Floating in the Neversink

by Andrea Simon

In the summer of 1955, nine-year-old Amanda Gerber tearfully leaves her best friend, Francine, and their adventurous life on her block in Brooklyn’s Flatbush. She joins her cantankerous family on the long, hot drive to her grandmother’s home in the Catskill Mountains among the city’s Jews who flock to countless hotels and bungalow colonies in the heyday of the Borscht Belt. In the idyllic mountains, Amanda becomes ensconced in the tumult of her extended family and their friends, often seeking solace in the woods with her beloved cousin Laura.

Through the following summers, interspersed with the heightened drama of her emotionally charged city life, Amanda faces severe tests to her survival mechanisms, including the pain of loss, abuse, and betrayal, while family secrets threaten to disrupt her life even further. A novel-in-stories, Floating in the Neversink is a testament to the power of survival, friendship, and love.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published October 3, 2019

About the author

Andrea Simon is a writer and photographer who lives in New York City. For the past several years, she has devoted her efforts to fiction and literary nonfiction, including her published memoir/history, Bashert: A Granddaughter’s Holocaust Quest, now in a paperback edition; her award-winning historical novel, Esfir Is Alive; her novel-in-stories, Floating in the Neversink; and her new novel, Did You Have the Life You Wanted? She is also the editor and a contributor to an anthology called Here's the Story ... Nine Women Write Their Lives. Andrea holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the City College of New York where she has taught writing.

Reviews

[Berit☀️✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrea Simon has written a beautiful coming of age story. The book perfectly captures the innocence, hope and heartbreak of youth. 1955 Brooklyn, Mandy loves her life in Brooklyn and her summers in the Catskills. The story is entirely told in Mandy’s voice, each chapter is a short story a little snapshot of Mandy’s life. You will meet her colorful family, or loyal friend, you will feel her hope, and fear her pain. The story is poignant and raw and touches on some tough subjects such as abuse and grief. The book is also nostalgic and charming and reminds you of all the hope and innocence of youth. My only complaint is it ended too quickly.

This book an emojis: 🗽 🌳 👭

*** Thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book ***

[Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

My parents grew up in the 40s and 50s, and I LOVE that time period so I can imagine their childhoods. Floating in the Neversink is set during the summer of 1955, and Amanda Gerber is nine years old when she has to leave her best friend, Francine, along with her home in Flatbush, Brooklyn.

Amanda’s family is headed to her grandmother’s home in the Catskills to an area known as the Borscht Belt. There Amanda joins her extended family and spends the summer with her dear cousin, Laura.

More summers come to pass, and Amanda grows up while she faces all that life has to offer, good and bad.

Floating in the Neversink is, at its heart, a story of friendship. It made me nostalgic for childhood friendships and immediately grabbed me with the authenticity in how that special bond was depicted.

It’s also Amanda’s story, and she’s a survivor. I found her relatable and endearing. There are some dark themes here with abuse, and Amanda is determined to come out on top. I also appreciated how mental illness was addressed. Overall, Floating in the Neversink impressed me with its truth and heart.

I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com

[Linda Zagon · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Floating in the Neversink" by Andrea Simon is an emotional, dramatic, captivating and coming of age story. The Genres are Fiction and Women's Fiction. The time-line is around 1955 and takes place in both Brooklyn and in the Catskills, where there are Bungalows and Hotels. The author writes different chapters with the same characters, possibly the same or different situations and problems. The author describes her dramatic adult characters as complex, complicated, and dysfunctional. The younger characters are coming of age, and are discovering loyalty, betrayal, and self -worth.

Amanda Gerber and her friend Francine enjoy their time together in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Amanda is sad to leave her friend behind to go with her family to the country. Amanda is close with her cousin Laura and they have some great times. Amanda and Laura go exploring and find a special place that they call theirs and write their names on a rock. Both are young girls but promise that this will be their hidden place. Do promises last forever?

The adults seem to have secrets and are always whispering. Amanda's father seems to be a bullying sort of man and is verbally abusive to  Amanda's mother and Amanda. There is one incident with Amanda and her father by The Neversink, where people go swimming and fishing, which is both frightening and devastating.

Amanda dreads when one of her Uncles comes to visit. Amanda learns that she has to keep her own secrets.  I appreciate that the author discusses such problems as mental illness, emotional and physical abuse, loyalty and betrayals, the importance of family, love, and hope. I would recommend this novel for readers who enjoy thought-provoking novels.

