Published in 2022
224 pages
Chloe Lane earned her MFA in Fiction at the University of Florida. She is also a graduate of the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington, and the founding editor of Hue+Cry Press. The Swimmers is her first book.
What is this book about?
Longlisted for the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2021
“Darkly funny, desperately sad, brilliantly written. I absolutely loved it” — Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled Ground
“This book is spectacular. A perfect blend of devastating humour and sadness” — Emily Austin, author of Everyone in This Room Will Someday be Dead
A sharp, quirky story of love and loss from a bold New Zealand talent.
When an affair ends badly and her career in the arts implodes, 26-year-old Erin returns to lie low at the family farm with her chronically ill mother, and her aunt-turned-carer. She learns shortly before her arrival that her mother has decided to take matters into her own hands and end her life – the following Tuesday.
Erin finds herself navigating an eccentric neighbourhood and her complicated family, as she prepares for the loss of a fiery, independent woman.
A former competitive swimmer like her mother and aunt, Erin must find the strength to honour her mother’s final wishes and to reconcile their difficult relationship in the days they have left.
