Swimming Underwater

Nov 30, 2025 9:30 AM

Author:Sheena Joughin

Swimming Underwater

When Ruth and Gray meet as children while their parents play at being adults in a rackety old Bohemian house, an electricity passes between them that neither will ever forget. Their paths soon separate as Gray moves to Paris with his girlfriend, and Ruth finds Liam, a sensible and long-suffering friend with whom she falls in love. But Ruth's eccentric upbringing lingers into adulthood. Affected by her old Aunt Jane's passion for poetry, Ruth embarks on a comprehensive book of Twentieth Century poets' lives. Soon, Ruth's thoughts become haunted by the lives of the poets and dreamers she writes about, as the self-destructive talents of Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost and Philip Larkin begin to influence her in unexpected ways. Until one day, she meets Gray, and their historic chemistry is fired up once again.

Joughin's exquisite sense of place, her comic eye and wry, erotic prose are prime ingredients in this page-turning novel full of vivid characters, elegance and humanity.

Reviews

'Many things are left unsaid in Sheena Joughin's Swimming Underwater and the effect is all the more resonant and intriguing...superb control'

—— Elizabeth Buchan, Sunday Times

A carefully charged novel about insiders, outsiders and the unsayable things and passions in any life....As with her first novel, something comes together here with a kind of grace. When it does, the effect is both philosophical and a pleasure...beautifully underplayed

—— Ali Smith, The Guardian

An admirably muted novel combining graceful description with piquant observation ... a fine second novel from a perceptive author

—— TLS

Don't miss this, a take on the idea that the course of true love never runs smooth

—— Red

'[Joughin] displays her short-story writing gift for minute observation, starting slowly with the dysfunctional relationship between Ruth and Liam. Joughin's acute sensitivity to language and idiosyncratic behaviour makes this a coolly refreshing read'

—— Glasgow Herald

Compelling

—— Woman's Own

Joughin's characters are always tangible. Yet while her dialogue has the ring of authenticity, the inclusion of selected lines from Larkin, Hughes and Yeats ensures an appealing languor

—— The Observer

Joughin's second novel confirms her gift for mining tragi-comic gems from outposts of shabby bohemia

—— The Independent

Joughin's poetic prose perfectly conveys the delicacy of human emotion, and the frequent disjunction between art and life'

—— Choice Magazine

Like a cross between Margaret Drabble and Francoise Sagan

—— The Times

Joughin has an appealing darkness and urgency, as she potently conveys the pleasures and pains of human interactions

—— The Sunday Times

Adeptly written and enjoyable... Ruth's childhood perspectives are extremely well captured

—— Telegraph

Striking story of Ruth and Gray under the spell of famous poets' lives

—— Good Housekeeping's 8 Great Reads

Reading Joughin's second novel is like immersing yourself in a cool pool at a hazy summer party ...as addictively abrasive as a shot of cold vodka, this wil leave you both refreshed and gasping for stability

—— Time Out

This darkly comic story about unpredictable love is perfect if you're looking for some intelligent chicklit

—— Family Circle

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