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Ten Swamps
A poignant coming-of-age novel that follows a resilient young girl wading through the emotional mire of feuding divorced parents and uncovering hard truths in the murky depths of a fractured family bogged down with secrets.
TEN SWAMPS is a dark, funny, coming-of-age novel about Ellie, a twelve-year-old girl who both understands and doesn’t understand the adult world around her, but who knows enough to seek escape. She finds that escape in the unexpected friendship of her next-door neighbor, Larry, an outsider who’s obsessed with extraterrestrials. Larry claims that he’s already taken one trip to outer space in the company of a species of alien far superior to the humans who inhabit their suburban New Jersey town. No one believes him, of course, except for Ellie, and as the chaos of Ellie’s parents’ unhinged divorce escalates around her, she forms a fierce bond with Larry, centered on their shared desire to leave earth and find belonging somewhere better. They believe they’re on their way but then Ellie spills a secret ruining everything. And as the adult world crashes in on them, Ellie is swept up in the chaos of her dysfunctional family and forced to confront her own darker impulses before beginning to find a different path forward and taking the first steps toward a new life.
TEN SWAMPS is a dark, funny, coming-of-age novel about Ellie, a twelve-year-old girl who both understands and doesn’t understand the adult world around her, but who knows enough to seek escape. She finds that escape in the unexpected friendship of her next-door neighbor, Larry, an outsider who’s obsessed with extraterrestrials. Larry claims that he’s already taken one trip to outer space in the company of a species of alien far superior to the humans who inhabit their suburban New Jersey town. No one believes him, of course, except for Ellie, and as the chaos of Ellie’s parents’ unhinged divorce escalates around her, she forms a fierce bond with Larry, centered on their shared desire to leave earth and find belonging somewhere better. They believe they’re on their way but then Ellie spills a secret ruining everything. And as the adult world crashes in on them, Ellie is swept up in the chaos of her dysfunctional family and forced to confront her own darker impulses before beginning to find a different path forward and taking the first steps toward a new life.
208 pages, Hardcover
Published November 25, 2025
About the author
Nancy Doyne
2 books2 followersNancy Doyne is a writer. She lives in New York City with her husband, Bill, and their dog, Georgie. Among other works, she is known for What Maisie Knew, an adaptation of the novel by Henry James, which was nominated for the USC Scripter Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2012. Ten Swamps is her first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 4, 2025
'She was a thing...An object to be moved, arranged, rearranged. There wasn't any set order. And there wasn't any protection, either'.
Ellie is the middle child of three living with her divorced mother but, as stipulated in The Arrangement, is with her father every Thursday, alternating weekends and a month in summer. And the three really feels like two since her older brother left to live with their father full time (or was he kidnapped?). It seems like every day presents a new challenge for Ellie, caught up in her parents' acrimonious divorce. Their hatred is like a living being that breathes lies and feeds on manipulation. It's confusing, 'Even if her father was a lunatic and a maniac and a pathological liar, he was still her father'. Already becoming increasingly disengaged at school, and becoming a proficient liar herself, she'd really rather escape, maybe she could be taken by extraterrestrials like her friend Larry claimed he once was? As life becomes increasingly chaotic, her longing and naivety leads to more and more trouble but it’s hard to know how to make it stop - something needs to change.
This’ll pull at any parent’s heart strings. Ten Swamps is a story that makes the reader feel like they've been plopped into Ellie's life. Not every character or situation seems to contribute to the overall journey - they're simply parts of life that happen along Ellie's daily struggle. To that end, you can sometimes wonder at just where the story is heading, how it'll all end, and question purpose, but by the time you come to the end, you feel like you have a greater understanding of Ellie - her bewilderment and hurt.
'...if she was going to stay on Earth, she had a lot to figure out'.
Ellie is the middle child of three living with her divorced mother but, as stipulated in The Arrangement, is with her father every Thursday, alternating weekends and a month in summer. And the three really feels like two since her older brother left to live with their father full time (or was he kidnapped?). It seems like every day presents a new challenge for Ellie, caught up in her parents' acrimonious divorce. Their hatred is like a living being that breathes lies and feeds on manipulation. It's confusing, 'Even if her father was a lunatic and a maniac and a pathological liar, he was still her father'. Already becoming increasingly disengaged at school, and becoming a proficient liar herself, she'd really rather escape, maybe she could be taken by extraterrestrials like her friend Larry claimed he once was? As life becomes increasingly chaotic, her longing and naivety leads to more and more trouble but it’s hard to know how to make it stop - something needs to change.
