On a freezing night, an expectant father takes his wife to the hospital as she is about to give birth. But the tense calm of labor is shattered, and a future vanishes. Because nothing is set in stone, and the promise of birth can, in an instant, impose on hope a denial as tragic as it is inevitable. Through a narrative confined to twenty-four hours, seemingly simple and linear, we witness the fragility of fate, the powerful force of parental love, and the acceptance of an unwanted reality. Originally published in 1975, The Swimmer in the Secret Sea transcends its autobiographical origins to become a short novel that reaches heights of emotion, precision, and poetry uncommon in the history of literature. An undisputed classic in our catalog that endures for its sobriety, beauty, and unique ability to deeply move the reader.
