Review: The Night Swim

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well, let's say 4.5 Stars, bumped to 5 because of the topic

Let me say at the outset that this novel comes with a slew of content warnings. For anyone who is a survivor, it's a tough read. There are no winners here and the losses are visceral. All that said, this is a novel that should be on many book club lists. It is a novel that is thought-provoking and which will be the stimulus not just for discussion about what justice looks like but about differing state laws about rape, sexual assault, and about how our justice system all too often tries not just the accused but the victim.

Rachel Krall is a crime reporter with a popular podcast, Guilty or Not Guilty, now in its third season. This season she is covering a rape trial in a small town in which the accused is a local hero, a competitive swimmer from a popular and media-savvy family. The alleged victim is the granddaughter of the town's popular police chief. Many feel the only reason the young woman's case is being heard is that she is the police chief's granddaughter. In traveling to the small North Carolina town, Rachel is leaving her producer, Pete, behind after he's been injured in an accident. So she's traveling alone when the letters start appearing on her car and elsewhere, about the long-ago death of a girl named Jenny Stills. A death that the writer of those letters insists was murder. The letter writer turns out to be Hannah, Jenny's younger sister and she is hoping that Rachel will help her finally bring about justice for her sister.

There are a few elements of the story that seemed just a bit too convenient to me, one being that Hannah had contacted Rachel's production team several times and had been rebuffed, only to have Rachel set up shop in Hannah's small town of Neapolis for the rape trial. But the writing is compelling enough to carry the reader through that. This is a good novel for inspiring discussions about how we look at rape and how we prosecute it. The novel ends on a hopeful note but it may be a tough read for anyone who has been affected by these crimes.

The audiobook of The Night Swim is narrated by January LeVoy, Samantha Desz, and Bailey Carr, who voice these characters beautifully.

CW: physical violence, threatened child sexual assault, rape, murder

I received a digital review copy of this novel from the publisher, and a courtesy audio review copy, in exchange for an honest review.

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