This’ll pull at any parent’s heart strings. Ten Swamps is a story that makes the reader feel like they've been plopped into Ellie's life. Not every character or situation seems to contribute to the overall journey - they're simply parts of life that happen along Ellie's daily struggle. To that end, you can sometimes wonder at just where the story is heading, how it'll all end, and question purpose, but by the time you come to the end, you feel like you have a greater understanding of Ellie - her bewilderment and hurt.
'...if she was going to stay on Earth, she had a lot to figure out'.
November 17, 2025
Ten Swamps by Nancy Doyne. Thanks to the author and @pointedleafpress for the gifted copy
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Twelve year old Ellie is trying to make sense of her brother’s abandonment, while also going back and forth between her parents’ homes, who are in a messy divorce.
While this story takes place in the 60’s and you do get a feel for time period, it story itself is timeless. It opened my eyes to what childhood is like when the child is caught in the middle of a chaotic divorce. I felt for the siblings and found it interesting how they all three reacted differently. I really felt for all the female characters in the story, and I believe the time period affected the treatment they received. I loved the ending and the mirroring of the last chapter to the first.
“Their hating each other was buried somewhere in every conversation. Who was lying? Was one of them lying? How to decide? She didn’t want to decide. All she knew was that every day one of them was lying. Unless both of them were lying, unless when people hated each other there was no such thing as the truth.”
Ten Swamps comes out 11/25.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Twelve year old Ellie is trying to make sense of her brother’s abandonment, while also going back and forth between her parents’ homes, who are in a messy divorce.
While this story takes place in the 60’s and you do get a feel for time period, it story itself is timeless. It opened my eyes to what childhood is like when the child is caught in the middle of a chaotic divorce. I felt for the siblings and found it interesting how they all three reacted differently. I really felt for all the female characters in the story, and I believe the time period affected the treatment they received. I loved the ending and the mirroring of the last chapter to the first.
“Their hating each other was buried somewhere in every conversation. Who was lying? Was one of them lying? How to decide? She didn’t want to decide. All she knew was that every day one of them was lying. Unless both of them were lying, unless when people hated each other there was no such thing as the truth.”
Ten Swamps comes out 11/25.
November 10, 2025
Nancy Doyne’s Ten Swamps is a slow burn of a novel that lingers like the smell of wet leaves and old secrets. Thanks to Pointed Leaf Press for my gifted Book….which had me furiously highlighting quotes while also contemplating the emotional chaos of my own adolescence—thanks a lot, Nancy.
If you’re looking for a fast-paced thriller with clear stakes, neat resolutions, and characters who communicate like healthy adults—congratulations, this book is not for you. But if you like your fiction messy, lyrical, and so saturated in psychological tension it practically sweats, Ten Swamps is your strange little fever dream. The book isn’t about ten literal swamps, which is disappointing if you’re into field guides, but metaphorically? Oh, it’s full of them. Each chapter feels like stepping into a different emotional bog, where your boots sink deeper with every sentence and suddenly you’re knee-deep in trauma, memory, and the swampy politics of girlhood.
The story centers on Ellie, a twelve-year-old trying to survive the divorce-swamp of the century—her mother is a cigarette-smoking feminist with a secret stash of tennis balls, her father is a charismatic chaos agent with a revenge complex, and her stepmother is possibly Swedish, definitely wine-soaked, and firmly anti-Ellie. Toss in a missing brother (ran away? kidnapped? vibes unclear), a series of parental meltdowns, and a neighbor boy named Larry who wears a silver bathing cap in the woods and talks about “top-secret expeditions,” and you’ve got yourself a coming-of-age tale that is somehow both surreal and too real.
