Alice Kaltman Knihy

Grace Minnaugh is not a fan of big changes. She's miserable during her first weeks in the seaside town of La Toya, sulking like a spoiled brat. Her family embraces the California lifestyle and Grace decides to embrace the seductive beauty of the sea. One fateful morning, while taking a predawn swim, she is caught in a thunderstorm. Without the ocean skills to survive, she's sucked below the surface, convinced she will drown. Instead, a new life begins. On land, Grace is still the same walking, talking social misfit she’s always been. But in the salty sea, she's an underwater marvel. Things get complicated when Grace befriends Alfie DeCosta, a kid who's obsessed with finding an elusive shipwreck off the coast of La Toya. Grace knows exactly where the shipwreck is. But she can't tell Alfie about it, or can she?

Dawg Towne explores universal themes of love and loss through the deceptively simple lens of suburban life. But is life in the suburbs ever really simple? Over the course of one year in Towne, spouses die, children grow up, affairs begin and end, lies are repeatedly spoken, bad sex happens (good sex, less often), gender is questioned, and dogs go missing. Many dogs. Humorous and canine-centric, Dawg Towne is like Peyton Place re-written by Dorothy Parker and your friendly neighborhood veterinarian. And yes, this is work of fiction.