Note: I was delighted when Helen Matthews, a psychological suspense author from the UK, offered this full review of The Swanson Shuffle, which was released April 30. Due to our association with two publishers, I had asked for a blurb and she gave this as well. Please check out Helen’s books, Girl Out of Sight, The Sisters, The Girl in the Van, and Lies Behind the Ruin. I have so enjoyed reading them all.

In recent years my reading diet has been skewed towards dark and twisty page-turners but I’ve always been a fan of literary fiction. The Swanson Shuffle was a pleasure to read as I rediscovered the delights of beautifully-written prose and a slower but satisfying character-driven narrative with emotional depth.

The story is set in the 1970s and has an unusual and fascinating setting. Dilapidated Swanson House, a former mansion that now operates as a halfway house for psychiatric patients released from a nearby mental hospital, Alden, but not yet well enough to live independently. The central character, Bia, graduated from college two years earlier and has left an unsatisfying job and an even more unsatisfying relationship, to take on a role at Swanson House. She believes she can make a difference to the lives of the residents.

Along with three other staff members, none of whom are medically qualified or experienced in mental health social work, Bia gets to know the residents and shares her observations with the reader. Those most vivid in my mind are Lane, who finds it hard to express himself so writes everything down as stories; Jerry, who seems superficially well-balanced but has some dark incidents in his past, and outrageous Angie, who can’t hold down a job and seems compelled to throw herself at every man around.

Swanson House rules are that residents must hold down a job and pay their rent in order to stay in the house. As the back stories of this intriguing mix of damaged people gradually unfold, we see how they cope, or not, with their daily routines. Working, eating, smoking, doing the grocery shop, playing volleyball and dozing off are the norm. A cinema trip or a visit to explore a staff ember’s new apartment downtown count as highlights. Some succeed, others aren’t ready for this step towards freedom and fail. Insights into the residents’ traumas are depicted with great sensitivity.

In this intense and challenging workplace, I questioned whether certain staff might be more unstable than the residents. Sometimes boundaries become very blurred.

I loved the references to contemporary music and events unfolding in the outside world – the Watergate scandal, Nixon’s resignation, Patty Hearst. The films the residents went on a group trip to see included The Exorcist though not One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (perhaps this was released later).

The Swanson Shuffle has authentic characters and the story is told with insight and clearly based on personal experience and research. Bia is an impressive character who develops and grows in her time at the halfway house. While the main action of the novel is compressed into around a year, there is a satisfying ending set some years into the future. We discover what she’s learned and how her time at Swanson has shaped her future. A book full of compassion and hope — a highly recommended read.

Here’s the link to The Swanson Shuffle.