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Swimming Lessons
- Narrated by: Rachel Atkins
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
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Swimming Lessons
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Summary
Ingrid Coleman writes letters to her husband, Gil, about the truth of their marriage, but instead of giving them to him, she hides each in the thousands of books he has collected over the years. When Ingrid has written her final letter, she disappears from a Dorset beach, leaving behind her beautiful but dilapidated house by the sea, her husband, and her two daughters, Flora and Nan.
Twelve years after her disappearance, Gil thinks he sees Ingrid from a bookshop window, but he's getting older, and this unlikely sighting is chalked up to senility. Flora, who has never believed her mother drowned, returns home to care for her father and to try to finally discover what happened to Ingrid. But what Flora doesn't realize is that the answers to her questions are hidden in the books that surround her. Sexy and whip-smart, Swimming Lessons holds the Coleman family up to the light, exposing the mysterious and complicated truths of a passionate and troubled marriage.
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What listeners say about Swimming Lessons
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dr. B.
- 04-09-17
Swimming lessons
Keeps you guessing right to the end. Good details and themes, well narrated. Really enjoyed it
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- triona
- 27-03-18
Difficult to get past the whining daughter
The narrator is excellent.
The story itself is good but the younger daughter is unbearable. I thought maybe her mental growth had stopped aged 5. She whines & moans throughout.
Her mother, Ingrid, the main character is also hard to take. Incredibly gullible, quite silly but perhaps when u take into account her story was in the 1070’s & a very different social environment it excuses her a little.
I only settled into the story for the final third as I found the daughter Flo & mother Ingrid so grating! Yet I enjoyed it somewhat and listened to the end.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Elke
- 20-12-17
Not bad...
Not a bad story at all, although I liked the idea/concept of the story better than the actual story itself if that makes sense. Nonetheless, it was an interesting listen, and I enjoyed it all the way through.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mrs R
- 24-04-21
Absorbing unfurling story brilliantly narrated
Hats of to the narrator who jumped between voices which were distinct and portrayed the characters so well. v impressed
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Jayne Plenty
- 15-07-19
Swimming lessond
I would recommend this book.
I felt a little frustrated with it at times.
The letters from Ingrid were the best chapters.
The ending was strange. The last short chapter, an afterthought?.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- BountifulBasket
- 16-07-19
Doggy paddle
The story lacked plot, the characters were not interesting, I was longing for the end.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- A Customer
- 29-11-17
At times very moving but ending was underwhelming
Largely well-written without blowing you away. Some of the letter sections were brilliant. Other sections too often a bit meh and ending was weak.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Teresa McDermott
- 04-09-17
a slow plod
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
I did enjoy this book but it wasn't fantastic. It didn't get my pulse raising. I'm glad I listened to it and i did enjoy the switches in time. I really enjoyed the letters from Ingrid but got in infuriated with Gil (as I assume your meant to)
Would you recommend Swimming Lessons to your friends? Why or why not?
probably not, its just a fiction book. nothing special. it felt a bit like a 1940's romance novel but with a bit more depth.
What about Rachel Atkins’s performance did you like?
it was ok but I did find it difficult to distinguish some of the charactors. if I stopped listening to the book and went back to it, I didn't know who's charactor was being narrated.
Did Swimming Lessons inspire you to do anything?
just to get the book completed. didn't want it to beat me.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Issy
- 10-03-24
Nice performance but didn’t like the story
The story is one of betrayal, manipulation of an older man on a younger woman. Of child neglect and broken dysfunctional sad relationships. I really didnt like the story
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Abby Fraser
- 24-06-17
Narration does not help characters
Any additional comments?
Throughout listening to the book, the mystery element of the fate of Ingrid was compelling enough to listen for hours on end. However, the narration and especially the vocal differentiation between different characters detracted from my enjoyment of the book by influencing my perception of the characters. Gil was diminished to a sleazy sounding old man in both the flashbacks and in his old age while Flora was portrayed as a whining, entitled child. Had I read the book I may have been able to appreciate the characters in their entirety but unfortunately by listening I was only able to perceive them negatively.
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12 people found this helpful