After Drowning

by Valerie Mills-Milde

After Drowning is set in a small fishing town on the shores of Lake Erie and concerns the volatile fortunes of a fishing family. At one time, Lake Erie was the home of a thriving fishing industry but the sad fortunes of the lake have limited the industry, forcing those who live near it to adapt. A drowning, a tragedy witnessed by Penelope Beau and her four-year-old daughter, Maddy, brings back memories of Pen's childhood: the death of her father Rod in a boating accident, which may or may not have been an accident, and the subsequent disappearance of her brother Keaton who fled town after an act of arson. Also on the beach on the day of the drowning is Tom Valentine, a member of the Bandido biker gang, who is inexorably involved with a club-sanctioned bloody showdown. Now, abandoned and betrayed, a solitary Tom must contemplate the true nature of his relationships. Pen and Tom's lives intersect, both outliers who must find a way to reconcile the various threads of their lives.

Genres: Fiction

260 pages, Paperback

Published May 25, 2016

About the author

Valerie Mills-Milde is the author of "After Drowning" (Inanna 2016), winner of a Silver Medal for Contemporary Fiction at the Independent Publisher Book Awards (Ippys), and "The Land's Long Reach" (Inanna 2018). Her short stories have appeared in numerous Canadian literary journals, and a collection of these, "Not the Talking Kind", was a semi-finalist for the St. Lawrence Book Award.

Reviews

[Orla Hegarty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid start. Weak middle. Very tidy ending.

I got this book as a gift from my daughter's partner as part of our xmas eve used book exchange (in the Icelandic tradition). He was correct in knowing I would be engaged by the setting (SW Ontario, where I grew up) and the dysfunctional family (he *is* with my daughter lol). But it started to fall flat about 1/2 way through. Too many shallowly developed (stereotypical?) characters.

I do feel enriched by reading it though which is why the 3 star rating.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strong three stars to this novel about the ripple effects of a tragic drowning. The author vividly evokes the feeling of the north shore of Lake Erie, and the little "Port" towns, and the vestiges of a previously robust fishing industry. Like the industry itself, the characters of our story are at loose ends. A young mother with a curious daughter, a biker with some gruesome secrets, and extended families and characters with lost, unfulfilled and frustrated ambitions. Nobody's really happy in this book, but the personal journeys keep you engaged. I was a little let down by the Keaton revelations, though, because I had pegged that as a probable outcome since the first two chapters. All in all, a good summer read which is more meaningful if you know your Lake Erie.

[Steven Buechler · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is something unique about a story written from somebody who’s career is not just focused on literary endeavours. Valerie Mills-Milde is listed in the biography of this book as clinical social worker. And this story is filled with personal unease that is common among us that a reader cannot help but feel empathy with the characters. For me, the book was especially vivid seeing it was set in a port town near Lake Erie. I could easily relate to not only the settings but understand well the angst each of the characters feel as they witness the skillset they learned to earn a living become redundant. This was a complex read but definitely a read I could relate to on so many levels.

https://pacifictranquility.wordpress....

[James Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Valerie Mills-Milde's debut novel and it is a superb one. Located on the north shore of Lake Erie where there was once a thriving freshwater fishing industry, After Drowning is a semi-psychological and vastly intriguing novel about lives shattered by events past and present in the fictional town of Port, where a vestigial fishing industry still exists in company with gentrified tourist destinations, and of course, the beach.
I called this novel semi-psychological because we are taken along with Pen as she tries to sort out her emotions in dealing with a drowned father, a missing brother, a recovered alcoholic mother and her own estranged marriage to Jeff, Maddie's ever-patient father. The biker massacre affects her as well, for she encountered T several times around Port after the drowning, so she tries to understand how someone who tried to save a life could just as easily take one.
After Drowning is an intriguing, well-paced and mysteriously captivating story of everyday lives impacted by tragic events and the collateral damage they inflict as well as the long road back to recovery and reconciliation. Certainly one of the best novels I have read this year.
My full review can be found at my site: http://miramichireader.ca/2016/07/aft...

[Sarah Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing read! Time is taken to allow the reader to slowly get to know the characters. The reader gets a sense of connection with the characters, understanding their human-ness....flaws and strengths. It is well written, absorbing the reader into truly feeling.

[Ik · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very slow and - in my eyes - very boring.

[Liz Mantz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous gem of a book.