Synopsis
“I once read that the end of a relationship is like being involved in a road traffic accident. Which is quite fitting really, given what happened.”
After seven years, Lizzie wonders whether she’s truly happy with her long-term boyfriend. When one wrong step and a chance meeting set off an unexpected chain of events, her life begins to unravel. In the same day that she meets Martin, an attractive lifeguard, her old friend Catherine re-appears. But is Martin really all he seems? And what is the secret that Catherine is hiding? As Lizzie struggles to confront the ghosts of her past, can she survive the shocking twist that will change the course of her future?
Swimming Upstream is a life-affirming and often humorous story about a young woman’s pursuit of happiness. It is also a story of female friendship, love, and divided loyalties – and the moral choices that we find ourselves making when the chips are down.
Review
I thought this book was a bit heavier than my normal books and I didn’t find it that humorous as the synopsis states. All of the characters had issues to deal with in some fashion – love, loss, abuse, mental health. While fiction, I think it painted a true story of what happens to some people’s lives and the situations and emotions that each person deals with in their own way. Lizzie has a lot to deal with in her career and personal life and when she meets up with her former friend, Catherine, she learns more about her life and what she is willing to do (or not do) to deal with what life throws her way. All of the characters were well developed, along with their particular set of issues. I think that there are some good life lessons learned by all the characters and perhaps even we could apply some of them to our own lives and situations. I found the ending rather interesting but don’t want to say too much to spoil the story, but I was surprised at how Lizzie chose to deal with the circumstances put in her path.
We give this book 3 paws.
About the Author
Ruth Mancini was born in South-West London and studied in Cambridge and London where she gained a bachelors degree in French and Spanish and a post-graduate diploma in Law. For several years she worked in the publishing industry before leaving to travel and to write the first draft of Swimming Upstream. She then put her writing career on hold for several years whilst she retrained as a lawyer.She now lives in Oxfordshire with her husband and two children. She still practices as a lawyer and juggles that with writing and raising the children.
