a room away. In my favourite, a PhD student of grasshoppers and her elderly neighbour form a loose alliance against the partying college girls who live between them, which turns into obsession.

This is a series of short stories = twists on mundane life. People all going through the motions, whatever they may be, of their lives when someone or something comes along that skews it all. That person or thing can seem silly or absurd at first blush, which then reveals itself to be a window into something much more.

As there seems to be more atmosphere than action, reading what is included, and left out, is important.

I was taken by surprise by this relatively short book of short stories. Short stories aren't usually my jam, they're difficult to get right, and I must not have realized that when I requested it from NetGalley. I'm glad I did though. Swearingen creates well-rounded characters in a short space, and each story made me feel things, whether discomfort, empathy, or suspense (I had to stop and resume "Advice for the Haunted" in the daylight).

The first story was my LEAST favorite, but it only got better from there. I generally felt like I was invested in the protagonists by the end of the first page, and at the end of each story I was left wanting more, to know how situations or characters ended up.

Review link to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/67676508-stephanie

Very enjoyable collection of short stories,that managed to be quirky and amusing and a little bit dark.
I think the short story is a difficult thing to crack,but this book did a great job,fully rounded characters in a short space of time.

Thank you to New American Press and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for fair and honest review.

How to Walk on Water and Other Stories is a beautifully haunting book. Short stories seem to be either easily forgotten or stay with you forever. This is a collection of stories that will stay with you. They are dark yet hopefully. Sad but lovely. Each a little different, at times I felt tearful and other times I had that feeling like when you watch a scary movie and you are waiting for something to happen. The endings give you room for thought beyond the pages. I really enjoyed this book and hope to read more from the author soon.

This book by Rachel Swearingen is a testimony to how much violence and depth there is in lives of people around us. The book talks about normal people like an au pair, investment bankers, mothers, sons, friends, roommates. The narrative takes you through a section of their lives which represent something which means a lot to them or show the layers in their personalities in a very raw manner. You have to be prepared to face the heartbreak, the crude reality, the suppression when you read through the stories. These stories do not inspire you, they do not give hope for something. They tell reality as it is, and in doing so, the stories become hard to go along with, at times.

The book starts with story of an investment banker, having a boring life, who meets an unusual girl. He is apprehensive of her ways. Her actions scare him but he still seeks her company. There is a story about an au pair, obsessed with film noir, loses a child she was looking after. In another story, there are roommates whose pranks on each other end badly. A son, who finds out how his mother survived a brutal attack when she was young and how that may have shaped her and his life. Two friends who are so close to each other that there is no place for anyone else.

Some stories are almost poetic. You enter world of the characters and it takes a while for you to come out and while you are reading the next story, the earlier one plays on your mind.