The Diver — Alfred Neven DuMont

The Diver is a beautifully written and observed novel about Albert -- eighty-two and suffering from Parkinson's, following the death of his beloved twenty-year-old daughter, Glorie, who disappeared during a scuba dive off the Cayman Islands. Glorie had suffered from a potentially inherited and untreatable depression, and her death effectively destroyed her father and his marriage.

The Diver is a tender and insightful look into Albert's struggle with faith, his attempts to come to terms with retirement, his failing health, and the difficulties in his ossified marriage to his wife. DuMont leads him on a journey to self-discovery, acceptance, and understanding, as well as a fleeting glimpse of love with Glorie's best friend's mother, Lena, late in life.

This is a story about variations of love: the desperate love of an older man for this daughter, the stagnant love in a long-time marriage, and the surprising and rejuvenating love that can't last. DuMont has delivered a delicate and sure-handed debut, elements of which are based on his own life.