[Kathleen Rodgers · Rating 5 out of 5]

With a strong sense of place and an observant young narrator who often feels invisible, Andrea Simon’s coming-of-age novel, Floating in the Neversink, sheds light on family secrets and generational trauma. Each chapter captures a snapshot of a cantankerous family, although to outsiders looking in, they would find a middleclass Jewish family living in midcentury Brooklyn during the schoolyear and spending summers in the Catskill Mountains.

The novel opens when nine-year-old Amanda Gerber, who goes by Mandy, has to say farewell to her best friend, Francine, who lives on the same block in Brooklyn. As the family heads off in their black 1955 Buick for their country home in the mountains, Mandy’s biggest concern is that Francine, who’s also Jewish, will ditch her for the Catholic girls while she’s away for the summer. As the family draws closer to their destination, Mandy and her big sister, Brenda, duck as they pass near a place where a boy died of polio. This hit me with a jolt. The author touches on so many issues that are relevant today (as we await a vaccine) as they must’ve been back in the fifties before the polio vaccine was discovered.

The novel addresses the secret life of parents, the universal need to fit in, to feel safe and accepted by members of your own family and your peers. Sometimes jealousy rears its ugly head due to misunderstandings. Bullies and predators don’t become extinct over time and they often lurk behind the nicest facades.

The writing is vivid and clear, the descriptions spot-on. In a chapter titled “The Factory,” Mandy visits the sweater factory owned by her father and uncle. This line stood out: “As far as I could see, the arms of the mechanical threaders were folded and clasped like tired old men huddled over their newspapers.”

As I read each chapter, I often referred back to the cover art to find any clues hidden in the bucolic scene of a black car rolling across an old bridge. I found myself asking this question: Will the Neversink River give up its secrets or will it be up to Mandy and her cousin Laura to seek the truth?

Along with Mandy, you will long to know about a man named Benny. Who was he and what happened to him?

Oh, Benny…

Late in the story young Mandy has a revelation: “To never hide from the truth no matter how painful.”

Throw in a beloved grandma’s country house filled with an attic bulging with relics and “terrifying objects,” and you’ve got the makings of a story that both entertains and makes you think. Whether you grew up in a Jewish household in the fifties in New York or were raised in a protestant family a decade later in another region of the country, you’ll find yourself eavesdropping in on adult conversations and trying to pick the lock on family secrets.

In her acknowledgements, Andrea Simon says her sister always encouraged her to tell her own truth even if it differed from her sister’s. When it comes to a writer pursuing her writing dreams, there is no greater gift than to receive this kind of support from a family member.

Brava to Andrea Simon. I loved this book.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have seldom read anything which so evoked my feelings as a girl of ten or twelve: a whole way of looking at the world which I had forgotten somehow. Though I grew up in the same period of the 1950s in New York City as Mandy in NEVERSINK, and never went to the Catskills, being reminded of the way a young girl thinks seemed like finding myself again. I had forgotten how that world consists of your best friend, fitting in, your private feelings, and that, above you, exists this incomprehensible other world of adults, who often behave in stupid, irrational ways. The child’s world is the real one; the other (shifting and unpredictable) very strange.

The Gerber family with its boring consistencies and hurtful secrets which no one spoke of is so real as are the streets and woods and cabins. For as long as the book lasted, I lived in the 1950s Brooklyn/Catskills world and was so surprised to find myself at the last page to have turned back to that strange thing once more – an adult.

[Heidi Slowinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Floating in the Neversink, author Andrea Simon transports her readers to 1950s Brooklyn where we meet 9-year-old Amanda Gerber. Mandy, as she's known to her friends and family, is faced with a summer away from her best friend, Francine as her family heads to her grandmother's summer home in the Catskills. Mandy finds solace in being able to spend her time with her favorite cousin, Laura.

Simon creates a coming of age story while exploring the Jewish experience in the mid-1950s to early 60s. The story weaves together a colorful and tumultuous cast of characters in the Gerber extended family. With the story being told from the viewpoint of a child, she's often shielded from her family history, which means so is the reader, creating an element of mystery to the story. This is a story is a balance of love, friendship, and self-discovery with some darker moments physical abuse and mental illness.

