The Drowning Season is a sympathetic portrait of two women named Esther. The grandmother, called Esther the White, has chosen to live cut off from the dangers and the joys of normal human experience; she rules over a clannish family in a secluded compound on Long Island. Every July and August, her son, Phillip, tries to kill himself by walking into the water, and these months have become known as "The Drowning Season." This summer, his daughter, Esther the Black, has just turned eighteen and is exploring her first chance to flee from her hated and hating grandmother and from the strange world of the compound. The restorative powers of love and self-awareness enable the two generations of women to make peace with themselves and with each other.