The second novel from the Women's Prize-shortlisted author of Unsettled Ground explores the mysterious truths of a troubled marriage and the ripples it creates.
'Gil Coleman looked down from the window and saw his dead wife standing on the pavement below.'
Twelve years ago Flora's mother Ingrid disappeared, vanishing from a Dorset beach, presumed drowned. Everyone - especially her sister and father Gil - believes Ingrid is long dead. Everyone, except Flora. So when she hears that her father has had an accident, and is insisting that he saw his wife, Floral rushes home.
But the answers she seeks are nowhere to be found - only further questions:
Is Ingrid dead? Or did she leave? And do the letters hidden within Gil's books hold the answer to the truth behind his marriage, a truth hidden from everyone including his own children?
'Thrilling, transporting, delicately realised and held together by a sophisticated sense of suspense' Sunday Times
'Assured, multi-layered, wellcrafted, compelling, excellent' Mail on Sunday
'A beautifully told story of motherhood, marriage and infidelity' Good Housekeeping
*A Richard and Judy Book Club Pick*
Title: Swimming Lessons
Author: Fuller, Claire
ISBN: 9780241976371
Binding:
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Publication Date: 2018-02-01
Number of Pages: 304
Weight: 0.2223 kg
Thrilling, transporting, delicately realised and held together by a sophisticated sense of suspense . . . more than matches the power of Fuller's debut . . . Powerful , pleasing and pleasurable. * Sunday Times *
A compelling portrait of a complicated, unconventional marriage, and of flawed humanity, with all its secrets, silences and deceits. Excellent.
* Mail on Sunday *
It's the
sharp eye for detail, sometimes bizarre, that
makes her writing stand out . . . A story
suffused with the
poignancy of miscommunication between people who love each other, of the
things we can never really know. * Guardian *
Claire Fuller has
captured love in its fullest form, nursed on
betrayal and
regret and
guilt . . .
Swimming Lessons is
so smoothly,
beautifully written, and the human failures here are
heartbreaking. * David Vann *
Bewitching and
page-turning . . . an
extraordinarily smart and
satisfying read. * Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife *
With
Swimming Lessons, Fuller confirms herself as
a writer of emotional depth, technical skill and
sensitive plotting . . . What Fuller
evokes beautifully are the
complicated dynamics between fathers and daughters, sisters, lovers, friends * Observer *
A
deeply moving read, with
a mystery that keeps you turning pages * Oprah.com *
Evocative,
immersive * Sarah Vaughan, author of Anatomy of a Scandal *
Extraordinary...From the opening sentence it is
gripping...Fuller writes with
a singing simplicity that finds
beauty amid the
terror...
might well have you crying out for more. * Sunday Times on Our Endless Numbered Days *
Bewitching...a
rivetingly dark tale...
spellbinding. * Sunday Express on Our Endless Numbered Days *
Fuller handles the tension
masterfully in this
grown-up thriller of a fairytale, full of
clues,
questions and
intrigue. * The Times on Our Endless Numbered Days *
Fuller's
twisted tale is
compulsive, treading the fine line between
charming and
sinister. With its
disturbing twist,
Our Endless Numbered Days could well become a classic. * Stylist, 'Book Wars' on Our Endless Numbered Days *
Rewardingly unsettling...as warped and sinister as any Brothers Grimm fairytale, this
tautly written, tense novel is
brilliant at evoking both the
bewitching beauty of its setting - and its inherent dangers...
haunting,
suspenseful and
deftly written...
memorably chilling. * Metro on Our Endless Numbered Days *
A debut novel that brings to mind such unlikely bedfellows as
Thoreau's Walden and
Emma Donoghue's Room...
gripping. * Guardian on Our Endless Numbered Days *