Historical fiction isn’t generally my thing but occasionally I find one I’m really interested in and connect with. I actually ended up really liking this one! The premise was unique and beautifully written.

Florence Adler Swims Forever is a very interesting read. Only one thing is certain. Families have secrets and family members grapple with different ways to handle these secrets. Grief quickly overwhelms this family and takes over their lives. There are a lot of characters running interference to keep things in balance. In her debut novel Rachel Beanland spins a very well told tale.

Florence Adler Swims Forever shows us the love family has for each other. There were so many sad stories in the Adler family but they really brought out the best in all of them (except Isaac, but he wasn’t really an Adler). Gussie added some much needed humor and Anna and Stuart’s quiet love story added hope for the future. There also so much to learn about this time in American history from the Florida land swindles to trying to help Jewish people escape Hitler. And a reminder that Some Americans treated Jewish people like second class citizens. Overall, a lovely story.

Florence Adler Swims Forever
By Rachel Beanland

One summer in 1929, a major tragedy occurs in a Jewish family, and it affects them and their acquaintances in very separate ways. The author describes the unusual reaction the Adler and Feldman families exhibit and how they adjust, or not. The Jewish religion has rules and regulations that must be adhered to, in many circumstances, but what if the rules cannot be followed. Anna, a German fresh from the unimaginable Nazi horrors, adds to the mixture by arriving for the summer. It is disheartening even now to learn of all the setbacks the German Jews endured if they wanted to immigrate to America. I would have liked a little more character information on Anna and Stuart but there was a lot going on! Sometime secrets are hard to keep.

Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland
How far would you go to protect one of your children? Would you lie to protect your family? What if the lie really wouldn’t hurt anyone physically, but morally it was wrong and it was still causing issues for some of your other family?
Think on this as you read this book and at the end ask yourself would I do anything differently or what more could I have done to do it better for everyone? That’s what I asked myself after I read this book! This is a book filled with what ifs and if only! If I say too much it will give spoilers so here is the basic scenario of one of the biggest issues and the rest you have to get the book and it’s worth the read!!!

Florence Adler is a young Olympic swimming hopeful, but first she is going to attempt to swim the English Chanel! She comes from a strong Jewish home and her mother is definitely the matriarch kind of like Rose Kennedy, what she says is what is what everyone will do and follow! This one afternoon Florence is at the beach with her niece because her sister is in the hospital due to a difficult pregnancy. Florence knows that she is not to swim without a buddy, but her swimming coach is a lifeguard on duty and he cannot go till later. The exchange student they s are sponsoring from Germany still has not shown up to the beach and plus she could not swim! Florence decides to go out and swim anyway and they do not know exactly what truly happened, but Florence drowns! This is in the very first few pages of the book! A traumatic event takes place and the 7 year old niece, Gussie is a witness to her Aunt Florences death!
Everything that precedes this event is what the mother decides to do that she thinks is in the best interest of the daughter in the hospital! Perpetuate a giant lie that Florence is still alive and training for the swimming of the English Channel and it involves everyone to lie!
This is to keep Francis from losing this baby because it’s so tenuous and she has had a loss previously. The lie makes Gussie confused it entails all the nursing staff, the lifeguards on duty to keep it quiet of who perished in the drowning. They asked the newspaper to keep her name non-published and Florence did not get a typical mourning by family and friends because it was kept private. This was also not taken by all those well within the immediate family circle of those who knew the whole situation!
The book is well done and handled with the utmost respect and I love the way the author incorporated all the family dynamics! I could not put this book down because I had to know how the father felt and what he would do. I wished there was more about his take on it, but I have to admit that I think he did what he thought he could do to protect everyone at the time! I guess until we are in those shoes what would we do? I would hope I could do whatever is needed to help my family now and then take care of my daughter who is gone!
There is so much more to this book such as Gussies dad and is relationship with his wife in the hospital! Then there is the situation between the sponsored German girl and Florences dad! Spoiler alert read the book!!!
I received a advanced copy from netgally and I willingly have given my thoughts and opinions!

Thank you to netgalley.com for this ARC.

I loved this book...even though it made me sad for all of the characters. Each one felt some sense of loss even the youngest character, Gussie who is only 7 years old.

The story takes places in the 1930's in Atlantic City, NJ and the main character dies very early on. The rest of the story deals with the lives of her parents, sister, friend, and niece that have been left behind to deal with her loss.

I had a hard time putting this book down...it was a definite page turner.

