The Drowning Woman

Canadian novelist Robyn Harding is the author of 13 novels. Her first is a romantic comedy, The Journal of Mortifying Moments (2005). The Secret Desires of a Soccer Mom (2006) is a suburban romantic comedy, and Chronicles of a Midlife Crisis (2010) is a work of comedic women’s fiction about the breakup of a marriage. After writing a nonfiction book about the difficulties of raising an eco-conscious family in 2010 and the screenplay for an independent film, The Steps, in 2015, Harding began writing domestic thrillers about the complexities of marital and family relationships. As in The Drowning Woman, she often focuses on complex female characters. The Party (2017), which was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Award for best crime novel, describes the consequences of a 16th birthday party sleepover that goes horribly wrong. Her Pretty Face (2018) follows the friendship between stay-at-home mom Frances and the mother of another student at her son’s elite school, who turns out to be a murderer. In The Arrangement (2019), an art student in New York City enters into a relationship with a “sugar daddy” that embroils her in obsession and murder. The Swap (2020) involves a friendship between Freya, a pottery shop owner, and a teenage art student, as well as the disastrous consequences of Freya’s suggestion of a partner swap with another couple after a drunken dinner party. The Perfect Family (2021) describes a suburban family that is the subject of increasingly ominous domestic pranks, which reveal secrets within the family. The Haters (2024) is about a novelist who begins to receive threatening online messages.

Harding has emphasized her interest in writing about the tensions of relationships, including how people function in society and “the façade that people present […] the judgment that is inherent in society” (Stafford, Clay. “A Conversation With Robyn Harding on the Importance of Conflict in Page-Turning Thriller Novels (Killer Writers).” Writer’s Digest, 11 Aug. 2023). She often includes societal issues that relate to the domestic lives and tensions of her characters. Of The Drowning Woman, Harding noted that she conducted research into the daily struggles of the unhoused population by interviewing outreach workers.