Book ~ "The Drowning Woman" (2023) Robyn Harding

From Goodreads ~ Lee Gulliver never thought she’d find herself living on the streets - no one ever does - but when her restaurant fails and she falls deeper into debt, she leaves her old life behind with nothing but her clothes and her Toyota Corolla. 

In Seattle, she parks in a secluded spot by the beach to lay low and plan her next move - until early one morning, she sees a sobbing woman throw herself into the ocean. Lee hauls the woman back to the surface but instead of appreciation, she is met with fury. The drowning woman, Hazel, tells her that she wanted to die, that she’s trapped in a toxic, abusive marriage, that she’s a prisoner in her own home. Lee has thwarted her one chance to escape her life.

Out of options, Hazel retreats to her gilded cage and Lee thinks she’s seen the last of her until her unexpected return the next morning. Bonded by disparate but difficult circumstances, the women soon strike up a close and unlikely friendship. And then one day, Hazel makes a shocking request: she wants Lee to help her disappear. It’ll be easy, Hazel assures her but Lee soon learns that nothing is as it seems, and that Hazel may not be the friend Lee thought she was.

Lee had borrowed money from a gangster to open a restaurant in New York City. When the pandemic hit, she lost everything but the gangster still wanted his money so her only option was to run. She ends up in Seattle, working for cash as a waitress and living in her car. She parks at night by the beach in a rich area to sleep. Lee wakes up one morning to find a woman heading into the water committing suicide. She saves the woman and finds out Hazel wanted to kill herself because she is stuck in an abusive marriage.

The two become friends and Hazel asks Lee how to disappear ... she wants to escape to Panama where her husband won't find her. In return, Hazel will get Lee some fake ID so she can move on with her life. In the meantime, Lee meets and falls for Jesse, a customer who comes into the restaurant where she works, and starts to imagine having a real life again.

I enjoyed this story. I liked the writing style and found it to be a quick read. It's written in first person perspective in Lee and Hazel's voices (the sections are labelled). It was interesting to read the same things that had happened but from their different points of view. There are lots of twists and turns and they worked for me. As a head's up, there is swearing.