This is likely the best book I will read this summer, perhaps all year. Florence Adler Swims Forever is a loving portrait of a group of people whose lives are turned upside down by events over the three summer months of 1934. Florence is a young Jewish woman filled with life and energy and is preparing to attempt a swim of the English Channel, a long held goal which consumes her. Instead of fulfilling that goal, she drowns in the waters of her hometown, Atlantic City.. Her younger sister, Fannie, is confined to a hospital bed in hopes of staving off an early delivery. When Florence dies, her mother and father, Joe and Esther, make a decision that sets in motion events which will, by the end of the book change the lives of all the remaining characters: Fannie will not be told of Florence's death until the baby is born.

The theme of facts untold is one that is carried through the rest of the novel. Each charachter in turn takes center stage and allows the reader to know of thoughts, feelings and past history known not at all or only in part by the others. The secret at the center of the story is not the only one that will be revealed.

Atlantic City of the 1930's is almost a charachter itself. The Boardwalk, the Pier, the ocean and even the salt water taffy are elements essential to the atmosphere of the story and are woven seamlessly into the narrative. This was a very satisfying read. I received a copy of this from the publisher but will likely purchase my own copy.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

This debut novel starts with the tragic death of Florence as she is training to swim the English Channel. It is a family saga that takes place in Atlantic City in 1934. In this well-told narrative, the reader gets a realistic picture of Atlantic City, the nation, and the world during the Depression and the dark days before World War II.

Atlantic City was home to a boardwalk with an amusement park and entertainment. One of the attractions was a display of incubators where premature infants were displayed and cared for. Some of the hotels would not allow Jewish guests and an under-current of anti-Semitism existed in the area, even though some neighborhoods were largely Jewish. Many in Europe were trying to flee Hitler and were facing immigration issues as they tried to come to the US.

This book is, at times, heartbreaking and uplifting. I enjoyed how the family dynamics and the history of the time were smoothly woven together.

More! More! More! Florence Adler Swims Forever is wonderful, emotional read. The fact that it is based on author Rachel Beanland's family makes it that much more meaningful. The fact that this is her first published novel is incredible.

I don't want to give anything away. Many reviews I read gave so much detail. Details I wish I wasn't anticipating. I'll just say this, the characters, the background, the circumstances all feel very true, very real. Of course much of it, how much I don't know, is true and real but that doesn't mean it was easy to portray. Mrs. Beanland very ably conveyed the sense of time, place, emotions to the readers. Just because something is fact or based on fact does not mean that we can feel it or "live it". She has been able to place us in the story, in the shoes of the characters and that is something that even more experienced, or should I say, more published authors often have trouble doing and she has done it with each character!

Read this book, you won't be disappointed! It seems especially suited for a book club as I believe it will provoke a lot of discussions.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5/5

This was an exceptional debut novel! The book is narrated by 7 characters and the storyline flowed well. Normally I prefer a single POV but the different voices worked for this book. The story takes place during the summer of 1934 and I loved the vibrant details of 1930s Atlantic City.

Every time I worried this book would become predictable, it would take a twist and surprise me. Most of the characters had secrets, and I liked how we learned about each of their pasts in bits and pieces throughout the book. They were each flawed, but they took care of each other (one character not so much!) and rallied around protecting a secret to prevent further heartache.

As a former competitive swimmer, I absolutely loved all the swimming details in the book! Swimming brings heartbreak at the beginning of the story, but it plays a much more uplifting role later on.

The author did a great job with the details, from the landmarks to the clothing, but not in a way that felt like she was trying too hard to be descriptive of the times. It all fit in seamlessly and really transported me to the early 30s.

I was so invested in the characters that my only wish is that there was a lengthy epilogue to tell me more! Highly recommend you read this when it's out!

A historical fiction novel set in summer of 1934 on the Jersey Shore, follows the Adler Family as the face a tragedy that will change the courses of their lives.

Florence Adler aspires to swim the English Channel, she has come home to train before she leave for France. Frannie Adler is pregnant and is staying at the hospital, due to her pregnancy being risky. Esther and Joseph, the parents who have tried to raise a traditional Jewish household. You will meet Gussie, Anna, Isaac and Stuart who round out the supporting cast.

This is a complicated family story that takes place over 1 summer. A tragedy occurs right in the beginning of this tale, and how this affects the family is what perpetuates this story. We get a lot of inner monologue from each of the family members. The family is also hiding a huge secret and this made the dialogue all the more endearing.

You will fall in love with this family, imperfections and all. What this author did was take all the complications of life and turn this into a beautiful story.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a beautiful family drama that sweeps you away.

While the premise of this book sound so sad, and it is, but it is presented in such a way that you really feel each of the character's feelings individually. I loved them all, but especially Gussie, who I just wanted to wrap in a big hug. I loved how Atlantic City and it's landmarks played such an important part in this story.

