The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club

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I loved this novel and audiobook!! The writing is clever and the narrator is just perfect with an easy Irish accent. The 3 main female characters are intelligent and lovely. The decisions they make, often hard ones, create examples of real life in the process. It’s set in a small town or village (a real one) in Ireland on the west coast. ABOUT 'THE LADIES MIDNIGHT SWIMMING CLUB': Three women, three different stages of life, united by one thing: the chance to start again. This is the book – the one that will finally make everyone understand why I’ve always been so passionate about Faith Hogan’s writing. In fact, there’s almost no need to write a review – it would be enough to just place the book, with its glorious cover that promises so much, into your hands and let you read the first few chapters. Whatever the books you usually read, whatever your age, whatever might be happening in your life, you will love this book every bit as much as I did – and that’s something I’ve never been so certain about. Faith Hogan navigates beautifully between the community and the individual, forensically investigating moral issues and loyalties with an unflinching, yet humane eye. She is one of the most original and exciting writers to emerge from Ireland in recent times' – Afric McGlinchey DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Aria and Aries for providing a digital ARC of The Ladies Midnight Swimming Club by Faith Hogan for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

I’m sorry, Lucy, but consider yourself stepping into the TARDIS and re-emerging somewhere in the early 1970s. A heart-rending, uplifting and beautifully written journey of female friendship... I loved being transported to Ireland's wild Atlantic coast' – Phillipa Ashley Three women all facing a crisis in their lives - and set in an idyllic little town of Ballycove in Ireland.

If your book club is planning on including My Husbands Wives, do let me know. I’d love to hear how you get on and where your reading leads you…. This is an emotional book and it is very difficult to read when you have eyes full of tears. A mix of happy and sad ones and you will discover more over the course of the story. I want to say so much about what happens in this book but that would spoil it for those of you who have not read it yet. I just adore Faith Hogan’s books, and she’s one of my top go-to authors for a guaranteed beautiful, atmospheric, and authentic read.

This story was so very poignant for me as I too have faced a hurdle that one of the main characters faces. Previously I have found storylines like this hard to read but Faith Hogan didn’t choose this as the main focus and she dealt with it with sensitivity and dignity. Elizabeth’s closest friend, Jo Harris is addicted to the natural high she gets from swimming at midnight in the icy Irish Sea off Ireland’s west coast. She manages to draw her friend into trying it, and during this intimacy Elizabeth reveals her problem. Jo is delighted to be able to offer a potential solution in the form of her daughter Lucy. To be honest, I think we were all a little in awe of your extensive vocabulary when it came to telling her where to go. The parish priest had to run into the pantry to hide his smirk. Review: The Tuscan Orphan by Siobhan Daiko @siobhandaiko @BoldwoodBooks @rararesources #blogtour #newrelease #BoldwoodBloggers #histfic #romance #WW2 #RespectRomFic #TheTuscanOrphan Linked to this, we now we come to a feature that I both liked and didn't like. The story was constructed so perfectly - literally every loose end was tied, every problem solved, every rift restored; every character journeyed from an emotional low to ultimate contentment. On the one hand, this felt extremely contrived. It was just too unrealistic - life just doesn't fall into place happily ever after like that. Elizabeth's GP husband leaves the surgery empty and in debt, and Lucy just so happens to be a doctor looking for a fresh start and moving into the area - problem solved. Dan has been looking for his birth mother his whole life, and on his research trip to Ballycove finds her right in front of his eyes - perfect. Jo's dying wish is to share her insane love of naked swimming in the freezing Irish sea, and somehow every woman in the village is up for joining in - improbable, but amazing. It was such a storybook story in every possible way, that it ended up being eminently predictable.

Set in a small coastal Irish town, The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club is told from multiple perspectives. There's Elizabeth, whose life feels like it's only just beginning following the death of her husband. There's her best friend Jo, whose daughter Lucy and son Niall visit from Dublin. Lucy agrees to help at Elizabeth's late husband's GP clinic and in the interim becomes a founding member of The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club alongside Jo and Elizabeth. Finally, there's Dan, a visiting writer from London who's come to Ballycove to finally discover where his life began. jessiecahalin on #Review: Secrets of the Shell Sisters by Adrienne Vaughan @adrienneauthor #RosshavenRomances #romance #RespectRomFic #SecretsoftheShellSisters Anne on #Review: Secrets of the Shell Sisters by Adrienne Vaughan @adrienneauthor #RosshavenRomances #romance #RespectRomFic #SecretsoftheShellSisters We have a widow who learns her late husband wasn’t who she thought he was, a young Dr recently divorced in need of change from the mayhem of a city hospital, her son who is struggling with the changes in his home life, a writer from London desperate to learn of his heritage and a mother/grandmother who loves her coastline and wants the best for her family and friends.

Jo has not been facing the truth, ignoring something rightvin front of her, and then the truth is devastatingly faced. Although it was emptied over a quarter of a century ago, there was no denying its looming presence; there was an eerie feeling of ghosts who would never fully rest. As well as the women we also meet Dan who had rented a cottage in the village after leaving his high-flying job and needing some time out and Lucy’s teenage son Niall who hates his boarding school and wants to come home.Review: Murder at the Matterhorn by T A Williams @tawilliamsbooks @BoldwoodBooks @rararesources #blogtour #publicationday #BoldwoodBloggers #cosycrime #ArmstrongandOscar #MurderattheMatterhorn November 24, 2023