Status
Available
Genres
Publication
Bloomsbury USA (2012), Edition: Reprint, 176 pages
Description
Fiction. Literature. HTML:Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize "Readers will have to resist the temptation to hurry up in order to find out what happens . . . Our reward is the enjoyable, if unsettling, experience of being pitched into the deep waters of Levy's wry, accomplished novel." - Francine Prose, The New York Times Book Review As he arrives with his family at the villa in the hills above Nice, France, Joe sees a body in the swimming pool. But the girl is very much alive. She is Kitty Finch: a self-proclaimed botanist with green-painted fingernails, walking naked out of the water and into the heart of their holiday. Why is she there? What does she want from them all? And why does Joe's enigmatic wife allow her to remain? A subversively brilliant study of love, Swimming Home reveals how the most devastating secrets are the ones we keep from ourselves.… (more)
Media reviews
Levy manipulates light and shadow with artfulness. She transfixes the reader: we recognise the centipede as the thing of darkness in us all. This is an intelligent, pulsating literary beast.
Swimming Home reminded me of Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway. Although a short work, it has an epic quality. This is a prizewinner.
With her first novel in 15 years, Deborah Levy has taken worn structures and made something strange and new. [...] the result is something spiky and unsettling.
User reviews
LibraryThing member SandDune
Books like this are one of the reasons that I like my RL book club. Despite it being short-listed for the Booker Prize in 2012, I would have been pretty unlikely to have chosen this book for myself if I hadn't been doing my book club read of the shortlist. And I am glad I picked it up: despite
Joe and Isabel Jacobs are holidaying in the South of France with their 14 year old daughter Nina, and friends Mitchell and Laura. Returning to their villa they find a young woman swimming naked in their pool. She introduces herself as Kitty Finch, and she explains she has also booked the villa, but there has been a mix-up with the dates and she is waiting for the villa's caretaker to find her a local hotel room. When no hotel room is available for several days, Isabel Jacobs surprisingly asks her to stay at the spare room in the villa. Only later does Kitty Finch confess to Joe Jacobs, a well-known poet, that she has followed him to the South of France in order to persuade him to read her poem. And as the day go by, other aspects of Kitty's behaviour start to become more and more unstable as well.
At the start of the book my initial feelings were that these were irritating and arrogant people with whom I did not want to spend time, in particular Mitchell, who is a gun-obsessed obnoxious boor. But as the book progressed, and more and more is revealed this starts to seem a simplistic point of view. The prologue leads the reader to expect an affair between Joe and Kitty, but ultimately Kitty's presence in the villa has effects that stretch out in a far more unexpected direction.
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having some initial misgivings in the first few chapters I thought it was a rewarding read and it warranted its place on the shortlist.Joe and Isabel Jacobs are holidaying in the South of France with their 14 year old daughter Nina, and friends Mitchell and Laura. Returning to their villa they find a young woman swimming naked in their pool. She introduces herself as Kitty Finch, and she explains she has also booked the villa, but there has been a mix-up with the dates and she is waiting for the villa's caretaker to find her a local hotel room. When no hotel room is available for several days, Isabel Jacobs surprisingly asks her to stay at the spare room in the villa. Only later does Kitty Finch confess to Joe Jacobs, a well-known poet, that she has followed him to the South of France in order to persuade him to read her poem. And as the day go by, other aspects of Kitty's behaviour start to become more and more unstable as well.
At the start of the book my initial feelings were that these were irritating and arrogant people with whom I did not want to spend time, in particular Mitchell, who is a gun-obsessed obnoxious boor. But as the book progressed, and more and more is revealed this starts to seem a simplistic point of view. The prologue leads the reader to expect an affair between Joe and Kitty, but ultimately Kitty's presence in the villa has effects that stretch out in a far more unexpected direction.
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LibraryThing member otterley
deborah Levy writes beautifully and interestingly. Enough to make a story about intellectuals on holiday in a villa in france into something new and unexpected. Kitty Finch, depressive, poet, lost soul, is the catalyst that sets two families spiralling out of control - Joe the poet, his daughter
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Nina, Mitchell and Laura, facing financial destruction - amongst a cast of other flaky souls on the riviera. Technically, this is a very clever book, circling around symbols of significance, particular episodes and moving elliptically to an unexpected, sad but inevitable ending. Show Less
LibraryThing member nomadreader
The backstory: Swimming Home is on the 2012 Booker Prize shortlist.