I would recommend this for anyone looking for a summer read that will make you feel all the feels.

Know that the first part of this is heart wrenchingly sad-so sad that I almost put it down. I'm tremendously glad that I did not. Florence was the golden girl of swimming in Atlantic City in the summer of 1934, with plans to swim the English Channel, until one day, out of nowhere and for no apparent reason, she drowns. Her heartbroken parents Jospeh and Esther make the decision not to tell her sister Fannie, currently on bed rest in hospital due to a difficult pregnancy. Keeping the secret is tough, especially for 7 year old Gussie, whose father Isaac is less than present. Anna, who has escaped Germany but is trying desperately to get her parents out, is living with the family for the summer. Then there's Stuart who loved Florence. This is the story of the family over the three months between Florence's death and the birth of Fannie's baby. It wrapped me in. It's beautifully written with characters than step off the page. There are so many little things that make this a wonderful read, starting with the characters, of course, but also with the atmospherics of AC in the 1930s. There's a scene where Joseph and Stuart watch for a steamship that will stick with me. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. A wonderful read - highly recommend.

I really enjoyed this one. The setting is: 1934 Atlantic City and the descriptions made me feel like I was there breathing the ocean air along with the Adler family. Florence returns home from Wellesley to train to swim the English Channel. Then BAM! there is a shocking tragedy - right away, right in the very beginning. I liked this, that the action began and the rest of the book dealt with some heavy themes that surrounded it. The story is told over a period of 3 months and different points of view of the lives of the Adler family. I really enjoyed how the reader shared in the thoughts of 7 different people and the continuity was SPOT ON. The story is based on the author’s family which makes the book even more powerful – be sure to read the Author’s Note at the end. Excellent story, however, the ending was just a little too perfect and happy and wrapped up than I usually prefer.

What a beautiful book! My parents grew up with summers at the Jersey Shore, and my brothers and I joined my cousins each summer on Long Beach Island, so the feel of family at Atlantic City that this novel generates is both instant and nostalgic. Based on a real person and set in 1934 among the streets of the Monopoly Game and narrated by several characters, comes a story of love, joy, grief, and the choices we make to protect our loved ones.

Florence Adler was an open water swimmer who at 19 was training to swim the English Channel, just a few years after the first woman mastered this swim. Her older sister Fannie is nearing the end of a difficult pregnancy in hospital on bed rest. Fannie's daughter Gussie, a perceptive and energetic 7, lives with Florence and her parents while everyone waits for the new baby so that her father can work for the family bakery during the day and visit his wife in the hospital in the evening. Often left to mind Gussie is Anna, the daughter of a friend from their dad's past in Germany. Florence drowns early in the book, out in the ocean on a long practice swim, and her family decides not to tell Fannie to protect her from grief that might prompt an early labor. The novel unfolds over the course of the summer, wrestling with the price of trying to spare another's grief.

I was quickly drawn into the story and the characters, discovering a delightful depth in each person while understanding their grief and their simultaneous desire to tell and not tell Fannie. This is a fantastic read, highly recommended by this reader!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, and Rachel Beanland for the opportunity to read and review her debut novel. 5 glowing stars for a fabulous read - I loved it!

Based on a true story from the author's own family history, and set in Atlantic City in 1934, the story opens with the drowning death of Florence Adler, a strong swimmer whose goal was to swim the English Channel. Florence's parents, Joseph and Esther, are devastated but also trying to protect their older daughter, Fannie, who is in the hospital on bedrest with a complicated pregnancy after losing a child born too early. They decide to keep Florence's death a secret from her sister which requires a monumental effort, especially from Fannie's daughter, Gussie. Told in alternating chapters from all the characters in the book, we learn all about their thoughts and secrets.

This story is all about what we will do for those we love and how a family can rise from a tragedy. But it's a fascinating look into how Jewish people were treated as they tried to come to the US to escape Hitler's persecution as well as a look into Jewish traditions, especially concerning the death rites. And how incubators were first used - I had certainly never heard that story before!

This is a definite must read - I got lost in the beautiful writing and was transported back in time. Highly recommended! I sure hope Rachel Beanland has more stories to share with us!

I adore historical novels especially about women at the beginning of the twentieth century. Perhaps it is because my mother was born around this time and while I was not there, I have her stories and her photographs that prove it existed. A similar situation exists for our author, Rachel Beanland. Her great-great-aunt, Florence Lowenthal grew-up and lived in Atlantic City, having graduated from ACHS in 1926; and as an excellent swimmer, her greatest dream was to swim the English Channel just as Trudy Ederle had done in that same year. Florence went on to college and continued to train for that dream. In 1929, that dream ended for Florence Lowenthal; and this book is dedicated to her accomplishments and memory.