The prose is magnetic. Doyne doesn’t just write scenes; she distills them into emotions you didn’t know you were suppressing. There’s a line that gutted me so quietly I almost missed it: “What’s big for me might not be big for you.” That’s the ethos of the book—subjective, tangled, intimate. And that’s what makes it brilliant. Every interaction Ellie has—especially with her brother Edward, who’s practically a ghost—drips with ambiguity. These aren’t just characters, they’re people. Flawed, infuriating, tender people, and you love and hate them in equal measure.
That said, let me be honest: this book is not interested in your comfort. The red dots Ellie sees on the television? Probably a metaphor. Larry’s weird fork? Not explained. A lot of things aren’t explained, actually. You’re left to sit with them, stew in them, like Ellie does in the woods behind her house, wondering what’s real and what’s just fear with a flashlight. But that’s what makes the story work—it doesn’t hold your hand, and it certainly doesn’t tell you what to feel.
Some scenes feel like childhood nightmares filtered through a grainy lens of nostalgia and dread. One minute Ellie is planning her snack plate in the shape of a spiral, and the next she’s locking every door in the house in a panic spiral of her own. It’s disorienting, tender, hilarious, and horrifying—sometimes all in the same paragraph. Doyne captures the chaos of adolescence and the emotional whiplash of a fractured family with surgical precision and deadpan humor.
Still, I’ll be honest—there were moments where I found myself yelling at the book, “Please, for the love of God, just give me one emotionally functional adult!” But no. That’s not how this world works. And maybe that’s the point. In Ten Swamps, the kids are often the only ones making any emotional sense.
This isn’t a novel for everyone. But for those of us who like our fiction raw, weird, and emotionally chewy, it’s a gem. A slightly unsettling, oddly beautiful gem that smells faintly of wood smoke and resentment.
Quote I can’t stop thinking about: “What about your old room?” “What old room?” That’s it. That’s the heartbreak in one line.
Rating: ★★★★☆
#TenSwamps #NancyDoyne #LiteraryFiction #ComingOfAge #NetGalleyARC #KnopfBooks #DivorceLit #GirlhoodUnfiltered #EmotionallyMessy #RedDotFiction #SwampCore #BookReview #2025Reads
If you’re looking for a fast-paced thriller with clear stakes, neat resolutions, and characters who communicate like healthy adults—congratulations, this book is not for you. But if you like your fiction messy, lyrical, and so saturated in psychological tension it practically sweats, Ten Swamps is your strange little fever dream. The book isn’t about ten literal swamps, which is disappointing if you’re into field guides, but metaphorically? Oh, it’s full of them. Each chapter feels like stepping into a different emotional bog, where your boots sink deeper with every sentence and suddenly you’re knee-deep in trauma, memory, and the swampy politics of girlhood.
The story centers on Ellie, a twelve-year-old trying to survive the divorce-swamp of the century—her mother is a cigarette-smoking feminist with a secret stash of tennis balls, her father is a charismatic chaos agent with a revenge complex, and her stepmother is possibly Swedish, definitely wine-soaked, and firmly anti-Ellie. Toss in a missing brother (ran away? kidnapped? vibes unclear), a series of parental meltdowns, and a neighbor boy named Larry who wears a silver bathing cap in the woods and talks about “top-secret expeditions,” and you’ve got yourself a coming-of-age tale that is somehow both surreal and too real.
The prose is magnetic. Doyne doesn’t just write scenes; she distills them into emotions you didn’t know you were suppressing. There’s a line that gutted me so quietly I almost missed it: “What’s big for me might not be big for you.” That’s the ethos of the book—subjective, tangled, intimate. And that’s what makes it brilliant. Every interaction Ellie has—especially with her brother Edward, who’s practically a ghost—drips with ambiguity. These aren’t just characters, they’re people. Flawed, infuriating, tender people, and you love and hate them in equal measure.
That said, let me be honest: this book is not interested in your comfort. The red dots Ellie sees on the television? Probably a metaphor. Larry’s weird fork? Not explained. A lot of things aren’t explained, actually. You’re left to sit with them, stew in them, like Ellie does in the woods behind her house, wondering what’s real and what’s just fear with a flashlight. But that’s what makes the story work—it doesn’t hold your hand, and it certainly doesn’t tell you what to feel.
