How Not to Drown

From WILLA Literary Award-winning author Jaimee Wriston comes a novel for fans of Jami Attenberg and Jonathan Tropper about a single-minded grandmother who reluctantly learns a thing or two about her purpose in life from her mischievous granddaughter.

Former model Amelia MacQueen has lost her favorite son, Gavin--and let's face it, favorite family member--to a suspicious drowning, for which her daughter-in-law has been convicted. Amelia has been awarded temporary custody of Gavin and Cassie's twelve-year-old daughter, Heaven, a name that makes Amelia scoff. Regardless, she decides to put her best foot forward, asking that Heaven call her Grandmelia, a name that doesn't make Amelia feel so old.

The daughter of drug addicts, who has long been left to her own devices, Heaven does not appreciate Grandmelia's constant critical ministrations, and the pair quickly butt heads. She instead bonds with Uncle Daniel, Amelia's older, agoraphobic son, who never leaves his bedroom. Through the wall between their rooms, Daniel spins Celtic tales for Heaven from the Isle of Skye, where the family's ancestors lived.

Heaven decides that the best way to deal with bullying at school is to become a siren from one of Uncle Daniels's stories. She sings "drowning songs" in the swim team pool, luring mean girl Bethany Harrison under at the deep end. Then, Amelia comes home one day to find her granddaughter serving Oreos to the cops who picked her up for "snaking" junk food from the neighborhood convenience store.

As much as Amelia loved Gavin, Heaven is the last thing Amelia would have asked for, but when Heaven goes missing during a dangerous storm one night, Amelia is forced to reexamine her outlook on family. In vivid prose, Jaimee Wriston tells a wry multi-generational tale of redemption, exploring the bonds that make and break a family and the power of storytelling.