Swimming Home
By Deborah Levy
(Bloomsbury USA, Paperback, 9781620401699, 176pp.)
The Short of It:
A melange of strange, but interesting characters. All of them flawed and touched by circumstance.
The Rest of It:
This is one of the books I read in my feverish state so it’s taken me awhile to make sense of my notes. I hope I can accurately convey my thoughts here. There’s nothing like reading a book when your barely conscious.
Joe Jacobs, who happens to be a rather well-known poet, takes a vacation on the French Riviera with his wife Isabel, his daughter Nina and their friends Laura & Mitchell. Upon arrival at the villa they’ve rented for their stay, they find a young woman floating naked, Â face-down in the pool. As they gather around to watch the spectacle before them, Isabel jumps in to pull her out. Kitty Finch, although drenched and uh, naked, is unscathed and no worse for wear. However, she’s completely unstable and obsessed with Joe’s poetry and wants nothing more than to share her own poem with him.
Before the family can even make sense of the situation, Kitty is invited to stay with them, which seems like a disastrous decision no matter how you slice it. And it is. This family is on the verge of ruin. Early on, it’s clear that Joe and Isabel are not on solid ground as far as their marriage goes and their friends, Laura and Mitchell are on the verge of financial ruin. Nina, young Nina. She’s fourteen, impressionable and dealing with her own demons. She sees Kitty through her father’s eyes and although she has admiration for the free-thinking Kitty, she also sees her as a threat to what is already a delicate situation.
I should mention, that Swimming Home was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize this year. I can see why. It’s complex and woven in such a way, that it has you sitting on the edge of your seat even though you can take a pretty accurate guess at its outcome. There’s a dangerous quality to the writing. These characters are always on the verge of something and it’s disturbing and unsettling but makes for great fiction. It’s super short at only 176 pages, but it’s meaty and rich and had me asking all sorts of questions. Like, what would I do if a naked women showed up in my pool? I certainly don’t think I’d invite her in. That then begs the question, why? Why did Isabel allow it? Was she hoping Kitty would be the final nail in the coffin?
Kitty. What a mess. She’s likable, sort of like Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany’s but also like Holly, she’s got so much internal baggage, that it’s a wonder how the girl has survived this long. Mental illness and eating disorders and this obsession with Joe Jacobs. She’s got nothing to lose and that makes her dangerous but highly entertaining.
Swimming Home is very British. The New York Times says it’s a “hybrid of Virginia Woolf, Edward St. Aubyn, “Absolutely Fabulous” and Patricia Highsmith.” That pretty much sums it up.
I enjoyed the structure of this novel and the fact that it was edgy without being over-the-top. If you read it, and I surely hope you do, take your time with it. There are little gems that occur between the larger story elements and you don’t want to miss them.
Source: Sent to me by the publisher via Net Galley.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.
Book Chatter 
Hmmm, this sounds like quite a novel. With the complex characters and the edgy themes, I’m thinking I would love this one! Thanks for the review Ti.
This does sound interesting. I can see where inviting her to stay with them would be a Disaster!
“Very British” is good! This is a great review. I don’t think I would have gone for this book on my own.
Sounds like something I should read.
This does sound like a really interesting read, and one that is also kind of like a train wreck that you can’t look away from. I think you did a brilliant job with the review, and I am glad that you took so much away from it. It sounds like there were so many unlikely plot elements that were handled in a way that intrigued and enticed in equal measure. Flawless review today. I really enjoyed it!!
I worried about the review because I was so out of it when I read it. I plunked down with it and my fever was in the low hundreds and then by the time I finished it was 103 or so. I thought I hallucinated most of it!
I love that you mentioned it was very British – that alone will get me to read it 🙂 Like you, I would most definitely not invite a naked woman into my home – that could only lead to crazy. Great post, Ti!
How have you been? I have been so busy with work stuff and trying to keep up with all of the blog posts in my reader has been a challenge, but I do enjoy visiting with my favorite bloggers. Hope you are well and enjoying this crazy holiday time.
Ooh, I like “very British”. haha. This book has been popping up on my radar ever since the Booker announcement, and I’m intrigued. Will need to check it out soon!
This one sounds like something (a bit strange) that I would enjoy. Off to see if the library has a copy. Loved what you had to say Ti.
You do love this kind of book…I do, too but not too often!
“very British”… I like that. Especially when it’s a fusion of all those writers. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for this, but don’t know if it will come this way though.
I’m glad you enjoyed this one! It’s one of my favorite reads of 2012.
It took awhile for me to decide if I liked it or not. I was so sick when I read it and had such a high fever that when I first finished it, I thought… “Ugh! What the heck?” But after the fever went down and I revisited some of the passages, it slowly dawned on me that I liked it quite a bit.
I feel the same. I haven’t seen someone who could write so few words and convey so much. I read and reviewed it last month and like it more than expected. Glad you feel the same too!
Although I don’t know what I would do with a naked woman in my (imaginary) pool, I suspect Mr. Jenners would have a few ideas! HA!
Haha! I bet. It certainly would be an eye opener.
Yeah I recall this title being short-listed for the Booker. It sounds a bit intriguing. I’m game for it …
Everything you wrote about this one appeals to me!!!
A book on the Booker list that you liked? Woohoo! This is one I think I would have passed right by without your review.
I know, huh? It must have been my fever.