SWIM HOME TO THE VANISHED

Shaun Taylor-Corbett performs this immersive audiobook in a restrained style. He modulates his voice depending on the scene, shifting his tone to reflect the various characters and authentically delivering the Diné language that is sprinkled through the text. Taylor-Corbett inhabits the soul of Damien, who has just lost his younger brother. He seeks refuge from his wounds by traveling to a mysterious seacoast town that is ruled by a powerful female family who run a dockside eatery. Magical realism colors this fine debut novel. People develop gills, tails, and hard shells, and the sea and its power over life and death is omnipresent. The author takes listeners on a journey that is part origin story, part evocation of climate disasters, and entirely worth listening to. A.D.M. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2023]