The basics: This novella explores the life of Kitty, a beautiful, deeply troubled young botanist with a passion for poetry. Set in a summer cottage on the French Riviera in July 1994, Kitty enchants Joe, a famous poet, who is
My thoughts: From the first line of this novel, "When Kitty Finch took her hand off the steering wheel and told him she loved him, he no loner knew if she was threatening him or having a conversation," I was enchanted by both Levy's prose and these haunted, curious characters. Levy's crisp, precise prose paints vivid pictures of both the characters and setting. This novella is slight only in pages, but it packs an incredible literary and emotional punch.
This novella was a page turner. Levy wowed me with the tightness and beauty of her prose in every single sentence. Rarely do I want to re-read a novel, but the combination of language and story in this novel is a rare delicacy.
The verdict: There's a startling intimacy to this novel and its characters. As a reader, I was unsettled as a voyeur witnessing the tragedies unfold in the lives of these tender, haunted characters, but I also loved every word, punctuation mark and sentence. Levy has written a masterpiece, and it's utterly deserving of this year's Booker Prize.
The basics: This novella explores the life of Kitty, a beautiful, deeply troubled young botanist with a passion for poetry. Set in a summer cottage on the French Riviera in July 1994, Kitty enchants Joe, a famous poet, who is
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vacationing with his wife, teenage daughter, and a couple of friends.My thoughts: From the first line of this novel, "When Kitty Finch took her hand off the steering wheel and told him she loved him, he no loner knew if she was threatening him or having a conversation," I was enchanted by both Levy's prose and these haunted, curious characters. Levy's crisp, precise prose paints vivid pictures of both the characters and setting. This novella is slight only in pages, but it packs an incredible literary and emotional punch.
This novella was a page turner. Levy wowed me with the tightness and beauty of her prose in every single sentence. Rarely do I want to re-read a novel, but the combination of language and story in this novel is a rare delicacy.
The verdict: There's a startling intimacy to this novel and its characters. As a reader, I was unsettled as a voyeur witnessing the tragedies unfold in the lives of these tender, haunted characters, but I also loved every word, punctuation mark and sentence. Levy has written a masterpiece, and it's utterly deserving of this year's Booker Prize.
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LibraryThing member Cait86
Swimming Home is set in a villa in the French Riviera, where poet Joe Jacobs is vacationing with his wife, Isabel, his daughter, Nina, and their friends, Mitchell and Laura. Everything seems perfectly idyllic until a strange girl named Kitty Finch is found swimming naked in the villa's pool. Kitty
Levy makes some interesting choices here, in her writing. Characters frequently believe outlandish things - for example, Kitty is initially mistaken for a bear, dead in the pool, and when Nina goes missing, the adults assume she has been kidnapped, when really she is merely asleep. Kitty is frequently accused of being crazy, but the gullibility and tendency to expect the worst of all the characters makes the entire cast seem a bit off their rockers. Next-door neighbour Dr. Sheridan, caretaker Jurgen, and local Casanova Claude round out the novel with more insanity. Add to this a writing style that is dreamy and trance-like, and Swimming Home feels a bit like that warped picture you get when you open your eyes underwater and look up at the world.
Swimming Home is an excellent book, and I am thankful the Booker judges brought it to my attention.
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pretends to believe that the villa was hers for the week, and Isabel invites her to stay. In reality, Kitty has sought out Joe, who she worships, to look at one of her poems. This lie is just the first in a series of secrets and deceptions that drive Swimming Home forward.Levy makes some interesting choices here, in her writing. Characters frequently believe outlandish things - for example, Kitty is initially mistaken for a bear, dead in the pool, and when Nina goes missing, the adults assume she has been kidnapped, when really she is merely asleep. Kitty is frequently accused of being crazy, but the gullibility and tendency to expect the worst of all the characters makes the entire cast seem a bit off their rockers. Next-door neighbour Dr. Sheridan, caretaker Jurgen, and local Casanova Claude round out the novel with more insanity. Add to this a writing style that is dreamy and trance-like, and Swimming Home feels a bit like that warped picture you get when you open your eyes underwater and look up at the world.
