Praise for Swift River
Barnes & Noble 2024 Book of the Year Finalist • Amazon Editors’ Best Books of 2024 Selection • A Read With Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick • A National Bestseller • A Most Anticipated Book from Today, Real Simple, Time, The Los Angeles Times, and Bookpage.
“A captivating debut. Infused with the bright and vulnerable voice of its young narrator, Swift River unspools a poignant coming-of-age story about hard and hopeful truths.”
— ESQUIRE
“Call your book club: This symphonic debut is your next read.”
— KIRKUS
“Insightful, moving, and wryly funny, Chambers’ debut is sure to be a book club favorite.”
— BOOKLIST, starred review
“A mesmerizing account of inherited trauma in what was once a sundown town. Diamond is a gutsy girl with a keen intellect and an irrepressible, hopeful outlook, and her often-humorous narration is the novel’s central, propelling force. Chambers masterfully delivers the message of Swift River: ‘Our instincts, our deepest intuitions, are really our ancestral memory; our people speaking through us.’”
— BOOKPAGE
“Swift River is a deeply moving portrayal of a girl you will absolutely fall for and cheer on through every scene of this remarkable debut.”
— REAL SIMPLE MAGAZINE
“Chambers’s assured first novel sings.”
— PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“Darkly funny and fiery, heartbreaking and healing, with language so gorgeous I went back to read sentences again and again.”
— JACQUELINE WOODSON, National Book Award winning author of Red at the Bone
“A powerful novel about how our family history shapes us. Swift River broke my heart, and then offered me hope.”
— ANN NAPOLITANO, New York Times bestselling author of Hello Beautiful
“Truly amazing. Such an incredible blend of intimate and epic, so smart and funny and honest and generous in spirit. I like plenty of books but I love a novel this much maybe just once or twice a year.”
— CURTIS SITTENFELD, New York Times bestselling author of Romantic Comedy
“A story of grief both personal and historical, and one told with warmth and humor by a memorable, irrepressible heroine.”
— RUMAAN ALAM, author of National Book Award finalist Leave the World Behind
“A fearless, cinematic exploration of loss and inheritance, written with urgency and overflowing compassion…. An addicting mix of hope and suspense.”
— XOCHITL GONZALEZ, New York Times bestselling author of Olga Dies Dreaming
“This is a voice I’d follow anywhere.”
— DAWNIE WALTON, author of The Final Revival of Opal & Nev
“Swift River is a deeply intimate, corporeal story about the secrets that we keep and the secrets kept from us. Aching with want and drive from the first page, this is a novel that delivers on all of its promise.”
— ALEX ALLISON, author of The Art of the Body
“Told with great empathy, wit and compassion, Swift River will sweep you away. Never forget the healing power of history and family, Diamond’s awakening of her past catapults her into hope for her future. What a gorgeous reading experience.”
ー PAMELA KLINGER-HORN, Valley Bookseller (Stillwater, MN)
“Swift River is a beautifully layered novel that touches on many aspects of society. Reading Essie Chambers’s prose feels like watching an artist weave delicate threads together slowly and methodically, bringing the full picture together in front of you. Melancholy but filled with an underlying hope…. This is a summer read you will want to get lost in.”
ー MARY WEBBER O’MALLEY, Skylark Bookshop (Columbia, MO)
“Both heartbreaking and hopeful. Diamond, a biracial teen, Is finding her way. As she learns about her sundown town’s racist past, as well as her father’s lost but not forgotten family, she reconciles the two. She leans into the love, hope, grief, and abandonment, and she realizes how she has to move forward. Diamond is a character who won’t be forgotten.”
—AUDREY I-WEI HUANG, Belmont Books (Belmont, MA)
“Swift River is one of the most engrossing books I’ve read this year; readers will immediately find themselves rooting for sixteen-year-old Diamond Newberry. Weaving together themes of loss, change, hope, and the legacy of family through a powerful mix of historical fiction, coming-of-age, and mystery, Essie Chambers has crafted a stunning debut for readers of all genres. A must-read story!”
— BETH SEUFER BUSS, Bookmarks (Winston-Salem, NC)
“I loved this debut novel’s main character, Diamond, and the unexpected turn her life rakes in the summer of 1987. Swift River weaves Diamond’s openhearted voice with letters from Auntie Lena and her great-aunt Clara, creating a wonderfully layered story of how a girl who felt adrift gained friendship, family, and a sense of possibility?”
—MARGO GRIMM EULE, East City Bookshop (Washington, DC)
“Swift River touches on issues that are universal and unique, and gently forces us to ask questions that are both uncomfortable and necessary. In the end I unexpectedly burst into tears. This is a story to not be missed.”
—TODD MILLER, Arcadia Books (Spring Green, Wl)
“The writing is Toni Morrison exceptional with passages you read aloud and try to commit to memory.”
—BILL CARL, An Unlikely Story (Plainville, MA)