Ingrid Coleman writes letters to her husband, Gil, about the truth of their marriage, but instead of giving them to him, she hides them in the thousands of books he has collected over the years. When Ingrid has written her final letter she disappears from a Dorset beach, leaving behind her beautiful but dilapidated house by the sea, her husband, and her two daughters, Flora and Nan.
Twelve years later, Gil thinks he sees Ingrid from a bookshop window, but he's getting older and this unlikely sighting is chalked up to senility. Flora, who has never believed her mother drowned, returns home to care for her father and to try to finally discover what happened to Ingrid. But what Flora doesn't realize is that the answers to her questions are hidden in the books that surround her. Scandalous and whip-smart, Swimming Lessons holds the Coleman family up to the light, exposing the mysterious truths of a passionate and troubled marriage. Extraordinarily smart and psychologically shrewd . . . You will be kept guessing until the final penetrating sentence. - Paula McLain, New York Times bestselling author of THE PARIS WIFE
A deeply moving read, with a mystery that keeps you turning pages. - Oprah.com
A perfect book club pick. - Book Riot
Delicious! Claire Fuller's Swimming Lessons is a kind of anti-cozy cozy mystery. - NPR
A 'choose your own adventure' story for adults . . . A haunting, motivating, and fantastic read. - Steph Opitz, Book of the Month Club
Eloquent, harrowing, raw . . . sure to keep readers inching off their seats. - Kirkus Reviews
A tantalizing mystery. - NYLON
Beautiful . . . [Fuller] delves deeply to examine the legacies of a flawed and passionate marriage. - Booklist, Starred Review
Saving the best for last with revelations and surprises, Fuller's well-crafted, intricate tale captures the strengths and shortcomings of ordinary people to show how healing is possible by confronting the darkest places. - Library Journal, Starred Review Claire Fuller was born in Oxfordshire, England, in 1967. She gained a degree in sculpture from Winchester School of Art, but went on to have a long career in marketing and didn't start writing until she was forty. She has written two other novels, Our Endless Numbered Days, which won the Desmond Elliott Prize, and Swimming Lessons. She has an MA in Creative and Critical Writing from the University of Winchester and lives in Hampshire with her husband and two children.