This is a beautifully written, well-paced read.

[Sheri McGuinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delicious description of growing up in the 1950's. For example, "I was petrified to even touch it, sure that my sweaty fingerprints would be pressed into the shiny brown wood the wasy a comic book came off on my Silly Putty."

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Floating in the Neversink is a compilation of stories about a young girl who spends her summers in the Catskills with her family. On the surface, the story appears simple. Young Mandy and her cousin, Laura, reignite their summertime friendship, share secrets, and explore family mysteries. But there’s much more to the story. While Simon expertly captures the feel of growing up in the 1950’s and early 1960’s, she doesn’t hesitate to include the dark side, the things people didn’t or wouldn’t talk about, and either pretended they didn’t exist or became family secrets. Like an onion, this book has many layers and must be peeled back, but once you do, the reader will be well rewarded.

[Linda Aronovsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was transported to a different time and place, to the Catskill mountains where Jewish families summered in the 1950s and 1960s. I did not participate in that experience, but I know of it, and I got a full taste by being immersed in that culture through this wonderfully nostalgic book. It's a coming-of-age story of a young pre-teen over a number of summer vacations, struggling with family relationships and friendships, and her sense of self and place in the world. You want to laugh and cry along with her. One dramatic scene adds another sense of emotional depth and realism. Beautifully written and heartfelt. I loved it.

[Helen Murawski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Floating in the Neversink. I could see the children so vividly in my mind. Many reminders of my own childhood adventures. So much of the the feeling of the story remains with me, even now, as I think of the children and the story surrounding them and their families.

[Sylvia Jacobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Floating in the Neversink by Andrea Simon is a Women’s 

Historical/Literacy Fiction book. It was published October 3, 

2019.The Print length is 277 pages.

*Awards and Recognition
- Winner of the 2020 New York Indie Author Project 
- Made the Jewish Women's Archive Reader 
   Recommended List of 2018-2019 
- Quarterfinalist for the Screencraft Cinematic
Book Award 
- Readers' Favorite Award Finalist, Literary Fiction

The story takes place in the 1950s in Brooklyn and in the 
Catskills as well. 

It is a story about a girl who is nine years old, whose name 
is Amanda Gerber she lives with her father, mother  
and her sister named Brenda. This family definitely has quite 
an interesting relationship as they are seen as fighting often.
However, as you dive deeper into the book, you will see that 
they had many fun times as well.

They spend summers in the Catskills and that time definitely 
seemed like a fun time for the family. It definitely brings back 
pleasant memories for myself as I spent many summers 
in the Catskills.
One will read a lot about friendships.
As the book continues, one will hear many short stories that 
are being told in the book about different people.

I enjoyed the Yiddish that was thrown into the book and the
different cast of characters was quite interesting.

One will feel like they’re sitting in this family’s living room and 
listening to all their stories.

The author transported me back in time as this book was quite 
descriptive. It was a fun read and I felt like I was on an 
adventure. The book brought out many emotions in me.
The author did a fantastic job covering that time period.
This book is a well written and thought-provoking  
coming-of-age novel. It is the story of Amanda Gerber‘s life  
from age 9 to age15. One will love how the story is told through 
a series of short stories.

5*****
Book Review by Sylvia J.

[Linda Ulleseit · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautifully written book is told with a series of short stories about the narrator's summers at her grandmother's country home. It is left to the reader to fill in what happens during the rest of the year as Mandy grows up. In the beginning, Mandy is reluctant to leave her best friend in the city at the beginning of the summer, and reluctant to leave her cousin at the end of the summer. The stories center on childhood adventures like visiting a special rock in the woods. Gradually, the story expands to include family love and loyalty set against issues of religion, mental illness, betrayal, and abuse. Over the six years of Mandy's life portrayed in this book, we are treated to episodes of poignant pre-adolescence, with all the loneliness and longing that entails. Wonderful book that will awaken your own vibrant nostalgia.

[Ruth Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine. My rating is a 3.75 for this book.

First of all, this book is what I would consider a young adult coming-of-age book, but it does not mean it is completely appropriate for all young adults and teenagers. There are some sexual situations and other difficulties that come up, and there is also some (but not too much) profanity. It is nothing that would shock most teenagers, but I always want to let readers know the potentially problematic and/or offensive areas of any book before they read.