Some scenes feel like childhood nightmares filtered through a grainy lens of nostalgia and dread. One minute Ellie is planning her snack plate in the shape of a spiral, and the next she’s locking every door in the house in a panic spiral of her own. It’s disorienting, tender, hilarious, and horrifying—sometimes all in the same paragraph. Doyne captures the chaos of adolescence and the emotional whiplash of a fractured family with surgical precision and deadpan humor.
Still, I’ll be honest—there were moments where I found myself yelling at the book, “Please, for the love of God, just give me one emotionally functional adult!” But no. That’s not how this world works. And maybe that’s the point. In Ten Swamps, the kids are often the only ones making any emotional sense.
This isn’t a novel for everyone. But for those of us who like our fiction raw, weird, and emotionally chewy, it’s a gem. A slightly unsettling, oddly beautiful gem that smells faintly of wood smoke and resentment.
Quote I can’t stop thinking about: “What about your old room?” “What old room?” That’s it. That’s the heartbreak in one line.
Rating: ★★★★☆
#TenSwamps #NancyDoyne #LiteraryFiction #ComingOfAge #NetGalleyARC #KnopfBooks #DivorceLit #GirlhoodUnfiltered #EmotionallyMessy #RedDotFiction #SwampCore #BookReview #2025Reads
November 27, 2025
Nancy Doyne’s brilliant new novel, Ten Swamps, is a wild and crazy survival story following Ellie, the twelve-year old heroine, as she scrambles to find a safe place amidst the chaos of her mother and father’s out-of-control war with each other over custody of Ellie and her siblings. With every page, as the battle intensifies, Ellie resorts to lies and deceptions that are preposterous and frequently backfire in hilarious ways, but she always remains true to herself and sympathetic because we understand she is doing the best she can in an impossibly difficult situation.
In the undeveloped wooded swamp behind her suburban house, she and her 12-year-old next-door-neighbor, Larry, find a safe haven for a time amidst the ancient trees. Finding a kindred spirit in Larry, Ellie agrees to join him on his quixotic quest to rendezvous with extraterrestrials and leave their troubled world behind. Comic consequences ensue.
The power of the story is fueled by Doyne’s gift for dialogue and characterization. Ellie and her parents, and all the other characters in the book, spring to life on the page as soon as they start talking. Doyne expertly endows each with a distinctive pattern of speech that renders them unique. The descriptive passages – Doyne’s renderings of time and place — are masterful, and the lyrical passages and naming of specific details — especially clothing — work brilliantly to bring every scene into sharp focus. Details like Ellie slipping into her mother's moccasins when she heads out through the snowy woods for her first visit with Larry give the story vivid immediacy.
Even under the best circumstances, adolescence is rough. Ellie’s adolescence is a madhouse tunnel of love. At every twist and turn, her mother or father spring new, unexpected, impossible choices on her. With incredible pluck and never-ending resourcefulness, Ellie manages to stay true to herself, survive intact. How she does it is a magic trick, made real by Nancy Doyne’s masterful storytelling.
In the undeveloped wooded swamp behind her suburban house, she and her 12-year-old next-door-neighbor, Larry, find a safe haven for a time amidst the ancient trees. Finding a kindred spirit in Larry, Ellie agrees to join him on his quixotic quest to rendezvous with extraterrestrials and leave their troubled world behind. Comic consequences ensue.
The power of the story is fueled by Doyne’s gift for dialogue and characterization. Ellie and her parents, and all the other characters in the book, spring to life on the page as soon as they start talking. Doyne expertly endows each with a distinctive pattern of speech that renders them unique. The descriptive passages – Doyne’s renderings of time and place — are masterful, and the lyrical passages and naming of specific details — especially clothing — work brilliantly to bring every scene into sharp focus. Details like Ellie slipping into her mother's moccasins when she heads out through the snowy woods for her first visit with Larry give the story vivid immediacy.
Even under the best circumstances, adolescence is rough. Ellie’s adolescence is a madhouse tunnel of love. At every twist and turn, her mother or father spring new, unexpected, impossible choices on her. With incredible pluck and never-ending resourcefulness, Ellie manages to stay true to herself, survive intact. How she does it is a magic trick, made real by Nancy Doyne’s masterful storytelling.
