Swimming Home was shortlisted for the Mann Booker Prize in 2012, and it has some merit, being well-written, in parts funny, disturbing, satirical, but at times confusing. Having said that, I detested the characters, except for Nina a 14 year old through whose eyes we view the absurdities of the adults around her.
The story takes place on the French Riviera. As the story opens Joe Jacobs, a poet of some renown and his wife Isabel, a journalist, along with their daughter, Nina and another couple have rented a villa near Nice. They awake one morning to find a naked young woman floating in their pool. She is not dead, but she wreaks havoc on this dysfunctional little group. Her name is Kitty Finch, and she is anorexic, unstable, and full of anxiety, She claims to be a naturalist and spends most of her time au natural. She sets out to seduce the poet, or is it the other way around?
The title of the book is the title of a poem that Kitty has written which she wishes Joe Jacobs to critique. This poem seems to be the center around which the characters revolve. It is a bit of a mystery why Isabel agrees to allow Kitty to stay with them as it is obvious Kitty has designs on her husband. There are also several minor characters spinning in and out who are as unstable as the main characters.
The novel is a short one with a lot of emotional action packed into its pages. I was glad to reach the end and be rid of the characters and their self-absorption.
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