This book has some truly amazing portions of it that definitely could spark conversations between teens and the adults in their lives. Even though the book is a throwback to a different time period and has that retro/nostalgic feel, it is wise to remember that children often dealt with major issues back then. The difference is that there were taboo topics that were not discussed in most families, and as a young girl, the expectation was that any man who forced her to perform sexual favors--no matter the age--was culpable for actions. Very few seemed to understand and publicly acknowledge that "dirty old men" who were considered friends of the family could easily prey on the youngsters--both boys and girls--and never get caught. I can only hope that we have evolved enough as a society to ensure that the vast majority of young people do not have to experience this sort of behavior. Nevertheless, this is one of the chapters that I felt could spawn some authentic conversations between young people and their parents if this subject has never been broached in the household.

I was not overly taken with the manner in which the book was written, but that is more of a personal preference on my part. No doubt the author knows how to weave a tale that places the reader smack dab in the middle of the action, but sometimes I felt just a little lost and disinterested in some of the characters. Amanda's character was well-developed and detailed her stories in her own unique style, but sometimes, the other characters felt more two-dimensional. Perhaps I am merely not the intended audience for this book. I appreciated the throwbacks in the book and the way in which things were not politically correct. But I was not overly invested in several of the characters.

While the book itself was not amongst my top favorites, the topics that were covered and even the first-person narrative were all intriguing. It is an easy-to-read book that may very well find its way onto the shelves of those looking for coming-of-age stories and a look at a simpler time (with complications beneath the radar). The author definitely knows and understands the area and time period that is covered within this book, and for that, I definitely applaud her.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Floating in the Neversink is set in the summer of 1955 when Amanda Gerber is nine years old, and has to leave her best friend Francine and her home in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Amanda and her family are headed to her grandmother’s home in the Catskills, and here she spends her summer with her cousin, Laura.

I love the authenticity of this novel. From the beautiful writing that made me feel as though I was transported back to the summer of 1955. Andrea Simon captured this wonderfully.

The theme of friendship is ever present in Floating in the Neversink. It was a bit nostalgic about childhood friendship. There are also dark themes of abuse and mental illness is addressed with respect. I was very impressed.

Floating in the Neversink isn’t necessarily a book I would grab for, but I’m glad I didn’t miss out on it! It’s a beautiful story with a lot of heart and wonderful writing. Definitely worth a read.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book as part of a blog tour with Over the River PR. All opinions are my own.*

[Grace J Reviewerlady · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting from this novel; whilst it's a nice read, it didn't set my world on fire.

This is a collection of tales narrated by nine-year-old Amanda Gerber, mostly about her families annual trip to the Catskill Mountains where they meet up at her Grandma's house along with a lot of other friends and relatives. I have great sympathy with Mandy; my own parents cloaked their lives in secrecy and she finds out more from listening when she shouldn't than she ever gets told willingly!

I liked these stories, but I'm not sure I loved them. For me, they were a bit directionless. Whilst some of Mandy's exploits with her cousin and friends seemed familiar (or as near as it gets between Scotland and the states), there is only a feint structure and I much prefer a book with a good solid ending. It is an uncomfortable read in places, but I raced through it quite quickly and consider it fair to settle on 3.5 stars.

[Kate Lonberg-Lew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Floating in the Neversink is a wonderful coming-of-age story. Readers across generations will enjoy reading Mandy’s story as loses and reconnects with friends, discovers family secrets, and keeps some of her own. The story is set against a back drop of the beautiful Catskills mountains. Mrs. Simon brings the time and place alive with realistic detail, and Mandy is a fully-formed character you’ll be pleased to follow as she runs through the countryside. The writing itself is an easy, fast read. If your like me, you’ll devour this realistic story from your parents’ childhood.

[Barbara Packer · Rating 5 out of 5]

You don’t have to be from Brooklyn or spent summers in the Catskill mountains to appreciate the evocative descriptions of growing up in these two worlds; or to feel the hope and heartbreak of this story’s young female protagonist, Mandy Gerber. Simon, a strong, visual writer, weaves these deeply moving stories of Mandy’s dreams and traumas, family feuds and secrets, friendships and jealousies in rich, and sometimes alarming, detail.

[Vincent J · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I enjoy most about this novel is how it places you back at a time in America that even if you were not around to experience it, you feel as if you are right there alongside the main character. This is a book that you will ponder for days after you finish reading it. A beautiful piece of literature.

