When she was a very young child, Melissa Corliss DeLorenzo witnessed a drowning at East Beach in New Bedford. A child had walked out onto the jetty and fallen into the water. “I have a very clear memory of a child being held by a paramedic who was running to an ambulance,” says DeLorenzo. This memory stuck with her for many years. In her second novel, "Talking Underwater", the author uses a similar incident to drive a wedge between her two main characters.

Talking Underwater tells the story of two inseparable sisters who share summers at their coastal New England home. Cattail Beach is their place of refuge and the backdrop for their happiest summer memories, but when a mistake leads to tragedy, the sisters must find a way to navigate the unbearable grief threatening to destroy their bond.

Though the novel wrestles with the weight of grief, there is still much joy in Talking Underwater; both the joy the two sisters take in their creative work (they own a lighting and set dressing company together), and the joy they take in their shared memories and family experiences. This may be because many of those experiences were based on the author’s own happy childhood.

DeLorenzo, who grew up in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, wrote Talking Underwater while earning her MFA in Boulder, Colorado. Being homesick and far from her beloved coastal home, DeLorenzo coped with her loneliness by “writing vignettes pulled directly from childhood memories.” DeLorenzo uses the beach setting to heal the rift between her two main characters.

The author spent many childhood summers at Horseneck Beach in Westport. Cattail Beach is a loosely disguised fictional version of the author’s self-described “happy place.” Says DeLorenzo, “When I’m swimming in salt water I feel very small but liberated; the ocean shrinks all my worries down to a manageable size and I feel like a child again.”

As an adult, the DeLorenzo faithfully continues the tradition of summers at Horseneck Beach with an annual two week vacation that she shares with her sister’s family and their parents. Like the sisters in her book, the author and her sister, Rebecca Beck, are inseparable.“No one makes me laugh like my sister,” says DeLorenzo, “We never get sick of each other.” Both have three children each which make for a big, happy tribe of cousins at Horseneck each year.

On Sunday, November 20, Melissa Corliss DeLorenzo will be appearing at The LaFayette Durfee House in Fall River as part of their Author Series. Located at 94 Cherry Street in Fall River, the Lafayette Durfee House is Fall River's only restored colonial house open for public tours. The event will include a reading, presentation and book signing. For more information about the event visit lafayettedurfeehouse.org.

DeLorenzo is also the author of the novel "The Mosquito Hours". She received a BA in English Literature from the University of Massachusetts and a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Naropa University. You can find her blog and more about her work at melissacorlissdelorenzo.com.

Laura LaTour is an avid reader and former bookseller. She is currently working as a freelance writer and publicist. Tell her your stories at: Laura@LaTourCreations.com.