Hi friends and happy Wednesday! I hope you’re all having a great week so far. Today I’m going to be posting my review of Claire Fuller’s novel Swimming Lessons.

Swimming Lessons by: Claire Fuller: Hiding the truths of her marriage to Gil in the pages of the books he keeps, Ingrid writes him letters; after the last letter she disappears. Twelve years later, their daughter Flora goes back home to take care of her ailing father never quiet believing that her mother died, but not realizing the answers to her questions were right in front of her. This was an ingenious plot but it just didn’t hit the mark for the reader. This novel was short, but it felt really long; the pacing of this just dragged on. As much as the reader wanted to like this story, there was just something about it that was almost boring. The plot weaved in and out of perspectives and timelines so that we could get a whole sense of what was happening, which was great; but there were times when the reader honestly didn’t care what happened in the past that lead up to this point. To add to that, it felt like we were going in circles; once the reader grasped what was happening, and understood the point of the story, it just felt like it kept repeating itself. The fact that there was also prose in the form of letter writing was also a selling point to the reader, but it just wasn’t enough to keep them engaged and invested in the story. It definitely gave great insights to the characters. But aside from the plot, the writing was actually really good and that’s why the reader wanted to like it; the writing was rich, vivid and at times intense. The characters were flawed and had a lot of heart, but trying to get past the plot was hard. Overall, this was an alright novel that had great writing.