Swimming Home is an excellent book, and I am thankful the Booker judges brought it to my attention.
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LibraryThing member dawnlovesbooks
this book is written so well, it's almost like poetry. two poets try to swim their way home by fighting their inner demons. loved it!!!
LibraryThing member bodachliath
This book is rather wonderful - cryptic, elusive, allusive and dreamlike, and very difficult to encapsulate or describe in a meaningful review.
My only previous exposure to Levy was reading her most recent book Hot Milk, and this book occupies similar territory, at least superficially. Both are
Levy toys with her characters and appears to understand them better than they do themselves. I won't even attempt to describe the plot, which seems almost irrelevant.
My only previous exposure to Levy was reading her most recent book Hot Milk, and this book occupies similar territory, at least superficially. Both are
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full of symbolism and striking imagery, and share similar southern European settings, but ultimately depend more on what is not said than what is. Levy toys with her characters and appears to understand them better than they do themselves. I won't even attempt to describe the plot, which seems almost irrelevant.
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LibraryThing member Laura400
Very brief. Very tightly written. Very complex. Like all great books, you finish with much to think about it. But it's written in such an economical and subtle style, and it moves so deftly, that you can enjoy it almost ignoring how ominous and affecting it is. Until you can't ignore that at all.
LibraryThing member sianpr
Deborah Levy weaves a multi-layered tale where nothing is quite as it seems. Kitty is a disturbed young woman who gate crashes a villa where two British families are on holiday. On the surface she appears passive yet she is the catalyst that makes everything unravel. Levy evokes the heat and sultry
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atmosphere of the South of France in spades. A gem. Show Less
LibraryThing member Heduanna
Up to page 50, this was the dullest book I'd read recently. Page 50 to about page 115 picked up a little, but still no visible reason for fuss. Pages 115-155 (the end, finally) were variously thriller, suspense, and tripped-out nonsense. And this made the Man Booker Prize shortlist? My respect for
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that honour just went down a few notches. Show Less
LibraryThing member librarian1204
Beautifully written. Short. Hard to put down, even when you want to. A book that you will think about for a very long time.
LibraryThing member mattclark
Depression and rejection drive this great novel which was nominated for a booker this year. Levy has packed a lot of emotion into her characters, and the tensions between spouses, friends, families and a disturbed stalker who both depend on and despise each other brilliantly bubble over a peaceful
The story depicts a tumultuous week in the south of France revolving around the dysfunctional relationships between Joe, a famous English poet on holiday with his not-quite-but-practically estranged war correspondent wife, his 14 year old daughter who both loves and despises him, and a beautiful young visitor/stalker, Kitty. Kitty bursts onto the scene skinny dipping in the pool of their holiday villa, and becomes the fulcrum of the story - both as a very disturbed and depressed person, and in turn disturbing the already fractured relationships between each family member with her desperate need to be in contact with Joe. Kitty is both vulnerable and domineering, alluring and terrifying. She is an absolutely unpredictable character, and as a result the story takes several turns before a final, totally unexpected climax.
I really enjoyed this book. It will stay with me for some time, particularly the disturbing Kitty Ket and her favorite poem... it's raining. Highly recommended read, but probably not one to attempt if you are feeling a bit down.
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but hostile Mediterranean background.The story depicts a tumultuous week in the south of France revolving around the dysfunctional relationships between Joe, a famous English poet on holiday with his not-quite-but-practically estranged war correspondent wife, his 14 year old daughter who both loves and despises him, and a beautiful young visitor/stalker, Kitty. Kitty bursts onto the scene skinny dipping in the pool of their holiday villa, and becomes the fulcrum of the story - both as a very disturbed and depressed person, and in turn disturbing the already fractured relationships between each family member with her desperate need to be in contact with Joe. Kitty is both vulnerable and domineering, alluring and terrifying. She is an absolutely unpredictable character, and as a result the story takes several turns before a final, totally unexpected climax.
