Make no mistake; this book is about rape - more than
Those who are up for that also should know they'll be getting into a well-written, captivating (if not sometimes horrifying) story that begins as Rachel Krall is in small-town Neapolis, North Carolina, to cover a rape trial for the third season of her "Guilty or Not Guilty" podcast. Her producer, who usually accompanies her, can't make it this time, but the digital age keeps them bound together. The accuser is a teenage girl, and the young man is - or was, before all this happened - well on his way to becoming an Olympics hopeful (plus, unlike the young woman, he's from a prominent and wealthy family. No surprise, then, that the citizens of Neapolis are staunchly divided on who's lying and who's telling the truth.
Before the trial begins, Rachel finds a note on her car from someone named Hannah, who insists her sister Jennie was murdered in the town years ago and begs Rachel to investigate while she's in town. Rachel is intrigued, but Rachel must concentrate on the trial at hand. Besides, Hannah refuses to meet in person, making her story more of a stretch to believe. Still, there's something very convincing in what Hannah writes as she repeatedly finds ways to get messages to Rachel. So despite her producer's cautions to stay on track, she ventures out to see what she can learn.
Some chapters take place in the courtroom, some are "playbacks" of Rachel's latest podcast and others follow her as she attempts to dig up information on what really happened to Hannah's sister. As a whole, that makes for a story that held my interest from beginning to end. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review an advance copy.
The Night Swim by Megan Goldin (St. Martin's Press, August 2020); 348 pp.
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