Learning To Swim by Clare Chambers (1-Oct-1998) Paperback

by Clare Chambers

In this witty look at the pretensions of suburbia, Abigail’s safe, middle-class home life, is thrown into dramatic relief as her friendship with Frances’s family gives her a new outlook – where her family is polite and ordinary, the Radleys are colourful and captivating. But through them she discovers that all is not what it seems in her own conventional family.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Audiobook, Literary Fiction, Coming Of Age, Chick Lit

Unknown Binding

First published March 8, 2011

About the author

Clare Chambers was born on 1966 in in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK, daughter of English teachers. She attended a school in Croydon. At 16, she met Peter, her future husband, a teacher 14 years old than her. She read English at Oxford. The marriage moved to New Zealand, where she wrote her first novel. She now lives in Kent with her husband and young family. In 1999, her novel Learning to Swim won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association.

Reviews

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the storytelling aspect of the book. It kept my attention and always had me wondering how it would all end......just seemed a little too rushed at the end to tie up the loose strings. I didn't feel there was a clear, proper resolution with the main characters. I'd give this a 3 1/2 stars.

[Bridget Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Abigail is an only child whose home life, though caring, lacks joy and laughter. Her mother gets frequent migraines and there is unresolved tension between her parents. Then she meets and becomes an honorary member of the Radley family. Life suddenly becomes much more interesting and fun.

Absolutely wonderful characters and plot! This is perfect escapism that kept me up late into the night. It made me laugh and cry but mainly it made me laugh a lot!

Do read this if you haven't already. I only read my first Clare Chambers recently when I read Small Pleasures. I loved Small Pleasures too but this is in a different league altogether for laughter. Such a feel-good read. I am delighted to see that Audible are going to release some of Clare Chambers' books (including this one) before the end of the month. Highly recommended!

[Joana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this. I wasn't glued to the book wanting to know what would happen next; instead I read it slowly as though savouring a good wine.

Clare Chambers's writing reads so effortlessly, it's like you're reading something you wrote yourself, as she adds some thoughts about life that you'll probably identify with.

I found a lot of parallels with "In a good light", the 1st novel I read from this writer. It starts with a present situation and then goes back in time for most of the book until everything is explained and you get back to where you started. The themes are also similar: growing up, eccentric hippy parents, an older brother and some tragic events. One thing I didn't love was the excessive dramatism and tragedy; I know what their goal was but I don't think it was necessary to go to such lengths. Of course, this probably made the book more romantic but I think it could have been just as good as story with less extraordinary drama.


Spoilers alert****************

Sometimes I wondered why Abigail was so drawn to the Radley family. They didn't seem that interesting to me and they kept making her feel uncomfortable. The fact that they completely contrasted with her own family is a factor, but it doesn't seem enough.
But most of all, I wasn't particularly captivated by the Birdie story. The character wasn't very developed so I didn't feel like I got to know her at all. And I found it strange that she started spending all her time with the Radleys, not to mention the fact that she never spoke to Abigail again after she was broken-hearted and instead started going out with Rad all by herself. What kind of a sister does that?

*sigh* Despite the rant, I really enjoyed the book, it's a 4.5.

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finishing up an inadvertent rereading of this after 20 or so years, and had no recollection of it at all until I reached a line on page 323 - “She wears so much face powder nowadays it’s a bit like kissing a bap” - and I remembered having to look up what a bap was and appreciating the tactile impact of that image.
I’m glad to have rediscovered this and have enjoyed every word. It’s a tribute to the butterfly effect - what major consequences and echoes can be produced by a series of minor events in the past. In fact after I finished reading I was prompted to turn back to the beginning and examine the first 60 or so pages to make all the connections. What a carefully constructed and powerfully balanced novel this is: at the end I was descending the same steps I had walked up at the start. The characters live through the consequences of every random and deliberate decision they have made. And very few of them are spared, since this is also a paean to youthful stupidity and inexperience and inattentive parenting.

The party was being given by a girl at school, and in recognition of the shortage of available males we had all been instructed to “bring a boy.” When my mother first saw the invitation she thought it said “bring and buy” and offered me some homemade marmalade to take.

None of the characters is particularly likeable but they are all real and human. The teenaged girls have unrealistic expectations and their male counterparts are idiots. The adults are preoccupied and forgetful and selfish. Love is bumpy and stupid and illogical and irrational but in the end it just is. I’m listening to Kiri Te Kanawa and Thomas Allen’s version of The Magic Flute as I write this in the assurance that the only things that matter in the long term are books and music, and maybe love. 5 stars.