I really enjoyed this book. It will stay with me for some time, particularly the disturbing Kitty Ket and her favorite poem... it's raining. Highly recommended read, but probably not one to attempt if you are feeling a bit down.
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LibraryThing member jphamilton
The story revolves around a man in a trouble marriage who's offered a huge paycheck if he'll write a biography of his bigger than life father-in-law. That would mean looking into the life of Big Bill Mulholland, who is presently a powerful magnate in international communications, oh, and was a
This is more mystery than I normally go for, but the writing won me over and I much enjoyed the ride the novel gave me.
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legend in the world of espionage. John Glass is regularly a journalist, but when a million dollars is offered up for this book, he accepts the deal. Then he finds the project nearly impossible to begin. He asks around about someone to do research—and then things begin to happen and threats come his way. This is more mystery than I normally go for, but the writing won me over and I much enjoyed the ride the novel gave me.
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LibraryThing member Beamis12
Not quite sure what to make of this little gem of a book. A holiday, characters that are on course for a terrific crash of some sort, the insidious nature of depression all meet in this tightly structured, brilliantly worded novel. Every word, every scene means something, nothing is wasted. Strange
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but rather brilliant at the same time. Didn't quite manage to like it, but did admire it and the ending was not at all was I thought it was going to be. The tension in the novel is palpable and at times downright unconformable. So, so glad my holidays are not at all like this one. Show Less
LibraryThing member tvordj
I looked at the Booker short list to see if there was anything that might appeal to me aside from the Hilary Mantel I'd already read and this was one of two more I thought I'd like. The story centres around a young woman, Kitty, who suffers from severe depression and who might also have a bit of
I liked the book but I didn't love it. It had a cast of characters that are all different from each other and the requisite clashes and personality differences. It's more a slice of life than an actual "story" with a plot. Some things will change and some things will stay the same.
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one or two other conditions as well who arrives at a villa on the French Riviera where two couples along with the daughter of one are staying. One of the men is a poet for whome Kitty has developed an obsession, feeling they connect on an almost mystical level. She's a stranger yet his wife invites her to stay with them all in the villa. The poet and his wife have a crumbling marraige. The husband of the other couple seems loud and obnoxious. The daughter of the poet is quiet and observant and seems to understand what's going on more than all of the adults. I liked the book but I didn't love it. It had a cast of characters that are all different from each other and the requisite clashes and personality differences. It's more a slice of life than an actual "story" with a plot. Some things will change and some things will stay the same.
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LibraryThing member jasonlf
Beautifully written story about love, passion, poetry, and ways that the seemingly normal surface routines of life can conceal secrets. The story itself is a relatively standard one about a British family's French vacation--and the disruption caused by a beautiful, young, disturbed woman who they
The story is presented through a kaleidoscopic perspective that shifts the point of vision from character to character, with almost nothing told in the pure omniscient authorial voice so that even the physical descriptions of characters change or become more or less vivid as the perspective shifts.
It is a very short novella and can easily be read in one or two sittings. It is also very intense, the emotional lives of the characters and the denouement of the story.
Ultimately, one perspective wins out: that of the daughter of the British couple and an epilogue told years later steps back and provides a perspective on the pivotal week that is the subject of the book itself.
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find swimming naked in their pool and they unaccountably invite to stay in a spare room in their villa. It is told over the course of a week, with a chapter for each day.The story is presented through a kaleidoscopic perspective that shifts the point of vision from character to character, with almost nothing told in the pure omniscient authorial voice so that even the physical descriptions of characters change or become more or less vivid as the perspective shifts.
It is a very short novella and can easily be read in one or two sittings. It is also very intense, the emotional lives of the characters and the denouement of the story.
Ultimately, one perspective wins out: that of the daughter of the British couple and an epilogue told years later steps back and provides a perspective on the pivotal week that is the subject of the book itself.
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LibraryThing member bobbieharv
I'd read such great reviews of this book, and waited quite a while till it was available from the library, but I just couldn't see what was so great about it. Couldn't stand the characters, writing ordinary, no real plot. Finally gave up.
