FAIRHOPE, ALA. — Joshilyn Jackson cemented her place in the Southern literary scene with her debut novel, gods in Alabama, and her acclaimed follow-up, Between, Georgia.

Jackson returns to Page & Palette Bookstore, 32 S. Section St. in Fairhope, Saturday, March 8, from 2-4 p.m., to sign her latest release, The Girl Who Stopped Swimming, a riveting novel with a universal plot that is destined to delight Jackson’s loyal fans and bring her even greater national recognition.

In The Girl Who Stopped Swimming, Laurel Gray Hawthorne needs to make things pretty, whether she’s helping her mother make sure the literal family skeleton stays in the closet or turning scraps of fabric into nationally acclaimed art quilts.

Her estranged sister, Thalia, an impoverished actress, is her polar opposite, priding herself on exposing the lurid truth lurking behind middle class niceties.

While Laurel’s life seems neatly on track, everything she holds dear is suddenly thrown into question the night she is visited by the ghost of her 13-year-old neighbor, Molly Dufresne. The ghost leads Laurel to the real Molly floating lifelessly in the Hawthorne’s backyard pool.

Molly’s death is inexplicable. Enlisting Thalia’s help, Laurel sets out on a life-altering journey that triggers startling revelations about her family’s guarded past, the true state of her marriage and the girl who stopped swimming.

Richer and more rewarding than any story Jackson has yet written, but still packed with Jackson's trademarked outrageous characters, sparkling dialogue and defiantly twisting plotting, The Girl Who Stopped Swimming is destined to both delight Jackson’s loyal fans and capture a whole new audience.

For more information about this event, visit www.pageandpalette.com, or call (251) 928-5295.

The author will exclusively sign books purchased from Page & Palette.