Swim Back to Me - Hardcover

Praise for Ann Packer's "Swim Back to Me" "As funny as it is sad. . . . Full of revelations . . . near perfection. . . . [A] lovely, masterful collection."--Mameve Medwed, "Boston Globe"" ""Most readers know Ann Packer from her best-selling debut novel. "Swim Back to Me "is even better, richer, more insightful. Packer can break your heart--and she can mend it, too. Easing readers in with recognizable characters facing familiar situations . . . she then injects a detail that makes us see the situations in a whole new light. . . . This fine work [is] surprising and absolutely true."--Karen Holt, "O, The Oprah Magazine" "Astute. . . . Anyone intrigued by the ways we both fail and save one another will find ample food for thought here."--Kim Hubbard, "People" "Ann Packer has a talent for creating authentic, absorbing characters--and it's on full display in "Swim Back to Me.'"--"Ladies' Home Journal" "[Packer] illuminates the instant, in the darkest hour of grief, when the heart opens wider than ever before--and shows us a new way of being."--Pam Houston, "More" "A novella and five stories limn with acuity and empathy the intricate negotiations and painful losses of family life. . . . [Packer's] prose is deceptively simple, her insights always complex. . . . Touching, tender and true. . . . As rich and satisfying as Packer's two fine novels."--"Kirkus Reviews "(starred review) "[A] sterling collection. . . . Packer's talents are evident. . . . Packer presents complex human relationships with unsentimental compassion."--"Publishers Weekly" "Stunning. . . . Well-crafted and engaging. . . . These California stories are expansive and open-ended. It's hard to let them go."--Sue Russell, "Library Journal" Praise for "Songs Without Words" "Packer's voice [has] extraordinary authority . . . Compassionate, rich in solace."--Liesl Schillinger, "The New York Times B

Ann Packer is the author of two best-selling novels, "Songs Without Words "and "The Dive from Clausen's Pier, "the latter of which received a Great Lakes Book""Award, an American Library Association Award, and the Kate Chopin""Literary Award. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in "The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Vogue, "and "Real Simple. "Also the author of" Mendocino and Other Stories, "she lives in northern California with her""family.