The Dive From Clausen's Pier

Starred review from March 4, 2002
Packer's engrossing debut novel begins without ostentation. On Memorial Day, Carrie Bell and her fiancé, Mike Mayer, drive out to Clausen's Pier for their annual ritual, a picnic with their friends, a trip they make the way a middle-aged couple might, in grudging silence. Before their resentments can be aired, Mike dives into too shallow water, suffering injuries that change their lives. If Mike survives, he will survive as a quadriplegic, and Carrie faces unexpected responsibilities. Ultimately, Carrie does what is both understandable and unthinkable. She leaves her hometown of Madison, Wis., and shows up on the doorstep of a friend in New York City. There she discovers a different world, different friends and a different self. The hovering question—what will Carrie do? Abandon Mike or return to him?—generates genuine suspense. Packer portrays her characters—both New Yorkers and Madisonites—deftly, and her scenes unfold with uncommon clarity. But if Packer has a keen eye, she has an even keener ear. The dialogue is usually witty; more important, it is always surprising, as if the characters were actually thinking—one of the reasons they become as familiar to the reader as childhood friends. The recipient of several awards, Packer is also the author of Mendocino and Other Stories. Clearly, she has honed her skills writing short fiction. What is unexpected is the assurance she brings to a larger canvas. In quiet but beautiful prose, Packer tells a complex and subtly constructed story of friendship, love and the hold the past has on the present. This is the sort of book one reads dying to know what happens to the characters, but loves for its wisdom: it sees the world with more clarity than you do. (Apr.)Forecast:Packer has had a Cadillac career—Yale, the Iowa Writers' Workshop, the O. Henry Prize, work in the
New Yorker and
Ploughshares. All of this bodes well for sales, but stellar reviews and word of mouth will do most for this absorbing first novel.

August 1, 2002
Adult/High School-Carrie Bell, 23, is engaged to her boyfriend of eight and a half years and will likely live and die in the same town where she grew up and attended college. Lately, the prospect of such a life has left her feeling unsatisfied and yearning for something different. On Memorial Day, a picnic get-together with friends turns into a tragedy when Mike, her fianc, dives off Clausen's Pier. Partially paralyzed in both arms and with total paralysis below the waist, he is changed forever. Carrie is then left to decide whether to stay and become the supportive, loving wife everyone expects her to be or leave to pursue a life separate from him. Throughout the novel, she battles the central question of responsibility, what she owes Mike and what she owes herself. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. This story places readers in Carrie Bell's shoes, and will leave them pondering "what if" questions in their own lives. Teens are sure to connect with the protagonist's feelings of unrest and general indecision about her future. This fast-paced, character-driven story will keep them hooked through to the last page.-Julie Dasso, Fairfax County Public Library, VA

Copyright 2002 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2004
The university town of Madison has become a cocoon for Carrie and her friends, providing both security and frustration. When her longtime boyfriend, Mike, is injured, Carrie flees to New York City. Ann Packer's THE DIVE FROM CLAUSEN'S PIER (Knopf. 2002. ISBN 0-375-41282-4. $24; pap. Vintage. 2003. ISBN 0-375-72713-2. $14) captures twentysomething angst, as well as universal feelings of indecision, love, desire, and belonging.

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 15, 2002
\deflang1033\pard\plain\f3\fs24 Packer's first novel is a sensitive exploration of the line between selfishness and self-preservation. Carrie Bell is 23 and has lived in Madison, Wisconsin, all her life. She is engaged to her high-school sweetheart, Mike, and all seems well--to everyone but Carrie, who is falling out of love with Mike, with Madison, with everything. On Memorial Day she numbly watches Mike dive off of Clausen's Pier and break his neck in the too-shallow water, leaving him a quadriplegic. She is stricken with grief, guilt, indecision, and fear--she wants to be supportive and faithful, but she cannot make herself love him again. After a painful summer of hospital vigils, she flees to New York City and tries on a new life, a new relationship. She cannot escape what she's left behind, though, and must eventually face those who feel she has betrayed them. There are no easy answers for Carrie, but her struggle to do what's right and her revelations about the life she wants for herself will keep readers turning page after eloquently written page. Give this to the same young female audience that loved Melissa Bank's \plain\f3\fs24" The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing\plain\f3\fs24 (1999). (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)