Swimming at Night by Lucy Clarke
Copyright 2013
Touchstone Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) - fiction/general
372 pp.
I'm going to go uber-casual on this one and say up-front that it's a book about sisters . . . which I usually hate. I've never had a great relationship with my sister (her choice). We get along fine but the word "close" is just not happening. However, my dud sister relationship really didn't bother me much in this case because I was totally sucked into the story pretty quickly.
Swimming at Night is told from alternating viewpoints. As the book opens, Katie is receiving news that her sister Mia has committed suicide in Bali. Mia's been touring the world with her good friend Finn for several months, but Bali wasn't on her agenda and Finn was no longer with Mia when she died. What happened on Mia's trip? Why was she in Bali and what led to her death?
Katie is convinced that Mia could not possibly have killed herself. When she's given Mia's backpack, which contains her journal, Katie quits her job and follow's Mia's path, reading the entries as she follows in Mia's footsteps. She never reads ahead, which was the one thing I couldn't buy into about Swimming at Night. Your sister dies of a suspected suicide, you've got her journal and -- seriously? -- you don't sit right down and read it cover to cover to try to figure out what on earth happened? I can't fathom not reading the journal immediately; that's the first thing I'd do.
Beyond that oddity, though, Swimming at Night is a story of betrayal and lies, love and friendship, facing fears and grief and learning what's important in life. There's quite a bit of s*x but not the graphic variety. Although there were moments that I was pulled from the book due to a relationship that I couldn't relate to and the odd choice not to read ahead in the journal, I found Swimming at Night quite gripping and the ending perfect. The chapters alternate between Katie's viewpoint and Mia's, as events unfolded on Mia's journey. I thought that the alternating chapters worked very well and the story was handled skillfully.
Highly recommended - Yeah, the ploy of having the main character choose not to immediately read her sister's journal to keep events mysterious is a bit of a stretch, but Swimming at Night is a good story that will make you want to grab a backpack and go explore the world. The writing style is above average -- not brilliant and quote-worthy, but there's just something about the way the book unfolds that makes the pages fly. I gave Swimming at Night a 4.5/5 at Goodreads because it grabbed me, held on and had a satisfying ending. Love, love, love the changing settings.
My thanks to Jessica at Simon & Schuster for the review copy!
In other news -- and this is very important:
I got a new pair of flip-flops, today (Tuesday - yeah, I'm pre-posting, again). They're white. Kind of boring, actually, but they were cheap and had the kind of fabric thingy-that-goes-between-the-toes, which is crucial because everything else causes blisters. Anyway, that's a relief, since we've already crept into the 80s and I discovered our new pebble-dash sidewalk and driveway are Really Freaking Painful to walk across barefoot. And, I keep stepping on sweetgum balls on the deck. Actually, I finally picked those up, but seriously . . . you don't want to step on those suckers.
Currently reading:
Poison by Bridget Zinn - Scratch that. I stayed up late finishing this one.
Shadows and Strongholds by Elizabeth Chadwick
Loving both, so far.
No idea, but it must have been interesting:
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If I was left with a journal, I would want to read the whole thing right away, and wouldn't wait, so I can see why this confused you. It would have confused me too! I like the sound of this one. It sounds dark and a bit foreboding, which is something that I always like.
ReplyDeleteAnd new flip-flops? Well, YAY!
It didn't confuse me; I just didn't buy into the idea of not immediately reading the whole thing. On the other hand, the author came as close to convincing me of her character's motive in not reading ahead as possible. It's my only major complaint and not a big one. The story can be a little dark, at times, but it's also hopeful. The darkness comes in the betrayals, I suppose.
DeleteFlip-flops! And, this morning, cold toes! I may actually hunt down some of those sock thingies.
I totally would read the journal right away too. Trying to be fair, there might be someone out there who wouldn't . . . I'd be surprised though. :-) This does sound good though and you've got me curious about it.
ReplyDeleteHmm. I can't wear flip flops because of the blistering. Never thought to try ones with cloth between the toes. Might have to experiment.
Wendy, I think the author did a pretty good job of explaining Katie's reasoning. It was just something I couldn't fully wrap my mind around because it's the first thing I'd do. I'm too curious not to try to figure out a mystery with the only available evidence, right when it was set in front of me.
DeleteYeah, most flip-flops don't work for me because of blistering. The new ones are from Walmart. They had hardly any left. I wouldn't normally choose white because they'll show dirt in nothing flat but they were the only pair I could find with the cloth top bit so I grabbed them.
Not buying that holding off on the journal reading! Why would one even *want* to do that even if one had the willpower to do so?!! Like you said,
ReplyDeleteI'd want answers as soon as possible. But yeah, the book still intrigues me. :)
I may not get this quite right, Debi, but I think the explanation was that she wanted to experience what her sister experienced in the same time frame. So, she didn't want to know what Mia was thinking in Bali when, say, she was in Hawaii. I never could quite get over my disbelief of that one facet of the book, but you can see it didn't matter in the long run. I liked the way the story unfolded and closed it with a sense of satisfaction.
DeleteI like a book that grabs you and pulls you in. Congrats on the flip flops. :-)
ReplyDeleteMe, too! This one definitely was a grabber (although it took a while for me to warm up to it).
DeleteThank you! I'm so relieved to have flip flops, I can't even tell ya. Thinking I might hot-glue some fabric to them so they're not quite so boring.
YAY for flip-flops! and LOVE the cat pic. Not sure about the book, I've already forgotten what you said about it - bad me.
ReplyDeleteFlip-flops = Necessity. ;) Loving them, even if plain white is boring.
DeleteOh, dear. Not a memorable review or just not one that interests you?
I have a question... Is there anything inappropriate in this book? Please reply, thanks
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of sleeping around and heavy drinking. The sex is not graphically detailed. So, I guess the answer is, "That depends on your opinion of what's appropriate." If you're looking to hand it to a teenager or adolescent, I would read it first and then discuss it. That's was my method. That way you can talk about what the characters did and why it was dangerous or not something you approve of and why.
Delete