[Louise Fein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read and loved Small Pleasures, I decided to read more of Clare Chambers’ work. Now I’ve read Learning to Swim, I plan to read everything she has written and hope she writes more soon. The smart wit and brilliant characters remind me a little of Kate Atkinson but comparisons are in some ways unfair because this author has her own unique voice and style and should be recognised in her own right, which now after the success of Small Pleasures I hope and think she is. This is a wonderful exploration of family, of growing up and imagining other families are more cool/interesting/fun/less troubled than your own, only beneath the surface, everywhere are secrets and tragedy lurks. Intrigue keeps the pages turning and these beautifully written characters are so real. I absolutely loved the ending. The book is a pleasure from start to finish and I highly recommend it.

[Zoella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell in love with this book! I adored the bohemian characters, the way the writer picks up on the minutiae of life and how she captures the painfully awkward teenage years. I think it help reading this when I was in my thirties, that way you can really empathise with how life turns out for some of the characters.

[Simona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vakar skaičiau iki 2 nakties, tada sapnavau siužeto vingius, kuriuose ir pati dalyvavau. O šiandien kaip sapne vaikštau vis dar galvodama apie tai, ką perskaičiau. Tas skaitymas iki nakties jau toks retas man, kad kartais tiktrai tampa geros knygos įvertinimo kriterijumi. Taigi - nieko nesigailiu. 

Labiausiai man knyga apie kito ilgesį ir laukimą. Ne kankinio, bet natūralų ir užtikrintą, paūmėjantį ir atslūgstantį, o kartu neišvengiamą, kad ir kur bandytum pasislėpt. Ir apie nejaukumo ir jaudulio akimirkas, net būnant su kasdieniškiausiais žmonėmis.

Didžiąją knygos dalį laukiau švelnumo ir net ir mažos jo apraiškos lietė slapčiausias kerteles. Vis mąstau kodėl taip. Kodėl tas kito ir momentų su juo laukimas kartais tiek žavesio man turi?

Aš patikėjau veikėjais ir juos pamilau. Kone visus. Suprasdama, ar ne. Įskaudinta ar vėl apkabinta. Išgyvenau kartu plačiausią jausmų paletę!

Tai jau ne pirma mano skaityta autorės knyga ir, rodos, pamėgau ją už natūralų ir klystantį žmogų. Už paprastumą ir charakterių daugialypiškumą, už tikėjimą antrais ir trečiais šansais. Ir dialogus! Tikrai už juos. 💛

Šioje knygoje ne vienoje vietoje skaitydama sustojau, radus be galo taiklių žmonių būdo apibūdinimų, kurių pati nebūčiau įžodinus. Visiški dopamino išsiskyrimo momentai man, kuriuose, skaitydama po kelis kartus galvojau "oho! Gražiai!".

Ir dar patiko, kad priminė, kaip išties visi kartais kapanojamės bandydami išplaukt. Vandeny, ar gyvenime. Tas vanduo man labai arti.

Labai mano dūšios knyga. 💛

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finishing up an inadvertent rereading of this after 20 or so years, and had no recollection of it at all until I reached a line on page 323 - “She wears so much face powder nowadays it’s a bit like kissing a bap” - and I remembered having to look up what a bap was and appreciating the tactile impact of that image.
I’m glad to have rediscovered this and have enjoyed every word. It’s a tribute to the butterfly effect - what major consequences and echoes can be produced by a series of minor events in the past. In fact after I finished reading I was prompted to turn back to the beginning and examine the first 60 or so pages to make all the connections. What a carefully constructed and powerfully balanced novel this is: at the end I was descending the same steps I had walked up at the start. The characters live through the consequences of every random and deliberate decision they have made. And very few of them are spared, since this is also a paean to youthful stupidity and inexperience and inattentive parenting.

The party was being given by a girl at school, and in recognition of the shortage of available males we had all been instructed to “bring a boy.” When my mother first saw the invitation she thought it said “bring and buy” and offered me some homemade marmalade to take.

None of the characters is particularly likeable but they are all real and human. The teenaged girls have unrealistic expectations and their male counterparts are idiots. The adults are preoccupied and forgetful and selfish. Love is bumpy and stupid and illogical and irrational but in the end it just is. I’m listening to Kiri Te Kanawa and Thomas Allen’s version of The Magic Flute as I write this in the assurance that the only things that matter in the long term are books and music, and maybe love. 5 stars.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4* review: Quirky book, follows a formula I have seen before - shy quiet lonely person gets drawn into a colourful family, and eventually they are treated as a member of the family, before some tragedy results in their total ejection and rejection. But does it well, and the ending, whilst unlikely, satisfies.

