SWIMMING AT NIGHT: A REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED 
SWIMMING AT NIGHT

BY LUCY CLARKE

ABOUT THE BOOK:

People go traveling for two reasons: because they are searching for something, or they are running from something.

Katie’s world is shattered by the news that her headstrong and bohemian younger sister, Mia, has been found dead at the bottom of a cliff in Bali. The authorities say that Mia jumped—that her death was a suicide. 

Although they’d hardly spoken to each other since Mia suddenly left on an around-the-world trip six months earlier, Katie refuses to accept that her sister would have taken her own life. Distraught that they never made peace, Katie leaves her orderly, sheltered life in London behind and embarks on a journey to find out the truth. With only the entries in Mia’s travel journal as her guide, Katie retraces the last few months of her sister’s life and—page by page, country by country—begins to uncover the mystery surrounding her death. . . . 

Weaving together the exotic settings and suspenseful twists of Alex Garland’s The Beach with a powerful tale of familial love in the spirit of Rosamund Lupton’s Sister, Swimming at Night is a fast-paced, accomplished, and gripping debut novel of secrets, loss, and forgiveness. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lucy Clarke has a degree in English Literature. She has worked as a presenter of social enterprise events and a creative writing workshop leader. Lucy is now a full-time novelist. She and her husband, a professional windsurfer, spend their winters traveling and their summers at their home on the south coast of England. Visit Lucy-Clarke.com

LUCY CLARKE REVEALED

Some interesting facts about the author

 from Simon & Schuster Publishing

• What is your birthdate?:  8/7
• Previous occupations:  I worked as a presenter of events for students, teaching them about social enterprise and environmental awareness.
• Favorite job:  Being a full-time novelist. Nothing can beat that for me.
  High school and/or college:  I went to school in Bournemouth, which is on the south coast of England, a couple of hours from London.
• Name of your favorite composer or music artist?:  Beastie Boys
• Favorite movie:  I'm torn between Dirty Dancing and The Goonies
  Favorite television show: Right now it's New Girl - but this changes almost weekly!
  Read more about Lucy Clarke in this section of Simon & Schuster by going HERE.

MY THOUGHTS/REVIEW:

Lucy Clarke's SWIMMING AT NIGHT is a compellingly engrossing story in which the relationship of two sisters is the theme. The two sisters, Katie, the eldest by three years, and Mia seemed to be almost complete opposites. Katie is the stable and dependable one, while Mia is the openly fearless one. However, like so many sisters, they share their love regardless of their differences and any difficulties they had. The main problem apparently was when their mother was dying and Mia decided to take off with her best friend Finn on an undetermined journey.

As SWIMMING AT NIGHT opens, Katie is informed that Mia has died in Bali. The death was ruled a suicide that even included two eyewitnesses. Evidently, Mia jumped off a cliff into the water below. Katie is shocked but just can’t believe that Mia committed suicide. In a truly uncharacteristic move for Katie, she takes Mia’s journal and drops everything to set out in search of answers. With the help of this journal, which was returned with Mia’s belongings, Katie plans to retrace her sister’s trip to find the truth about her sister’s death. With each sister narrating alternating chapters, readers learn about the girls growing up and the relationship they had with each other as well as with adults. The journal uncovers Mia’s low self-esteem and the cause of her often rebellious nature, while it also provides a guide for Katie to follow in her search.

With Lucy Clarke’s well developed characters and her alternating view points, SWIMMING AT NIGHT moves quickly and grabs the reader from the start. I felt like I knew the characters right away and was eager to find out the truth along with Katie. An enjoyable read with just enough secrets withheld until the end.  

GIVEAWAY
THANKS TO JESSICA AND THE GOOD FOLKS
AT SIMON & SCHUSTER, I HAVE A COPY OF
SWIMMING AT NIGHT TO GIVE AWAY

   

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ORDER TO COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE ENTRY
 

HOW TO ENTER:

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GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
 6 PM, EST, MAY 4

  GOOD LUCK!