The Swimmers - Chloe Lane

This is a delicate tale, fiercely truthed yet searingly compassionate It tells of a degeneratively sick mother who wishes to end her life and has even set a date for the event. Erin is her daughter, returning home for a holiday weekend where she learns to reacquaint herself with her relatives and reach a level of understanding as she sees through the various eccentricities and borderline dysfunctions of her family members. The family have been competitive swimmers and I saw this as a metaphor to run throughout the book. Erin is required to navigate life in much the same way as she might compete in a swimming race. And of course the potential to drown is there. The potential to lose the race is there. 

This might seem like a sombre subject to base a novel around but fear not. There is a wit that underpins the more serious aspects of the story. And naturally, given the subject matter, the reader considers the subject of euthanasia and assisted dying. 

The women characters - Erin, her Mum, and her aunt - are all strong, maverick maybe, but seemingly self contained. And in some ways it was hard to engage with them and yet it was impossible not to be carried along by the situation but in a far more objective sense. It’s interesting to consider how we might deal with such a situation ourselves. Sometimes Erin‘s behaviour was questionable but I had a feeling that it was a reaction to her bewilderment at what was going to happen and how little time, really, she had to prepare and adjust for that.

I found it to be a well written book. I thought the writer got under the skin of the main protagonist, Erin, well, showing the chaos of her thoughts and feelings. I even ended up feeling something for Auntie Wynn by the end of the book who I found to be quite a formidable character initially. And I loved the courage of Erin’s mum. 

I’ve often found there to be a weird synchronicity among books but this is one of several books I’ve read lately that deal with losing one’s mother. If that’s a situation you’ve experienced then this book will be poignant, difficult even, to read. The book also highlights the cruelty of a disease like motor neurone, which is the wasting illness that Erin‘s mum is suffering from. 

I found the ending of the book to be inconclusive. Not in the sense that the writer didn’t finish it adequately! But that a situation like that is inconclusive. I wanted to know how Erin and her aunt would fare in the days following the death, but contrary as I am, I also think it would’ve been a mistake to extend the story any further. 

It’s an unusual and interesting book. A challenging subject to deal with perhaps but relevant in the times that we’re living in.

My thanks to Gallic books for a gifted copy.