The Dive from Clausen's Pier - Ann Packer

Like the best work of Jane Hamilton and Sue Miller, Packer's emotionally thrilling, critically acclaimed, bestselling novel combines assured narrative drive with vibrant psychological realism and unblinking moral complexity. nHow much do we owe the people we love? Is it a sign of strength or weakness to walk away from someone in need?

These questions lie at the heart of Ann Packer's intimate and emotionally thrilling new novel, which has won its author comparisons with Jane Hamilton and Sue Miller. nAt the age of twenty-three Carrie Bell has spent her entire life in Wisconsin, with the same best friend and the same dependable, easygoing, high school sweetheart. Now to her dismay she has begun to find this life suffocating and is considering leaving it-and Mike-behind.

But when Mike is paralyzed in a diving accident, leaving seems unforgivable and yet more necessary than ever. The Dive from Clausen's Pier animates this dilemma-and Carrie's startling response to it-with the narrative assurance, exacting realism, and moral complexity we expect from the very best fiction.n