April 25 | German edition publication date
May 5 | US paperback release
June 4 | UK paperback release
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2024 Barnes & Noble Discover Prize Winner
56th NAACP Image Awards Nominee
Longlisted for the 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction
Longlisted for the Center for Fiction 2024 First Novel Prize
2024 New England Book Award Finalist
A Libby Award Finalist
Named a Best Book of the Year by
Washington Post • NPR • Boston Globe • Elle • San Francisco Chronicle • Real Simple • Woman’s World
The book we all need to revive our souls” (Nicole Dennis-Benn): A sweeping family saga about the complicated bond between mothers and daughters, the disappearance of a father, and the long-hidden history of a declining New England mill town.
“Poetic and propulsive.”
— NPR
“A sparkling debut about a young girl you’ll never forget…. Chambers weaves irony and gut-punch emotion throughout this gorgeous debut.”
— WASHINGTON POST
“Page by beautifully vibrant page, Swift River comes at you in whirring Kodachrome snapshots of memory, classic rock, and hidden New England lore. A sensational debut.”
— PAUL BEATTY, author of Man Booker prizewinner The Sellout
ESSIE CHAMBERS is an author and award-winning independent producer. She earned her MFA in creative writing from Columbia University and has received fellowships from MacDowell, Vermont Studio Center, and Baldwin for the Arts. Previously, she worked as a television executive, and was a producer on the Oscar-shortlisted documentary Descendant, which was released by the Obamas’ Higher Ground production company and Netflix in 2022. Swift River is her debut novel.