Thank you to Nicki for the loan of the book.

Actually, on reflection, I am downgrading the book to 3*. Annoying things are surfacing. SPOILER ALERT! My mind is whispering to me - are you kidding? Frances moons over Nicky enough, she gets him. Lawrence moons over Lexi enough, he gets her, and Abigail moons over Rad enough, and gets him. Really?

And the more I think about Rad the more I dislike him. Pressuring his girlfriend to sleep with him when she is clearly not ready. Chucking her in such a violently aggressive way. Supposedly regretful, he keeps away when her sister dies, with no consideration at all for her feelings, just his own, and he hides from her that he is returning to ... oh wherever it was. Risking breaking her heart all over again. He is a shit really.

[Jess Chambers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clare’s gift for storytelling and her quirky but incredibly accessible style make her novels a sheer joy to read. She has a talent for creating characters who are not only lifelike and eccentric, but immensely believable, and who have stayed with me long after I closed the book. Learning to Swim is far more than a novel of first love. It’s a story about individuality, family secrets and contrasting upbringings, and I can’t recommend it enough.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very perceptive and beautifully written - but the end felt slightly off. I am not sure she learned to swim!

[Susie Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Small Pleasures by the same author earlier this year and absolutely loved it so it was an easy decision to give this book a go. I was surprised when I found out this book had originally been published in 1998 as it felt like it could have been written this year - always the sign of a good read!

It’s a story about friendship and inter-family relationships and although the pace is fairly slow at times the author draws you in with her descriptive style of writing. The book is set in London and revolves around Abigail and her friendship with Frances who come from very different families.

There are two big surprises in the book that I didn’t see coming and the story was definitely better for them. Overall I really enjoyed it and would recommend it if you’re looking for a read that will take you back to navigating teenage friendships and family life.

[Gail Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clare Chambers , so happy I finally discovered her books . Sorry it took so long . Recently finished “ in a Good Light “ and loved it . Was concerned my second experience with “Learning to Swim “ would not be as satisfying , but it too earned five stars . I love your style of writing . I love how the seemingly mundane moments in the characters lives makes the reader feel they are actually living them . It takes a special person with a special talent to so vividly and expertly relay the story in a first person narrative by the main character from their pre teen years into their thirties . The storyline always pulls me in and Clare Chambers is a wonderful storyteller . As in life, the events in her books are at once comical ,endearing , brutally realistic and often tinged with some tragedy . I will next be reading “ Small Pleasures”, and will be seeking out more of her books 📚.

[Laura Spira · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light read, well written, but a somewhat unoriginal story - teenager drawn into the life of her school friend's eccentric family, with added romance and some family secrets, playing out over a couple of decades. I had the sense that Clare Chambers' characters had taken over the plot and then left her in the lurch as to what to do with them. A pointless tragedy and exile to Australia dealt with two of them, while the others managed happy endings.

A couple of things bothered me as I was reading. One of the locations is called Half Moon Street but there seems to be no actual street there. And some of the cultural references seemed not to match the time setting: I assume the first part of the story was set in the 1970s but some of it seemed more typical of the 1950s/60s.

[Jo Lister · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful & engaging. Clare describes the imperfections in familial relationships & friendship tenderly & insightfully. Thoroughly enjoyed & I found reading this before bed was the perfect way to press 'pause' on my day.

[Hannah Wingfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! It is a great examination of how the decisions we made, and the people we meet, in our teenage years can shape our future (and of how things don't always turn out as we expect). The second Clare Chambers book I've read but certainly not the last.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover doesn't do this book justice! highly recommended for readers of Barbara Trapido and Kate Atkinson.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good book by Clare Chambers about real people. I loved it.

[paulina *✧･ﾟ · Rating 3 out of 5]

it took me like 2 weeks to read the first half of this book bc it just seemed like the typical book where the mc discovers the eccentric family of her bff, discovers there’s more to the world and has her coming of age moment but when i got to the other half after she discovered her half sister alive it started to get interesting, and i finished the book in one sitting, i know this is not a romance book but i’m a sucker for second chance romance and i really liked the ending with rad and abigail finding each other again, i would’ve love a reunion between frances and abigail bc i felt that was the most important relationship of the book but i still enjoyed the ending

[Julia Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jag gillade verkligen den här boken, den kändes som en ganska klassisk ”coming of age”-roman. Fint berättat och med många oväntade vändningar, men översättningen var tyvärr sådär.

[Kerry Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. Absolutely flew through it.

