In Loutra, Kat dives into her memories. She swims: thirty-nine lengths—one for each year of her life. Defying the viscosity of the water, she slides into her past: her childhood, her daughter, her fault. One, two, three, breathe. Her marriage is in the water. If only she can pinpoint the precise moment when everything sank, she will know what to do. One, two, three, breathe. By the pool, Melina, her fourteen-year-old daughter, flirts with Achille, a handsome young Greek.
Marianne Apostolides has written a novel that is entirely punctuated by the movements of swimming, where the heritage of ancient Greece blossoms in the psyche of a modern woman.
