On Sale July 07, 2026

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For women approaching midlife who have abandoned themselves in service of others, a memoir of jumping feet first into a new life, reclaiming long-forgotten joys, and rediscovering self after divorce.

As Kate Washington approached her 50th birthday, she was also ending a 23-year marriage in which she had become so focused on serving others that she’d lost her sense of self. She embarked on what she calls the 50 Dunks Project: visiting 50 different bodies of water—swimming holes, hot springs, rivers, lakes, creeks, and oceans—before her milestone birthday. Midstream: A Life Remade in 50 Swims (Beacon Press, 2026) combines self-examination, wry humor, lyrical description, and cultural critique to tell the story of how her quest helped her find herself again, making the case for embracing pleasure as a necessary act of resistance.