Ms. Beanland tells us the story of Florence Adler, the youngest daughter of Joseph and Esther Adler, both German Jews who worked hard to open their own small bakery and build it into a decent sized family business serving southern New Jersey. Their older daughter, Fannie, had met and married Isaac, who now worked for Adler Bakery. During the summer of 1934, the timeframe setting for this book, Fannie was on bedrest in the Atlantic City Hospital, pregnant with her third baby, the second baby having been born premature and lived only three days, just the last year. Gussie, Fannie and Isaac’s healthy, seven-year-old daughter was planning to stay with her Grandparents that summer. This was simply fine with Gussie, as she knew she was the only child in the house and would get all the attention she craved.

With Fannie in the hospital, Isaac at the couple’s apartment, that left room for Anna Epstein, a young German girl on a student visa to attend the NJ State Teacher’s College in Trenton in the fall. She was also the daughter of a woman that Joseph grew-up with in his hometown in Germany. The Adler’s were acting as her sponsor, hoping eventually to bring her parents over before the war sealed everything off.

Our last important character is, Stuart Williams, son of the 2nd largest hotel in town, The Covington, who was content as a lifeguard with the Atlantic City Beach Patrol (ACBP) and Coach of the all-female Ambassador Swim Club, as well as Florence’s personal coach and trainer for the English Channel challenge. Stuart was smart, handsome and kind, secretly in love with Florence, and wanted nothing to do with his father’s wealth or the hotel business. Everyone loved Stuart, except maybe Florence’s mother Esther. (Of course, in Esther’s eyes, no one was could enough for her Florence.)

This beautifully written memoir and novel are a tribute to the entire family, as they endure tragedies and blessings during this most amazing summer of their lives. I would love to tell you the whole story but that would take away the pleasure of you discovering it for yourself. Walk along the yellow-white sand of Atlantic City from its famous boardwalk to tumbling salt-water, waves that roll up along the shore, skipping over shells and hopping seagulls as they search for food. The smell of that salty breeze as you set your beach chair in the sand and get ready to read your book that actually took place right on this beach close to one hundred years ago.

Thank you Netgalley, Simon and Schuster, and Rachel Beanland

Note: I was privileged to spend many summers of my childhood along the many beautiful beaches that dot the NJ coastline, from Pt. Pleasant to Cape May. They are always in my heart.

In her debut novel Rachel Beanland tells a spell-binding story, based loosely on a story in her own family. By alternating viewpoints, Beanland is able to show the effect of Florence Adler's unexpected drowning on the people nearest and dearest to her. The story is a good one and Beanland's writing holds the reader's attention throughout. She tells the story as a storyteller spins a tale, leaving the listener happy enough, but wanting even more, for her characters appear more as cardboard cutouts than as fully developed human beings. I never felt as if I understood fully their motivations, their feelings -- their characters. Beanland will have a nice following if she continues to write books such as this. But, she has the potential to develop into a great novelist, and I, for one, look forward to seeing how she manages that potential.

Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland is a very interesting novel that revolves around a Jewish Family that experiences a tragedy. How does a family deal with a death? How do you recover and move on when your heart is broken? Is it acceptable to keep a secret in order to shelter someone ? I enjoyed reading this novel for many reasons. The author presents the characters in such a way that I actually cared about them and was a little bit sad when the novel ended. Find a way to read this novel. You will be pleasantly surprised by the work of this first time author. I would like to thank Rachel Beanland, Simon and Schustersnd netgalley for allowing me to read this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review.

It's the summer of 1934 in Atlantic City, NJ, college student Florence Adler is home from Wellesley College for the summer. Everyday she practices her passion: swimming. She plans to attempt to swim the English Channel at the end of the summer. Florence's parents own a bakery and the family all lives together in an apartment over the bakery. Also squeezed into the apartment with them is Anna, a college student that the family helped get a student visa to get her out of Nazi Germany.

Florence's older sister Fannie lives nearby and is married with a 7 year old daughter. Fannie is pregnant again and on bedrest due to being high risk. Her husband Isaac is always coming up with money make schemes and seems to not be around enough. Their daughter, Gussie is living at her grandparent's apartment too due to her mother's bedrest.

When a tragedy occurs, Florence's parents make a decision that will underline the family's life for the rest of the summer.

This book is loosely based on the author's own family. She had an Great-great Aunt Florence that was the inspiration for the titular character. This was a pretty quick but emotional read. The novel changed perspective to various family members with every chapter and is set over the 3 months of the summer of 1934. At it's heart this is a novel about family relationships and how sometimes caring for someone means withholding some truths.