LibraryThing member michaelbartley
a very interesting novel, the story of a vacation that went wrong. two families rent a house in France, when they get there they find a very strange naked woman in the swimming pool. The woman is invited to stay there and she ends up being the agent for change.
LibraryThing member nivramkoorb
I enjoyed the language in the book. It was a short book but Levy does a good job establishing the characters. Obviously, it was hard to get into the head of each character in the short time but the story was "okay". Mostly I was impressed with her prose but didn't find the story or the character
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compelling or memorable. Read this mainly because it was short listed for the Booker Prize and was on notable book list from 2012. Show Less
LibraryThing member nosajeel
Beautifully written story about love, passion, poetry, and ways that the seemingly normal surface routines of life can conceal secrets. The story itself is a relatively standard one about a British family's French vacation--and the disruption caused by a beautiful, young, disturbed woman who they
The story is presented through a kaleidoscopic perspective that shifts the point of vision from character to character, with almost nothing told in the pure omniscient authorial voice so that even the physical descriptions of characters change or become more or less vivid as the perspective shifts.
It is a very short novella and can easily be read in one or two sittings. It is also very intense, the emotional lives of the characters and the denouement of the story.
Ultimately, one perspective wins out: that of the daughter of the British couple and an epilogue told years later steps back and provides a perspective on the pivotal week that is the subject of the book itself.
Show More
find swimming naked in their pool and they unaccountably invite to stay in a spare room in their villa. It is told over the course of a week, with a chapter for each day.The story is presented through a kaleidoscopic perspective that shifts the point of vision from character to character, with almost nothing told in the pure omniscient authorial voice so that even the physical descriptions of characters change or become more or less vivid as the perspective shifts.
It is a very short novella and can easily be read in one or two sittings. It is also very intense, the emotional lives of the characters and the denouement of the story.
Ultimately, one perspective wins out: that of the daughter of the British couple and an epilogue told years later steps back and provides a perspective on the pivotal week that is the subject of the book itself.
Show Less
LibraryThing member mattclark
Depression and rejection drive this great novel. Levy has packed a lot of emotion into her characters, and the tensions between spouses, friends, families and a disturbed stalker who both depend on and despise each other brilliantly bubble over a peaceful but hostile Mediterranean background.
The
I really enjoyed this book. It will stay with me for some time, particularly the disturbing Kitty Ket and her favorite poem... it's raining. Highly recommended read, but probably not one to attempt if you are feeling a bit down.
The
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story depicts a tumultuous week in the south of France revolving around the dysfunctional relationships between Joe, a famous English poet on holiday with his not-quite-but-practically estranged war correspondent wife, his 14 year old daughter who both loves and despises him, and a beautiful young visitor/stalker, Kitty. Kitty bursts onto the scene skinny dipping in the pool of their holiday villa, and becomes the fulcrum of the story - both as a very disturbed and depressed person, and in turn disturbing the already fractured relationships between each family member with her desperate need to be in contact with Joe. Kitty is both vulnerable and domineering, alluring and terrifying. She is an absolutely unpredictable character, and as a result the story takes several turns before a final, totally unexpected climax. I really enjoyed this book. It will stay with me for some time, particularly the disturbing Kitty Ket and her favorite poem... it's raining. Highly recommended read, but probably not one to attempt if you are feeling a bit down.
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LibraryThing member edwinbcn
Deborah Levy was (already) a published author, with no less than five novels, two collections of short stories, 18 plays and a volume of poetry to her name. However, in an interview with Bookslut she complained that most of her books were out of print and that she was working on getting them in
But is Swimming home really such a good book? Far from it! A muddled story, vague characters and no action. Of course, these are characteristics of many postmodern novels. It is obvious that the author is no newby. She knows something about writing, but she knows very little about telling a story, let alone an interesting story. The jury of the Man Booker Prize should be ashamed to have long listed, and then even short listed the book.
