The second novel from the Women's Prize-shortlisted author of Unsettled Ground explores the mysterious truths of a troubled marriage and the ripples it creates.

'Gil Coleman looked down from the window and saw his dead wife standing on the pavement below.'

Twelve years ago Flora's mother Ingrid disappeared, vanishing from a Dorset beach, presumed drowned. Everyone - especially her sister and father Gil - believes Ingrid is long dead. Everyone, except Flora. So when she hears that her father has had an accident, and is insisting that he saw his wife, Floral rushes home.

But the answers she seeks are nowhere to be found - only further questions:

Is Ingrid dead? Or did she leave? And do the letters hidden within Gil's books hold the answer to the truth behind his marriage, a truth hidden from everyone including his own children?

'Thrilling, transporting, delicately realised and held together by a sophisticated sense of suspense' Sunday Times

'Assured, multi-layered, wellcrafted, compelling, excellent' Mail on Sunday

'A beautifully told story of motherhood, marriage and infidelity' Good Housekeeping

*A Richard and Judy Book Club Pick*

The new novel from the author of the Richard & Judy Book Club Pick Our Endless Numbered Days.

About the Author
Claire Fuller was born in Oxfordshire, England, in 1967. She gained a degree in sculpture from Winchester School of Art, but went on to have a long career in marketing and didn't start writing until she was forty. Her first novel, Our Endless Numbered Days, won the Desmond Elliott Prize. She has an MA in Creative and Critical Writing from the University of Winchester and lives in Hampshire with her husband and two children.

Reviews
Thrilling, transporting, delicately realised and held together by a sophisticated sense of suspense . . . more than matches the power of Fuller's debut . . . Powerful , pleasing and pleasurable. * Sunday Times *
It's the sharp eye for detail, sometimes bizarre, that makes her writing stand out . . . A story suffused with the poignancy of miscommunication between people who love each other, of the things we can never really know. * Guardian *
Claire Fuller has captured love in its fullest form, nursed on betrayal and regret and guilt . . . Swimming Lessons is so smoothly, beautifully written, and the human failures here are heartbreaking. * David Vann *
Bewitching and page-turning . . . an extraordinarily smart and satisfying read. * Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife *
With Swimming Lessons, Fuller confirms herself as a writer of emotional depth, technical skill and sensitive plotting . . . What Fuller evokes beautifully are the complicated dynamics between fathers and daughters, sisters, lovers, friends * Observer *
A deeply moving read, with a mystery that keeps you turning pages * Oprah.com *
Evocative, immersive * Sarah Vaughan, author of Anatomy of a Scandal *
Extraordinary...From the opening sentence it is gripping...Fuller writes with a singing simplicity that finds beauty amid the terror...might well have you crying out for more. * Sunday Times on Our Endless Numbered Days *
Bewitching...a rivetingly dark tale...spellbinding. * Sunday Express on Our Endless Numbered Days *
Fuller handles the tension masterfully in this grown-up thriller of a fairytale, full of clues, questions and intrigue. * The Times on Our Endless Numbered Days *
Fuller's twisted tale is compulsive, treading the fine line between charming and sinister. With its disturbing twist, Our Endless Numbered Days could well become a classic. * Stylist, 'Book Wars' on Our Endless Numbered Days *
Rewardingly unsettling...as warped and sinister as any Brothers Grimm fairytale, this tautly written, tense novel is brilliant at evoking both the bewitching beauty of its setting - and its inherent dangers...haunting, suspenseful and deftly written...memorably chilling. * Metro on Our Endless Numbered Days *
A debut novel that brings to mind such unlikely bedfellows as Thoreau's Walden and Emma Donoghue's Room...gripping. * Guardian on Our Endless Numbered Days *



Book Information
ISBN 9780241976371
Author Claire Fuller
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 213g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 18mm