[Alex Murawski · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written novel that evokes the atmosphere of the time. Highly recommend!

[Linda Lieberman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remembering the Catskills

In reading this memoir, I recalled childhood visits to Mountain- dale and Monticello, New York.
My maternal aunt Esther and cousins Jeff and Steve visited the Lorraine House every summer. Their father, Uncle Al, came up from Brooklyn on weekends. My own family lived in northwestern New Jersey, not far away.

From all I remember, those summers were golden. The swimming pool, nearby lakes, and famous hotels were all enticing. We met city kids who spent their summers much like Amanda, Barbara and their large family.

I can still hear the clicking mah jongg tiles, the shuffling of card decks, the rolling dice. Kids and adults running into and out of the main house and bungalows.

The rush and expectation of Shabbat, cars and buses delivering tired travelers. Big family meals, dances and entertainment. This was exciting for a country-raised kid who loved everything about the Catskills. It must have been in my parents' blood, both of them counselors living in refurbished chicken coops.

Thanks for the memories of long-gone family and friends, Andrea. Keep writing what you know best. I will be waiting to read it.

[Eva Silverfine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel in stories reads as a memoir in vignettes, spanning the preteen to teen years of a Jewish girl from Brooklyn during the latter half of the 1950s into the 1960s. Many of the stories take place at her grandmother’s summer place in the Catskills. Simon well captures the voice of a young girl, Mandy, as well as those who people her wider environment. Whereas the subject matter could easily fall into nostalgia, Simon portrays Mandy’s experiences and emotions in a manner that avoids oversentimentality. As a Jewish girl from Brooklyn myself, albeit of a later time and neighborhood, I found the familiar—the Yiddish words that creep into conversation, the cadence of speech, and the secretiveness of the older generation—but also a different experience.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jewish life in the Catskill Mountains during the 20th century took a variety of forms. Some people lived in the villages all year-round, while others came only for the summer. Some visitors spent their vacations in fancy hotels that catered to their every whim, while others owned small vacation homes and cottages. The former visitors came as a family to escape the heat of the city for a few days or weeks. The latter stayed for the summer, with the women and children remaining in the country all week, while the men visited for the weekend and then returned to the city for the workweek. Two recent works of fiction offer views of these two different lifestyles: “The Hotel Neversink” by Adam O’Fallon Price (Tin House Books) focuses on the rise and fall of a family hotel, while Andrea Simon’s “Floating in the Neversink: A Novel in Stories” (Black Rose Writing) explores family relationships during vacations at the summer home of the narrator’s grandmother.
See the rest of my review at http://www.thereportergroup.org/Artic...

[Linda Beilstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read through NetGalley. This was a very interesting story about a class of people that I personally was not familiar. These people lived in the city but moved to the Catskills for the summer. The mother and children stayed there all summer and the father came on the weekends. The story centers around a young girl's summer and her relationship with her cousin and how they spent the summer days trying to find out the truth behind the family secrets.

[Caly ☯ Crazy Book Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

while disappointed in the ending, as someone who grew up visiting my Grandparents for a week in the Catskill Mountains in the summer, I enjoyed reliving the memories.

[Fran · Rating 4 out of 5]

A coming of age tale, with each chapter its own story. Sweet, tragic, innocent, nostalgic…with the bittersweet ending of childhood. I devoured this in one sitting and wanted more.

[Corrine Ardoin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Floating in the Neversink tells the story of one girl's coming-of-age during the 1950's. The author, Andrea Simon, draws you into Amanda Gerber's world, sharing in her experiences growing up Jewish in Brooklyn. It demonstrates the importance of friendship and the agony of a dysfunctional family. It may be difficult to read about abuse for some, but it is, unfortunately, a part of life. Sad for Amanda, but it only deepens the connection to the story that is of an American girl. Reminiscent of the movie with Diane Lane and Viggo Mortenson, "A Man on the Moon."

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reminded me of the amazon series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. It also reminded me of stories from my mother’s youth, although she is not Jewish and did not summer in the Catskills but she did grow up going to a lake in the Adirondacks and played games with her cousins like Mandy and Laura did. I wish that there was a bit more closure at the end but it was an enjoyable Friday evening read.

[Janice]

So