The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club

Product Information

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. Elizabeth, wife of the village doctor, finds herself left with huge debts when her husband dies. As she faces the future she also faces the boundaries of her married life. She is currently working on her next novel. She lives in the west of Ireland with her husband, four children and a very busy Labrador named Penny. She's a writer, reader, enthusiastic dog walker and reluctant jogger - except of course when it is raining! In search of some solace, Jo and Elizabeth find themselves enjoying midnight dips in the freezing Irish sea. Here they can laugh, cry and wash away all their fears. As well as conjure a fundraising plan for the local hospice; to take a dip in the nip.

THE AUTHOR: Faith Hogan is an Irish award-winning and bestselling author. She was born in Ireland. She gained an Honours Degree in English Literature and Psychology from Dublin City University and a Postgraduate Degree from University College, Galway.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. In search of solace, Jo and Elizabeth find themselves enjoying midnight dips in the freezing Irish Sea. Here they can laugh, cry and wash away all their fears. As well as conjure a fundraising plan for the local hospice that will bring the whole community together... The Ladies’ Midnight Swimming Club is a beautiful story of friendship. It is a tale of grief, forgiveness, loneliness, heartbreak, second chances, and so much more. A heart-rending, uplifting and beautifully written journey of female friendship... I loved being transported to Ireland's wild Atlantic coast' - Phillipa Ashley

Life is going to change for Elizabeth, Jo and Lucy, but with their close and supportive relationship between them they know that they can handle whatever life is going to throw at them.Review: Welcome to the Cornish Country Hospital by Jo Bartlett @J_B_Writer @BoldwoodBooks @rararesources #blogtour #publicationday #BoldwoodBloggers #womensfiction #romance #RespectRomFic The swimming represents so much and is a delightful focus and novelty in this beautiful novel…. Although swimming in Ireland in January?! Whew! However, I love swimming and I’ve experienced the same good feeling once in a very cold lake in Switzerland and it was amazing, exhilarating, and unforgettable. Now, I can barely handle California ocean swims and yearn for the warm east coast waters and summer vacations of my youth. Jo has always loved to swim in the sea and suggests to Elizabeth to join her, which then in turn leads to Lucy joining them. They realise its a time when they can dip their toes into the water and have a chat, laugh a little and generally be free. I loved visualizing where they were and could almost smell the sea air and saltiness. The whole swimming in the sea element of the story was one that drew me in to the book as it was different to other books I have read

In the midst of her grief for her husband, Eric, Elizabeth starts to sort through some of his papers and makes an unexpected discovery. Eric was the local GP for a number of years, with Elizabeth and himself living in his rambling family home. Elizabeth had experienced a difficult and challenging marriage but she was very unprepared for the overwhelming discovery that Eric had left her in financial ruin. With a rambling old house, and a GP practice without a GP, Elizabeth has life-changing decisions to make as she embraces the next stage in her life.The Ladies’ Midnight Swimming Club is a story about friendship, learning to adapt and overcome life’s hurdles, starting anew and recognising what makes you happy. 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. Each of the women dealt with their grief differently, and although there was anger, sadness and regret, none of them actually hated Paul – why was that? 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.

Thanks to the WaWa Club Readers for getting in touch to let me know that they have selected My Husband’s Wives for their July meeting. I hope you have fun!There is plenty of lightness too, the whole book perfectly balanced – there were so many moments that made me smile, and others when I found myself laughing out loud (the night when Dan discovers how they spend their nights will particularly stay in the memory). And there are so many other strong threads to the story, all impacting on the women’s lives – Dan’s work on his novel and the possibility of his quest reaching resolution, difficult decisions to be made over Niall’s future, the evolving plans for the surgery. The storytelling is entirely compelling, the characters so very real and relatable, the setting so vivid, and the whole book just feels just like the best night you could ever spend watching a great film – where you return to your own world at the end, blinking into the light, wiping away the tears, overwhelmingly empowered and uplifted, flooded with emotion, feeling so very privileged to have spent time with these wonderful women. And as well as that female friendship and closeness, there’s a really compelling theme of finding “home”– which is so much more than where you might choose to live, and more about where your heart really belongs. I love the sea and I had to read a story with a title like this. Here the sea is seen as a place where you can just be you, living in the moment, the salty water washes away your thoughts, your troubles and recharges you.