I did see a couple of the mini twists coming but that took little away from a thoroughly enjoyable book. There are moments of beauty as Abigail observes these colourful characters, never quite realising the significance of some of her interactions.

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. Raised in a very conservative household, only child Abigail lives out a dull life with Mother and Father in suburbia filled with net curtains and clipped lawns. We follow Abigail as she eagerly embarks on new adventures throughout her teenage years in the Radley household.

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. 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 . When her three children were teenagers, inspired by their reading habits, she produced two YA novels, Bright Girls (HarperCollins 2009) and Burning Secrets (HarperCollins 2011). The Radley’s were extraordinary, captivating creatures transplanted from a bohemian corner of North London to outer suburbia, and the young Abigail found herself drawn into their magic circle: the eccentric Frances, her new best friend; Frances’ mother, the liberated, headstrong Lexi; and of course the brilliant, beautiful Rad.

Payments made using National Book Tokens are processed by National Book Tokens Ltd, and you can read their Terms and Conditions here. The characters live through the consequences of every random and deliberate decision they have made. The Radley's were extraordinary, captivating creatures transplanted from a bohemian corner of North London to outer suburbia, and the young Abigail found herself drawn into their magic circle- the eccentric Frances, her new best friend; Frances' mother, the liberated, headstrong Lexi; and of course the brilliant, beautiful Rad. On the other hand certain episodes seemed unlikely to me, even for the Radleys, in particular the scene which causes Rad to be so angry with Abigail.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! Abigail thought she'd banished the ghost of her life with them and the catastrophe that ended it, but thirteen years later a chance encounter forces her to acknowledge that the spell is far from broken.

It’s about love, friendship, and different types of family dynamics and how people chose to hide their feelings or try to ignore them. 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. Some of the experiences of working for an eccentric, independent publisher in the pre-digital era found their way into her novel The Editor's Wife (Century, 2007). It’s a story about individuality, family secrets and contrasting upbringings, and I can’t recommend it enough. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

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. 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. 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. Clare’s writing makes me feel like I am there as the character, and therefore invested in what happens. As well as a perceptive, witty look at the pretensions of suburbia, Learning to Swim is a quirky, moving story of friendship and love, peopled with irresistible, unforgettable characters who haunt the reader's mind after the book has ended.

I am so glad I did, I really enjoyed the story and the way events unfold from the perspective of Abigail, the main character. Publication dates are subject to change (although this is an extremely uncommon occurrence overall). Abigail thought she had banished the ghost of her life with them and the catastrophe that ended it, but thirteen years later a chance encounter forces her to acknowledge that the spell is far from broken. 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. 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.

The Radley's were extraordinary, captivating creatures transplanted from a bohemian corner of North London to outer suburbia, and the young Abigail found herself drawn into their magic circle: the eccentric Frances, her new best friend; Frances' mother, the liberated, headstrong Lexi; and of course the brilliant, beautiful Rad.