In search of solace, Jo and Elizabeth enjoy midnight dips in the freezing sea. Here they can laugh, cry and wash away all their fears. The idea takes root with others, and soon, the entire community is involved. Evie has always believed they were soul mates. The big question is, was Paul slowly making his way home to Carlinville in the end? That's not to say the book neglected men - many of the chapters were told from the perspective of the main male characters Niall and Dan, and their storylines ran along a very similar emotional vein to the women's. Niall is Lucy's son, lonely, resentful, and looking for purpose in life, and Dan is a writer facing a career low whilst also on a life-long search for his birth mother. Both tales were, of course, satisfyingly resolved by the end. The Ladies’ Midnight Swimming Club is a beautiful story of friendship. It is a tale of grief, forgiveness, loneliness, heartbreak, second chances, and so much more. This book left me feeling upbeat. I loved the closeness of the women and their strength and courage as they faced the ups and downs in their individual lives. This is a story of love, grief, community, and friendship, and it is warm and heartfelt.

Linked to this, we now we come to a feature that I both liked and didn't like. The story was constructed so perfectly - literally every loose end was tied, every problem solved, every rift restored; every character journeyed from an emotional low to ultimate contentment. On the one hand, this felt extremely contrived. It was just too unrealistic - life just doesn't fall into place happily ever after like that. Elizabeth's GP husband leaves the surgery empty and in debt, and Lucy just so happens to be a doctor looking for a fresh start and moving into the area - problem solved. Dan has been looking for his birth mother his whole life, and on his research trip to Ballycove finds her right in front of his eyes - perfect. Jo's dying wish is to share her insane love of naked swimming in the freezing Irish sea, and somehow every woman in the village is up for joining in - improbable, but amazing. It was such a storybook story in every possible way, that it ended up being eminently predictable. Elizabeth’s closest friend, Jo Harris is addicted to the natural high she gets from swimming at midnight in the icy Irish Sea off Ireland’s west coast. She manages to draw her friend into trying it, and during this intimacy Elizabeth reveals her problem. Jo is delighted to be able to offer a potential solution in the form of her daughter Lucy.

Creative Play

The Ladies’ Midnight Swimming Club was founded by Jo, who coerced her daughter and friend to join her. They all have their own problems but their midnight swims help them connect, talk, laugh and be inspired. . . . . This is a story which focuses on these three ladies, Lucy’s son and a writer who has come to stay in the village whilst he writes a novel and searches for his past. When Elizabeth's husband dies, leaving her with crippling debt, she must turn to her friend, Jo for help, who calls in her da

A heart-rending, uplifting and beautifully written journey of female friendship... I loved being transported to Ireland's wild Atlantic coast' – Phillipa Ashley As Faith Hogan sets the scenes so beautifully with her words I was soon invested with all five of our characters and was keen to learn what happens next for them. I’d love a sequel to this story as I feel there’s so much more to give. Maybe also I loved the characters and setting too much and I just don’t want to let them go yet … This is a book set in Ireland, but which is the bigger character – Dublin or Carlinville? Why and what does it add to the story? Kasia appears to be wiser and more philosophical than each of the other women, why do you think that is?Author Dan decides to leave Dublin and take time out to write a novel, and to investigate a question he’s wondered about most of his life. The Ladies’ Midnight Swimming Club is the sixth novel by award-winning, best-selling Irish author, Faith Hogan. The audio version is narrated by Flora Montgomery. It’s not until the death of her husband Eric, Ballycove’s local GP, that Elizabeth O’Shea discovers the extent of his deceit. She knew he drank, but not that he gambled, and to her dismay, he was more prolific at both than he was at being successful as a GP. The level of debt he has left her with in the form of loans is staggering. Will she lose everything? Lucy comes for a short break but lands up by staying longer due to a few circumstances in the book. The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club is an impressive and thoroughly enjoyable read about three women, Elizabeth O'Shea, her lifelong friend Jo and Jo’s only daughter, Lucy.

The three women become firm friends, and Jo introduces them to her passion for swimming under the stars – the sheer exhilaration, the release, the opportunity to laugh and cry and shed their troubles as they shed their clothes, their friendship deepening with every dip in the ocean. And when it turns out that Jo has significant problems of her own that eclipse Elizabeth’s, that friendship deepens as they plan one big milestone that they’re all able to focus on – a charity event for a cause very close to their hearts, with all the women of the village coming together for one enormous (and naked) midnight swim. Faith Hogan is the queen of the emotional roller-coaster and this has everything to have you smiling through blinding tears, your heart will burst with love and sadness and you will be sure to get a lump in your throat while reading at the powerful message of hope and friendship. In search of solace, Jo and Elizabeth find themselves enjoying midnight dips in the freezing Irish Sea. Here they can laugh, cry and wash away all their fears. As well as conjure a fundraising plan for the local hospice that will bring the whole community together… What’s she thinking? The sight of her in the buff will be enough to frighten every fish from the bay.Dan, a writer in search for answers comes to the small Irish coastal town and discovers much more than he ever could have hoped for. She loved the silence and the roar of the ocean, the velvet sky and the inky water. Mostly she loved the fact that it made her feel alive in a way that nothing else could. She even loved the biting cold that ate through her skin and into the very marrow of her bones – in some absurd way, it warmed her from the inside out, as if it lit some fire that would never be extinguished.” The setting of the small Coastal town of Ballycove in Ireland sounds like the perfect place to gather you thoughts and escape for some peace and quiet. The community of Ballycove sound wonderful too and always ready to support each other. The Ladies’ Midnight Swimming Club is a story about friendship, learning to adapt and overcome life’s hurdles, starting anew and recognising what makes you happy. If Paul had lived, would he have moved on again? Or does his relationship with Kasia signal a turning point in terms of his maturity, responsibilities and where he has reached in his life.

When Elizabeth's husband dies, leaving her with crippling debt, she must turn to her friend, Jo for help, who calls in her daughter, Lucy to run the village surgery. Leaving her city life, and past demons, behind, Lucy is determined to make the most of her fresh start.EXCERPT: They had gone to see the old building, a sprawling grey, derelict structure that had angels at the doors and serpents in the remaining stained glass windows. There is plenty of lightness too, the whole book perfectly balanced – there were so many moments that made me smile, and others when I found myself laughing out loud (the night when Dan discovers how they spend their nights will particularly stay in the memory). And there are so many other strong threads to the story, all impacting on the women’s lives – Dan’s work on his novel and the possibility of his quest reaching resolution, difficult decisions to be made over Niall’s future, the evolving plans for the surgery. The storytelling is entirely compelling, the characters so very real and relatable, the setting so vivid, and the whole book just feels just like the best night you could ever spend watching a great film – where you return to your own world at the end, blinking into the light, wiping away the tears, overwhelmingly empowered and uplifted, flooded with emotion, feeling so very privileged to have spent time with these wonderful women. And as well as that female friendship and closeness, there’s a really compelling theme of finding “home”– which is so much more than where you might choose to live, and more about where your heart really belongs. Review: The Tuscan Orphan by Siobhan Daiko @siobhandaiko @BoldwoodBooks @rararesources #blogtour #newrelease #BoldwoodBloggers #histfic #romance #WW2 #RespectRomFic #TheTuscanOrphan November 16, 2023 Review: Secrets of the Shell Sisters by Adrienne Vaughan @adrienneauthor #RosshavenRomances #romance #RespectRomFic #SecretsoftheShellSisters