Swimming Upstream

Lizzie Taylor’s life was full and busy with a career in broadcasting, yet she still felt something was missing. The road had been rocky for sometime between her and her boyfriend Larsen and their relationship was quickly falling apart. She realized that her whole life was wrapped up in Larsen’s pop star world and she had few friends of her own. Then one day Lizzie reconnects with an old childhood friend Catherine. She soon meets Martin, Catherine’s handsome and flirtatious fiancé. Lizzie soon realizes that Martin is self-centered and controlling with Catherine. He is much too interested in Lizzie and even seems sinister at times.  

Ruth Mancini pulls the reader into Lizzie’s world, a world where she is slowly and irresistibly sucked into her boyfriend’s life style. How often does a lover leave their life behind and step by step become just an appendage of their loved one? The author aptly describes this almost imperceptible process, then deftly draws one in to feel her anguish and loneliness when that relationship ends. Mancini beautifully gives Lizzie a distinct personality and depth. The supporting characters are also multi dimensional; each one reminding the reader that life is often complicated, while intricately weaving the message that it just takes one step at a time to stop selling yourself short and start the road to a new life. 

Rose Mary Espinoza