Lifesaving for Beginners by Josie LloydMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Three and a half stars.
Maddy appears to be living a charmed life with a strong Instagram following every minute detail of her beautiful home and garden. But a missed phone call from her estranged son Jamie on Christmas Day and discovery that her husband is having an affair with one of her close friends lead her to abandon her current life and move to Brighton to try to find Jamie.
Living in a dreary Airbnb apartment, she meets a diverse group of women one day while walking her neighbour's dog on the beach. The women, the Sea-Gals, swim in the sea all year round. They include former sailor Helga, widow Dominica, vegan Lesbian Tor, and later harassed mother-of-two Claire. each woman has her own troubles, her own fork in the road to navigate, her own decisions to make. Together they find that sea-swimming helps to put life into perspective.
I liked this, but I didn't love it, perhaps because I had already read The Wednesday Morning Wild Swim which has a similar vibe. Also, I felt the ending was a bit unrealistic. (view spoiler) However, it did really make me wish that I lived by the sea so that I could go sea-swimming, even though I am a poor swimmer, don't like the cold, and don't really like swimming in the sea!
Josie Lloyd has said that this book is based on her own experiences during lockdown, living in Brighton and taking up sea swimming and the authenticity shows. Also, while I might roll my eyes at the way in which there is a character representing different aspect of a woman's life (the single woman, the mother, the divorcee, the widow, the crone), Brighton is the sort of place where you could easily find a group like this.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
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