Swimming Home Paperback – 8 Aug 2011

I bought everything I could of Levy's after reading the fantastic 'Hot Milk', which is still my favourite piece of hers. 'Swimming Home' is also excellent - quiet, character-focused, interesting. It remains pacey even when characters are being introspective. There's a strong 'showing not telling' element for most of the book, in a Hemingway style only with more poetical prose. Readable, with depth, though perhaps a touch trite by the end. Recommended.8/10David BrookesAuthor of 'Cycles of Udaipur'

In true DEBORAH LEVY style, this book is a devastating account of the relationships dividing and binding a commonplace collection of middle class Londoners on holiday in the south of France. Each one is fatally marked by their history, as each in their own way battles to construct a bearable life in a social world that offers little comfort or support beneath its facade of sunshine, beaches and holiday manners.

From the blurb I thought it sounded great, but was a little disappointed with the way the book was written. Quite strange goings-on. Not that easy to follow. Some interesting parts about the relationship between mother and daughter. I have given it to a charity shop - sorry.

"Life is only worth living because we hope it will get better and we'll all get home safely,"An unsettling antidote to ubiqitious family holiday stories. Slim, graceful, full of light and shadow.

I'm glad I listened to the hype and read this though it left me conflicted. There was much to admire - the writing style was excellent and the story well paced and interesting. It's weakness, however, was in the characterization. Some seemed superfluous and served only to confuse. The main characters of Kitty and Joe, besides not being likeable, were way too implausible. I'm glad I read it but am unlikely to read it again.

This is a short novel by Deborah Levy, coming in at what appears to be 157 pages, including (hilariously) two page 156s! For such an experienced novelist as Levy, the book is surprisingly formulaic: many of the themes and motifs are very overwrought, and come across like the output of someone who has spent an enormous amount of time in creative writing courses but who hasn't actually experienced too much of life herself (which I know is not the case with Levy - but that's the way the book reads). The characters are people whom this reader found impossible to like, and some are frankly unbelievable (such as Jurgen, the dreaklocked, dope addict caretaker) and perhaps more like caricatures. The plot is quite predictable, and whilst the book overall is readable and well-constructured, I couldn't help thinking that I was pleased it was only 157 (or 158? or 156?) pages long and that I didn't have to experience these dislikeable characters any longer. In summary, "Swimming Home" was a bit too forgettable for a Booker Prize shortlisted novel, I think.

I’d not read anything by Deborah Levy before, and enjoyed this book. I liked her writing style, and am looking forward to reading The Man Who Saw Everything now that it’s been released. It’s not all that long, but a really good read.

Strange little book but I liked it.. Fast reading, chaotic, always something about to happen. It is like a play with one scene after another. All characters are complex and interesting in different ways. The main character Kitty, brings out the weakness and contradictions in the others (writer Jozef, wife Isabel, the confused daughter, the looser friends, the old doctor…) it makes them think about themselves... Too much packed in such a short book.