Breathing Underwater

Breathing Underwater by Vickers, Lu. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9781555839642.

In 1970s Chattahoochee, Florida, where the main employer is a mental institution, its sink or swim for Lily. When her mama, a former beauty queen who once dreamt of being Miss Florida, takes Lily and her siblings fishing one morning, Lily nearly drowns while her mother looks on, "weighing her gains against her losses." Lily proves to be a survivor, which she will need to prove again and again, as she struggles to stay afloat amidst her mothers slow mental deterioration, her first love, and her quest to come to terms with who she is and what she wants from this crazy world.