[Georgia Challinor · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 🌟 loved this but found it slightly slow at first

[Elizabeth Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, even more than Small Pleasures. It’s about love, friendship, and different types of family dynamics and how people chose to hide their feelings or try to ignore them. Of course with some unexpected twists along the way. Clare’s writing makes me feel like I am there as the character, and therefore invested in what happens. She manages to do this by describing emotions and a sense of place efficiently without over-describing and for me, balances this perfectly with the amount of dialogue. So glad there was a happy ending. Always sad when I come to the end of one of Clare’s books but luckily this time I have another ready to read (In a Good Light).

[Lucy Ewles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Self-conscious introvert Abigail grows up as an honourary member of her friend Frances' chaotic household, where she takes pleasure in the excitement and spontaneity missing from her own family life. As she becomes more deeply enmeshed within the Radley family, things take an unfortunate turn coinciding with a shocking discovery about her own family.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book, however I did feel it dragged on a little, and I wasn't entirely satisfied with the ending which felt somewhat anticlimactic. I do love Chambers' dry wit and lovely turn of phrase though.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. After reading two novels by Clare Chambers I want to read everything she has written. Such engaging characters, I was reluctant to leave their world at the end. Perfect holiday reading, but I don't mean by that to disparage the writing or brand it as merely lightweight. It's beautifully written. Her stories and characters will stay with me a long time.

[Jo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a bad book.... just soooo slow. I'll come back to it another time maybe. It's well written, just nothing happens www.bestsellerbooklist.co.uk

[Karen Barber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Families are a funny thing. You never know what goes on behind closed doors, and never has this been more true than in the story of Abigail Jex (née Onions) and her memories of her childhood friend Frances Radley.
Abigail, when we meet her, is a cellist in an established orchestra and it is not until she attends an after show party and is introduced to Marcus Radley that we start to get a glimpse into the life of this young woman. When she was younger, Abigail was reserved and had few friends. An only child she was serious and had little in common with her peers. Then we are told of her fledgling friendship with the new girl, Frances.
Before we know it Abigail has found herself taken under the wing of this family. She is in awe of Frances' brother, Marcus (known only as Rad), and finds herself subsumed into the daily lives of the Radley family. As an honorary member of the family she is privy to much of their daily life, but some of the intricacies are lost on her.
While we get to glimpse this family from the outside, we also see into the life of Abigail and her family. Nothing is quite what eleven year old Abigail realised, and we watch as she slowly becomes aware of the shifting nature of her relationships. There are moments of beauty as Abigail observes these colourful characters, never quite realising the significance of some of her interactions. As she grows up and realises how fragile some of these relationships are we watch Abigail mature. The focus really is on Abigail's shifting relationship to those around her, and though the plot was a little rushed towards the end it had a hopeful quality to it that I found quite endearing.

[Irina Bianca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was initially charmed by the witty, nice flowing narrative style in the first half, but then I was put off by what I realized was a very confused story.

Initially I thought it's about the friendship between 2 friends. Then I thought it's about family secrets seen through the naive eyes of two girls. Then the lost sister thing (which seemed the central point of the story) unravels so fast and without substance that there's no time to digest it. THEN the focus is quickly shifted from the so-interesting-and-special Birdie to the rom-com between Abigail and Rad who is so insufferable for no reason and has no depth. THEN the family secret thing again with Lexi leaving, and THEN the ridiculous quick breakup. That one almost made me stop reading. AFTER THAT the sudden death of the sister that makes no valuable addition to the plot or the character development (or the writer failed to convey it) and then back to the present to A CHEESY ROM-COM that ends with an even cheesier conclusion.

I was very disappointed...the narrative was just all over the place and rushed. I gave it two stars because I loved the writing style and the premise.

[Derval Tannam · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and its range of funny, engaging characters. I'm deducting half a star because Abigail's mother wasn't entirely consistent- but maybe she just naturally mellowed with age? I also felt that Abigail let Rad off with way too much-I'm not sure I would have been that forgiving. And then it seemed slightly unbelievable that Abigail would have had so little luck in love between the ages of 18 and 31. Overall a really great book though, and one I would definitely recommend.

[Caz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved 'Small Pleasures' and CC's focus on the little, the local, the detail in people's lives. This has the same intensity of focus while underplaying the emotions of the story. Big things happen in this book but they don't swamp it. Being so understated is also its let down for me. It become a real chore to finish, if the book wasn't taking itself seriously, why should I? Shame. Maybe it was just me? I'm finding books so hard to finish at the mo. 3 in a row at present. So its a win I managed to finish this one. Respect CC.
Toast.