"Stunning. . . . Packer can break your heart--and she can mend it, too. " --
O, The Oprah Magazine "A tour de force. . . . With this collection, Ann Packer takes her place among today's best authors of literary fiction." --
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune "[Packer's] patient investigations reveal human longing in such clear, stripped-down familiarity--never shirking from the difficult--that readers experience a singular sense of comfort." --
San Francisco Chronicle "Exhilarating. . . . Searing. . . . [Packer's] stories brim with piercing vitality and clear-eyed believability." --
The Washington Post "Packer paints these lives with full and compassionate brush strokes." --
The New York Times Book Review "As audacious, imaginative and poignant as any of [Packer's] previous work. . . . Packer can compress a lifetime of hope and sorrow in a short story, and in a brief paragraph can suggest the unspoken language of marriage and family." --
The Miami Herald "Wonderful. . . . [A] lovely, masterful collection." --
The Boston Globe "Ann Packer's
Swim Back to Me reminded me of why I fell in love with literature in the first place. Upon closing the book, I thought, 'I'll read this again'. . . . Packer's stories stick with you." --Susan Baleé,
The Philadelphia Inquirer "Packer . . . is a master at getting to the heart of characters struggling on in the face of loss. . . .
Swim Back to Me is best enjoyed for Packer's sharply focused snapshots of people at pivotal points in their lives, a focus so intense that we can feel as if we're spying on them. " --
St. Louis Post-Dispatch "[Beginning] Packer's stories feels as nonchalant as stepping into a puddle but results in a sudden plunge into deep water. . . . Potent and deftly written." --
Dallas Morning News "An author who speaks with her full voice. . . . The people in Packer's stories are so possible and so familiar, reading about them is like flipping through a photo album with someone you've always known." --
San Francisco magazine
"Anyone intrigued by the ways we both fail and save one another will find ample food for thought here." --
People "Deeply engrossing. . . . 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." --
More "Gripping. . . . A stunning look into how we learn and sometimes fail to live with each other." --
The Daily Beast "Touching, tender and true." --
The Austin American Statesman "Utterly readable. . . . Ann Packer has a talent for creating authentic, absorbing characters." --
Ladies Home Journal "A keen observer of family dynamics. . . . Packer the novelist is equally adept at the short form." --
The Oakland Tribune "Packer's descriptions of what crisis looks like from the inside out are almost always word-perfect." --
Toledo Blade "Subtle, deeply personal. . . . [An] excellent collection." --Bookreporter.com
"Powerful . . . satisfying. . . . Packer's characters are fully developed with emotions that feel authentic." --
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