The relationship between a mother and daughter begins to fragment when the older woman's memory begins to fracture in this endlessly compassionate and wise novel from the acclaimed author of The Buddha in the Attic.
Up above there are wildfires, smog alerts, epic droughts, paper jams, teachers' strikes, insurrections, revolutions, record-breaking summers of unendurable heat, but down below, at the pool, it is always a comfortable eighty-one degrees...
Alice is one of a group of obsessed recreational swimmers for whom their local swimming pool has become the centre of their lives - a place of unexpected kinship, freedom, and ritual. Until one day a crack appears beneath its surface...
As cracks also begin to appear in Alice's memory, her husband and daughter are faced with the dilemma of how best to care for her. As Alice clings to the tethers of her past in a Home she feels certain is not her home, her daughter must navigate the newly fractured landscape of their relationship.
A novel about mothers and daughters, grief and memory, love and implacable loss, The Swimmers is spellbinding, incantatory and unforgettable. The finest work yet from a true modern master.
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780241543887
Number of pages: 192
Weight: 277 g
Dimensions: 204 x 138 x 22 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Heartbreaking and astoundingly good' - Rebecca Makkai, author of The Great Believers
'Stylistically ambitious and deeply moving' - Kirkus
'A tender, nuanced, empathetic exploration of the sorrows and consolations of a whole generation of women' - Telegraph
'A goddamn heartbreaker' - Emma Straub, author of The Vacationers
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“A mesmerising and unique tale that blew me away. It’s about so much more than swimming…”
This book was an unexpected powerhouse. The Swimmers starts with an underground pool and those that use it. There’s an array of personalities and body types and ages but all are joined together when a crack appears in... More
“Poignant novel set in West Coast USA”
An easy to read and short novel that packs a punch. The first section is devoted to an amorphous group of people who swim regularly in a subterranean swimming pool. Down there, there is quite a community, perhaps not... More
“An Absorbing Story.”
This was a lovely book to read. The book begins with a group of recreational swimmers who are each obsessed with their swimming routine for different reasons. We are given brief background to many of the swimmers and... More
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