November 25, 2025
📚ARC📚
“It’s like we’re ghosts. Both of us. Two ghosts under the elm tree.”
This was such a touching read and I’m so glad that I’ve been able to experience this journey that the main character goes on.
Following a young teenage Ellie as she adjusts to her fairly new life as a child of divorce, it delves into the, often, surprising and difficult turn your life takes when you’re a kid whose world is turned upside down.
My parents got divorced when I was a kid, even younger than Ellie, and I remember feeling the same disconnect to the world that we see her go through.
Granted, I don’t have parents (*ahem* a dad) that were as bad as she does, mine managed to find a way to get on for the sake of me and my brother.
But I could understand just how lost she felt. I just wanted to reach out and tell her that the feeling doesn’t last, even if it feels like it’ll be there forever!
Sometimes I did feel a bit bogged down by some of the ‘quests’ Ellie goes on, as well as a few of the older characters, some of who got way more attention than they deserved.
But that sinking, swamp-like feeling was truly fitting for a book called Ten Swamps, that’s certainly how it must have felt for Ellie.
A big thank you to Pointed Leaf Press for sending me an e-ARC for this! The book comes out on today, the 25th of November, so make sure you go and check it out. 🥰
“It’s like we’re ghosts. Both of us. Two ghosts under the elm tree.”
This was such a touching read and I’m so glad that I’ve been able to experience this journey that the main character goes on.
Following a young teenage Ellie as she adjusts to her fairly new life as a child of divorce, it delves into the, often, surprising and difficult turn your life takes when you’re a kid whose world is turned upside down.
My parents got divorced when I was a kid, even younger than Ellie, and I remember feeling the same disconnect to the world that we see her go through.
Granted, I don’t have parents (*ahem* a dad) that were as bad as she does, mine managed to find a way to get on for the sake of me and my brother.
But I could understand just how lost she felt. I just wanted to reach out and tell her that the feeling doesn’t last, even if it feels like it’ll be there forever!
Sometimes I did feel a bit bogged down by some of the ‘quests’ Ellie goes on, as well as a few of the older characters, some of who got way more attention than they deserved.
But that sinking, swamp-like feeling was truly fitting for a book called Ten Swamps, that’s certainly how it must have felt for Ellie.
A big thank you to Pointed Leaf Press for sending me an e-ARC for this! The book comes out on today, the 25th of November, so make sure you go and check it out. 🥰
December 24, 2025
Ten Swamps unfolds entirely inside the mind of twelve year old Ellie, a girl growing up in the 1960s while her parents’ bitter divorce pulls her back and forth like a rope in a custody match no one can win. Ellie is perceptive, funny, and quietly unraveling as she tries to make sense of adults who keep rewriting the rules. Her inner world is vivid and sometimes fractured, filled with imagination, defiance, and moments of dissociation as she looks for steadiness wherever she can find it. That refuge arrives in the form of her gentle next door neighbor Larry, whose kindness and possible otherworldliness offer Ellie a place to rest when everything else feels unstable.
As both a parent and a child of divorce, this story hit me in a way I wasn’t prepared for. Readers who love character driven coming of age novels will find so much to admire here, from Ellie’s voice to the precise period details that anchor the story firmly in its era. The emotional honesty feels earned, never forced, and the perspective of a child navigating adult chaos is handled with real care. Ten Swamps is tender, unsettling, and quietly powerful, the kind of book that lingers because it understands how deeply childhood moments can shape who we become.
As both a parent and a child of divorce, this story hit me in a way I wasn’t prepared for. Readers who love character driven coming of age novels will find so much to admire here, from Ellie’s voice to the precise period details that anchor the story firmly in its era. The emotional honesty feels earned, never forced, and the perspective of a child navigating adult chaos is handled with real care. Ten Swamps is tender, unsettling, and quietly powerful, the kind of book that lingers because it understands how deeply childhood moments can shape who we become.
