The Sirens of Soleil City A Novel

Three generations of women learn to own their mistakes and rebuild their bonds as they prepare to compete in the South Florida Senior Synchronized Swimming Competition.

“A witty, touching story of resilience, forgiveness, complicated family dynamics, and second chances.”—Deepa Varadarajan, author of Late Bloomers

West Palm Beach, 1999. A phone call summons fifty-eight-year-old Cherie Anderson from a frozen Minnesota to help her two mothers: Dale, the mother who left her when she was five and is facing eviction from her budget-apartment complex, Soleil City, and Marlys, the mother who raised her from that moment on—and who’s now dying, but won’t admit it to her daughter. Cherie seeks a reason to stay in town long enough to give Dale the help she’s finally asked for and Marlys the help she clearly needs. And she must find a project to distract her pregnant daughter, Laura, whose marriage has fallen apart just weeks before her due date.

The South Florida Senior Synchronized Swimming Competition seems to be the answer. The publicity from winning the contest, along with the ten-thousand-dollar prize money, could help save Soleil City. With Laura, who used to captain a dance team, as their coach, they’ve got a fighting chance. And with everyone else preoccupied by the competition, Cherie can focus on saving Marlys before it’s too late.

Over the course of a month in an apartment complex filled with feisty, funny, strong-willed women in their seventies, four women who make up an uneasy family will realize that in life, and motherhood, there isn’t good and bad. There’s only trying to get it right.

Sarah C. Johns is a writer and video producer. After studying in South Africa, Hungary, Israel, and Germany, she graduated from McGill University before attending film school in Sydney, Australia. She lives with her family in St. Paul, Minnesota.