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print again.Did she experience difficulty getting Swimming home published with her publisher or any other main publishing house? The novel surprisingly came out with And Other Stories an then new publisher that finances book publications by subscription. Was the jury of the Man Booker Prize perhaps positively biased to niche publishers, or did her work stand out in that area of publishing? Would her novel be noticed and equally well received had it been published by her regural publisher Jonathan Cape? If it had been a strategic move by Deborah Levy to publish the novel in this way, she was rewarded beyond measure: the novel was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize and thus the author was catapulted into the limelight. Soon after, her early novels were reissued by Penguin Books.But is Swimming home really such a good book? Far from it! A muddled story, vague characters and no action. Of course, these are characteristics of many postmodern novels. It is obvious that the author is no newby. She knows something about writing, but she knows very little about telling a story, let alone an interesting story. The jury of the Man Booker Prize should be ashamed to have long listed, and then even short listed the book.
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LibraryThing member AlisonY
A philandering famous poet, his war correspondent wife and their daughter are spending the summer with friends at a villa in the South of France when out of the blue a naked young woman steps out of their swimming pool. The poet's wife invites Kitty (as she's called) to stay in the spare room of
Kitty has a deadly combination of mental illness and obsession with the poet's writing, and the summer will never be the same again after her arrival.
This novel was a quick read, and although it was inevitably leading up to a big end event I felt like I didn't totally engage with the writing. The characters were all fairly unlikeable, and though I never felt like aborting the read, I felt immediately ambivalent about it when I'd finished.
3 stars - forgettable.
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the villa as she says there has been a mix up in bookings, knowingly lighting the touchpaper of their marital problems.Kitty has a deadly combination of mental illness and obsession with the poet's writing, and the summer will never be the same again after her arrival.
This novel was a quick read, and although it was inevitably leading up to a big end event I felt like I didn't totally engage with the writing. The characters were all fairly unlikeable, and though I never felt like aborting the read, I felt immediately ambivalent about it when I'd finished.
3 stars - forgettable.
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LibraryThing member krazy4katz
This novel was on the short list for the Man Booker Prize, so I felt obligated to read it twice to make sure I was not missing deep undertones that I assume are present in "serious" literature. The word "ennui" was invented for the people in this novel. The wealthy, world-renowned poet, Jozef, and
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his journalist wife, Isabel, are "on holiday" in France with their daughter, Nina, and friends (Linda and Mitchell) who can't afford the trip. They swim, they eat, one of them shoots rabbits and tries to catch mice in the act of defiling their food. The poet writes poetry. Into this world of leisure and disconnect stumbles Kitty Finch, an unbalanced botanist prone to wandering around nude and undernourished. She ends up staying with them and their world collapses as her mind fuses with and destroys various members of the group. Her presence forces them to stop hiding from themselves and confront the damage they are doing to their relationships with the people they love. The consequences are disastrous. I do find novels that I enjoy even when I don't like the circumstances portrayed. However this work was not in that category. Perhaps it was too somber and desperate. Although well-written, the connections between the dream states and the realities seemed somewhat obvious. I also didn't understand the presence of Linda and Mitchell. They didn't serve a purpose as far as I could tell other than to take your mind off the main characters and let you rest once in a while. Altogether not a great novel for me but not bad either. Show Less
LibraryThing member mjlivi
A short sharp shock of a story - complicated characters having complicated and slightly obscure interactions. There's something dreamlike about the way things unfold, and the book has a pervasive atmosphere of uneasiness. I felt like I missed some of the symbolism and references, and there were a
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few too many characters to juggle in such a short novel, but the ending is powerful and memorable. Show Less
LibraryThing member TheBookJunky
The characters were flat, undifferentiated. They were faceless to me, doing nothing, being nothing, but somehow permeating the book with their unspoken whining. Intensely irritating. They all melted together as an amorphous mass of indecipherable...nothingness. I am so done with this book.
Awards
Booker Prize (Longlist — 2012)
British Book Award (Shortlist — 2012)
Wingate Literary Prize (Shortlist — 2013)
The New York Times Notable Books of the Year (Fiction & Poetry — 2012)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2011
Physical description
176 p.; 5.73 inches
ISBN
162040169X / 9781620401699
Local notes
Fiction