December 16, 2025
Ten Swamps takes place in 12 year old Ellie's head. Ellie is trying to make sense of her
parent's crazy divorce and survive the endless tug of war of a custody battle. Ellie has charm
and a vibrant imagination punctuated by confusion, dissociation and defiance. As an escape,
she finds tenderness in her next door neighbor, Larry, who may even be a space traveler.
Nancy Doyne exposes the confusion and chaos that divorce plays on children, with colorful
descriptions that can be hysterically funny and sadly true. She taps into the irony with-in
human behavior with a ping.
There is an epidemic of children of divorced parents who are traumatized and have been left
alone to figure it out. I would recommend Ten Swamps to any adolescent, teen, adult/child who
is still feeling the aftershock of their parent's divorce.
You can trust Nancy Doyne to guide you through the trauma of remembering with humor and an
understanding of human behavior that is oh so very, very wise.
I think Ten Swamps will become a classic.
parent's crazy divorce and survive the endless tug of war of a custody battle. Ellie has charm
and a vibrant imagination punctuated by confusion, dissociation and defiance. As an escape,
she finds tenderness in her next door neighbor, Larry, who may even be a space traveler.
Nancy Doyne exposes the confusion and chaos that divorce plays on children, with colorful
descriptions that can be hysterically funny and sadly true. She taps into the irony with-in
human behavior with a ping.
There is an epidemic of children of divorced parents who are traumatized and have been left
alone to figure it out. I would recommend Ten Swamps to any adolescent, teen, adult/child who
is still feeling the aftershock of their parent's divorce.
You can trust Nancy Doyne to guide you through the trauma of remembering with humor and an
understanding of human behavior that is oh so very, very wise.
I think Ten Swamps will become a classic.
January 29, 2026
The synopsis for this book describes it as dark, funny & mired in the unhinged dysfunction of family, divorce & coming-of-age. 100% accurate!
Set in the 1960’s with all the vibes of the era, this story gives us a peek into middle class suburbia where the parents are fighting their way through a hateful divorce & three siblings are navigating the fall-out.
Right off the bat, the characters had me in all my feels … it’s frustrating & sometimes downright angering but it’s also endearing & heartwarming. By the time I flipped that last page, I was completely & emotionally attached to Ellie … and the ending was nothing short of full-circle perfect!
If you enjoy messy, lyrical, nostalgic stories that will pull at your heart strings with the unfortunate real-ness of family & life & growing up … check this one out!
Set in the 1960’s with all the vibes of the era, this story gives us a peek into middle class suburbia where the parents are fighting their way through a hateful divorce & three siblings are navigating the fall-out.
Right off the bat, the characters had me in all my feels … it’s frustrating & sometimes downright angering but it’s also endearing & heartwarming. By the time I flipped that last page, I was completely & emotionally attached to Ellie … and the ending was nothing short of full-circle perfect!
If you enjoy messy, lyrical, nostalgic stories that will pull at your heart strings with the unfortunate real-ness of family & life & growing up … check this one out!
November 25, 2025
This story drops you right into the groovy vibes of the '60s—think “make love, not war,” but with a family twist that hits even harder sixty years later. As more kids today navigate divorced households, this tale feels surprisingly timely, almost like a gentle reminder to adults about how not to behave when things fall apart. The siblings each handle their new reality in their own way, giving the story heart, humor, and a few wow moments. And that ending? Absolutely superb—perfectly tied back to the beginning in a way that leaves you smiling and maybe a little misty-eyed. A nostalgic, thoughtful read with a fresh relevance.
November 25, 2025
It's a truly fantastic book, with vivid and humorous writing, with characters that feel like rounded people you get to know intimately and hear aloud! Ellie's curiosity, energy, and punkness will inevitably put you in touch with the child you have been and wish you'd met her then. Ten Swamps is a beautifully written story tapping into themes of family, friendship, identity and what it means to grow up. It will make you feel all the emotions on the spectrum of humanhood, while seeing the world as a child would, with genuine fair, sharp wit, and honest precision.
November 26, 2025
Wonderful story of a young g girl who attempts to navigate her life as her divorced parents are filled with hate for one another and use their children as pawns. She attempts to disappear from this situation and to make a new life for herself despite not knowing much about how to do that. Dismal position but sharp and funny too.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews