Swimming Upstream, by Ruth Mancini

I read the book in two days. Great character development, pace and story line. I really enjoyed it.

chick lit for for those of us who arent quite chicks any more! Thoughtful read with some interesting twists and touching on lots of "issues". Would read the next installment if there was one.......... Can you write a follow up Ruth?

“I had my own home – a pretty two-bedroomed Victorian terraced house in Vinery Road – and a stable life with Larsen. I had friends. I had a budding career in broadcasting. My life was full and busy and I had no reason to feel insecure. And yet, something was missing.”

And so begins Ruth Mancini’s novel, Swimming Upstream.

It takes a road accident in Cambridge for Lizzie Taylor to learn how little her partner of seven years really cares for her. Realising it was lonelier living with someone who didn’t care than being on her own, Lizzie throws herself into her broadcasting career and forces herself out of her comfort zone by moving to London. Along the way Lizzie introduces us to her two friends, Zara and Catherine. One is a victim of domestic violence and the other has bipolar.

I enjoyed this book and read it in about three days. The story not only shows the strengths but also the fragility of friendships. Lizzie is a survivor. When someone kicks her in the teeth she dusts herself down and moves on.

This is a feel good book and one to curl up with over Christmas.

Having read the publisher's blurb, I feared this would be too "chick lit" for me. However, I was happily proven wrong. Within just a few pages I was heavily invested in the lead character, Lizzie, and couldn't wait to find out what would happen to her. The boyfriend she leaves at the start of the book will likely remind many readers of lost loves, which only serves to draws one in further.

Swimming Upstream is not just about Lizzie - there is a whole host of secondary characters that you grow to love and hate in equal measure. There are plenty of side-plots to keep a reader's interest, covering themes as diverse as domestic violence, unrequited love and mental illness. My page turns were getting faster and faster as I neared the end of the book!

All in all, a great read which I will be recommending to friends and family.