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Swimming Lessons

Questions About Swimming Lessons

by Claire Fuller (Goodreads Author)

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Answered Questions (23)

The book ends rather abruptly. Can anyone interpret for me what the author is saying in the final two pages of the book? I think she is saying something about Ingrid Coleman, but it's unclear to me what the point of these two pages is. I feel like I am missing an important point.
Nadine in NY Jones Fuller hammers home the point that the reader makes the book, and then she leaves a sort of "make your own ending" to this book, which was clever. May…moreFuller hammers home the point that the reader makes the book, and then she leaves a sort of "make your own ending" to this book, which was clever. Maybe it's Ingrid, and she's alive (that's my take), or maybe it's Flora, or maybe it's some random blonde woman.(less)
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Is Flora a synaesthete? She keeps smelling colours, and no other characters appear to do this.
Claire Fuller Yes, she is. Colours have a smell to her.
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What do you think is the significance of the experience that Flora has with the raining of fish when she drives home at the beginning of the book? Throughout the book she keeps mentioning that it rained fish that night. Is there any hidden meaning behind this?
Marty I went back and looked at the times she mentioned it, who she was talking to and what their reactions were. (It's possible I missed some.)

Nan: Nan re…moreI went back and looked at the times she mentioned it, who she was talking to and what their reactions were. (It's possible I missed some.)

Nan: Nan responds by thinking about the practical implications. (You drove? You can't afford a car. Etc.) She brushes aside the mystery of the raining fish.

Waiter: Comments on Flora's imagination; thinks she's making it up.

Gil: Ignores the mystery and focuses on Flora's drawing.

Richard: Provides a scientific explanation for the raining fish.

Gabriel: Thinks that it was a sign something is going to happen.

So, what does this mean? My thought is that the raining of the fish is a mystery that is a parallel to the mystery of Ingrid's disappearance. People reacted differently to Ingrid's disappearance just like they react differently to the raining fish. (less)
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This question contains spoilers... (view spoiler)
Rose It's not louise because Ingrid would have noticed her friend being pregnant. It was just some random girl that Gil hooked up with and then left…moreIt's not louise because Ingrid would have noticed her friend being pregnant. It was just some random girl that Gil hooked up with and then left(less)
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Jess I think swimming represents self-autonomy in this book. Gil actually directly asks the doctor to tell Ingrid she can't swim after she miscarries the s…moreI think swimming represents self-autonomy in this book. Gil actually directly asks the doctor to tell Ingrid she can't swim after she miscarries the same way he and Louise tell her what to do with her body when she gets pregnant. I saw the "lessons" as being the experiences that Ingrid describes in her letters, such as maintaining her garden and fending off the attempted rape, from which she learned her own capability. A lot of people seem to debate whether Ingrid drowned or faked her suicide, or whether we're supposed to know for sure at all, but I think the point is that whichever outcome it was, Ingrid was the one who made it happen.(less)
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