After Drowning is set in a small fishing town on the shores of Lake Erie and concerns the volatile fortunes of a fishing family. At one time, Lake Erie was the home of a thriving fishing industry but the sad fortunes of the lake have limited the industry, forcing those who live near it to adapt. A drowning, a tragedy witnessed by Penelope Beau and her four-year-old daughter, Maddy, brings back memories of Pen’s childhood: the death of her father Rod in a boating accident, which may or may not have been an accident, and the subsequent disappearance of her brother Keaton who fled town after an act of arson. Also on the beach on the day of the drowning is Tom Valentine, a member of the Bandido biker gang, who is inexorably involved with a club-sanctioned bloody showdown. Now, abandoned and betrayed, a solitary Tom must contemplate the true nature of his relationships. Pen and Tom’s lives intersect, both outliers who must find a way to reconcile the various threads of their lives.

Valerie Mills-Milde lives, works and writes in London, Ontario. Her short fiction has appeared in Canadian literary journals across the country. When she is not writing, she is a clinical social worker in private practice. After Drowning is her debut novel.

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