The Sirens of Soleil City by Sarah C. Johns ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

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.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review

July 2024; Random House; 978-0593730485
audio, ebook, print (304 pages); women's fiction

This is a book about three generations of women and takes place in Florida in 1999. It's a great book about aging and how some older women still have a love of life and adventure despite what the world thinks.

Cherie is 58 and has a strange family -- she has two mothers.  One is her biological mother, Dale,  who was a free spirit and left her daughter when she was a baby and saw her infrequently when she was growing up. The other mom (and the one she refers to as Mom) is Marlys who married her father and raised her after her bio mom left. Interestingly, Dale and Marlys are now best friends and see each other frequently.   Both of the women have a major problem.  Marlys is dying but doesn't want anyone to know - especially not her daughter.  Dale is facing eviction from her budget senior apartment -- actually all of her friends there may soon be without a home when the owner sells the complex.  Cherie is someone who always wants to be in charge and tell everyone what to do so she feels it's her duty to save the apartment complex.  She decides that the women should compete in the South Florida Senior Synchronized Swimming Competition.  The prize is $10,000 which will save the complex.  Do any of the seniors know how to synchronize swim -- well no, but surely they can learn in a month.  To help out, Cherie calls on her pregnant daughter to come to Florida to help out.  Can this feisty group of older women win the prize and save their homes?

My favorite characters were Dale and the other women who lived in the apartment complex.  They may all be in their 70s but they are an outspoken and tenacious group of women.   Even when they argued, they remained friends.  Some of their conversations were hilarious - they didn't really care what other people thought of them, they wanted to live their lives in peace and knew that winning this competition would keep them in their homes.  It was also interesting to see the three different generations of women interact.  Cherie was comfortable with both of her mothers but her daughter failed to understand the relationship at first.  

This is a book about families of all types.  The different type of family that Cherie had with two mothers.  The life that her daughter was going to have by having a baby after her husband leaves her.  The family unit made up of Dale and Marlys.  And the unconventional group of women who lived in the apartment who were a family based on the love that they all had toward each other as they navigated their aging. Overall, there is no good or bad type of family - the important thing is that it works and brings people closer together and happy with their lives.

Buy The Sirens of Soleil City at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is two hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.   

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