Fiction

A Visceral, Big-Hearted Coming-of-Age Story With Deep Roots

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I spent the past few months catching up on some of the big books of 2024 and learned about today’s book recommendation through Barnes & Noble’s Book of the Year Finalists list. The synopsis captured my attention because I love generational tales and stories about complicated families. I didn’t realize it was about a biracial girl until I started reading the book, and this made it all the more compelling. While I’m not white, I do know what it’s like to feel a bit on the outside as a biracial African American person and to feel uncomfortably conspicuous as the only Black person around. Based on the praise the book received, I expected a good story and got a great one.

Swift River book cover

Swift River by Essie Chambers

Diamond and her dad were the only Black people in Swift River until her dad vanished, and then she was it. Now it’s just Diamond and her mom, a white woman determined to hold onto the only home she knows and broken by her husband’s disappearance. Diamond’s mom is certain the life insurance they’re owed will change their lives for the better, but Diamond isn’t so sure. She’s barely scraping by on a deeper level than money can fix when, by happenstance, she connects for the first time with a member of her dad’s family. So begins an enduring exchange of letters that unfolds generational turmoil between her paternal family and the town of Swift River, and shows Diamond a side of herself and her family she never knew.

Chambers has a real gift for description. I could taste the Doritos and feel the grime left by hitchhiking under the hot summer sun. There’s real tension in this story—between Diamond’s dad, who never finds his footing in Swift River, and her mom, who clings to the place; between Diamond and her mom, who acts more like a roommate than a parent; between Diamond’s family and Swift River. And yet one of my favorite storylines in the book centers around connection—a friendship Diamond strikes up with a fellow outcast. It brought me back to aimless days with my high school friends and how we tried to carve out a place for ourselves in a world where we felt we didn’t belong.

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