Book Review: Learning To Swim By Clare Chambers
Posted by Jessica on September 26, 2011
When Abigail Jex is befriended by fellow classmate Frances, she quickly falls under the spell of the Radley family. Their bohemian lifestyle is so different from the quiet conventionality of her own home life that she is drawn to self-assured Frances and her handsome, talented brother Rad, and finds their parents both extraordinary and refreshing. In fact, caught up in the Radley magic and her developing relationship with Rad, Abigail is scarcely aware of the underlying frictions threatening her own apparently ordinary family.
When she is sixteen, however, a startling discovery brings Abigail’s world, so carefully held together by her parents, crashing about her ears. Not long after, circumstances beyond her control open a rift between Abigail and the Radley family and a tragedy turns her life upside-down. Thirteen years later, living out a quiet existence as a professional musician, Abigail believes she has come to terms with the past. That is until a chance meeting after a concert brings it all flooding back.
This is far more than a novel of first love. It’s a story about individuality, family secrets and the contrasting upbringings of two very different girls. In Learning to Swim Clare Chambers demonstrates all her flair for storytelling, and the quirky but incredibly accessible style that makes her novels such a joy to read. Much more than this, she has a gift for creating eccentric but believable characters that jump off the page and who will stay with readers long after they close the book.
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