Swimming Between Worlds

March 15, 2018
Tacker Hart returns home to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, having been dismissed from an architecture project in Nigeria for going native. While deciding what to do next, he takes over the management of one of his father's grocery stores. Two people he encounters in that summer of 1959 change his life. One is Kate Monroe, whom he barely remembers from high school. The other is Gaines, a young black man Tacker hires to work in the store. Kate, an aspiring photographer, is living alone in the big house where she grew up, both of her parents having died. Like Tacker, she feels lost, a feeling heightened when she uncovers some painful family secrets. Gaines is part of a group staging lunch-counter sit-ins, and his efforts help Tacker find a new sense of purpose. The burgeoning relationship between Tacker and Kate takes place against a background of growing awareness of the need for change. Progressing at a leisurely pace, Orr's (A Different Sun, 2013) novel will appeal to people looking for a thoughtful read touching on social as well as personal issues.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)