Swimming Lessons
An exhilarating literary mystery, Swimming Lessons keeps readers guessing until the final page.
Disenchanted by the life in which she’s found herself, Ingrid Coleman writes letters to her husband, Gil, about the truth of their passionate and troubled marriage. She hides them, unread, in the thousands of books Gil has collected over the years. Then she disappears from a Dorset beach, leaving behind her dilapidated house by the sea, her husband, and her two young daughters, Flora and Nan.
Twelve years later, Gil thinks he sees Ingrid from a bookshop window, but he’s getting older and his unlikely sighting is chalked up to senility. Flora, who has never believed Ingrid drowned, returns home to care for her father and investigate her mother’s disappearance. But what Flora doesn’t realize is that the answers to her questions are hidden in the books that surround her. Scandalous and smart, Swimming Lessons holds the Coleman family up to the light, exposing the mysterious truths of a turbulent marriage and the dangerous fault lines that remain.
Disenchanted by the life in which she’s found herself, Ingrid Coleman writes letters to her husband, Gil, about the truth of their passionate and troubled marriage. She hides them, unread, in the thousands of books Gil has collected over the years. Then she disappears from a Dorset beach, leaving behind her dilapidated house by the sea, her husband, and her two young daughters, Flora and Nan.
Twelve years later, Gil thinks he sees Ingrid from a bookshop window, but he’s getting older and his unlikely sighting is chalked up to senility. Flora, who has never believed Ingrid drowned, returns home to care for her father and investigate her mother’s disappearance. But what Flora doesn’t realize is that the answers to her questions are hidden in the books that surround her. Scandalous and smart, Swimming Lessons holds the Coleman family up to the light, exposing the mysterious truths of a turbulent marriage and the dangerous fault lines that remain.
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Community Reviews
thenextgoodbook.com
Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller
350 pages
What’s it about?
Gil is a writer and professor when he first meets Ingrid, one of his students, and they begin a long and tumultuous relationship. Years later Ingrid disappears, leaving Gil and their two daughters (Nan and Flora) alone. Ingrid leaves a variety of letters for Gil set inside various books. As old age sets in and Gil’s health declines he believes he has spotted Ingrid in town. Nan and Flora return home to tie up loose ends.
What did it make me think about?
This book is all about marriage, relationships, and choices. Our choices have such an effect on our relationships- especially on our marriages. The author’s use of old letters (left in various books) was such an interesting way to share what Ingrid was thinking at the time. We obviously see that Gil only thinks of himself!
Should I read it?
This is a character driven book and the characters were interesting and flawed! Plus- the writer obviously not only loved to write, but loved to read as well. “Writing does not exist unless there is someone to read it, and each reader will take something different from a novel, from a chapter, from a line. “ I really enjoyed this one. It is a book club selection for me this month and it should make for a good discussion! Can’t wait to hear what people thought of this one.
Quote-
“And I saw what I hadn’t taken in the night before with the crush of people: your books. Every wall lined with shelves, and every shelf was crammed with books, jammed in any way possible. I scanned some of the titles, fiction mixed in with nonfiction and reference. There was no order and no way of judging your taste:…”
If you like this try-
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
And the Mountains Echoed by Khalid Hosseini
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller
350 pages
What’s it about?
Gil is a writer and professor when he first meets Ingrid, one of his students, and they begin a long and tumultuous relationship. Years later Ingrid disappears, leaving Gil and their two daughters (Nan and Flora) alone. Ingrid leaves a variety of letters for Gil set inside various books. As old age sets in and Gil’s health declines he believes he has spotted Ingrid in town. Nan and Flora return home to tie up loose ends.
What did it make me think about?
This book is all about marriage, relationships, and choices. Our choices have such an effect on our relationships- especially on our marriages. The author’s use of old letters (left in various books) was such an interesting way to share what Ingrid was thinking at the time. We obviously see that Gil only thinks of himself!
Should I read it?
This is a character driven book and the characters were interesting and flawed! Plus- the writer obviously not only loved to write, but loved to read as well. “Writing does not exist unless there is someone to read it, and each reader will take something different from a novel, from a chapter, from a line. “ I really enjoyed this one. It is a book club selection for me this month and it should make for a good discussion! Can’t wait to hear what people thought of this one.
Quote-
“And I saw what I hadn’t taken in the night before with the crush of people: your books. Every wall lined with shelves, and every shelf was crammed with books, jammed in any way possible. I scanned some of the titles, fiction mixed in with nonfiction and reference. There was no order and no way of judging your taste:…”
If you like this try-
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
And the Mountains Echoed by Khalid Hosseini
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
This book made me feel sad. It was excellently written, though, with a good range of likable and relatable characters. I like books where two stories run alongside each other, only to meet and conclude at the end. The letters hidden in aptly-named books worked really well as a way of slowly revealing Ingrid’s story as we also follow her daughter’s journey home to see her aged father, who turns out to be a rather different version of the man she knew as a child.
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