On a shimmeringly hot Sunday in May, Louise is at a neighbour's pool with her daughters - and glaring at her resentfully is her estranged husband Barnaby. While the children splash and shriek in the cool, blue waters, she lies blissfully back in the sun and dreams of Cassian, the charismatic new lawyer in her life. The day seems perfect. But suddenly the bliss is shattered. The consequences of a terrible accident develop into a drama of recriminations, jealousy and legal power-play. Friendships crumble, the village is split, and the needs of a child become secondary to the dangerous contest in which the grown-ups are engaged.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
| ||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
A fine chronicler of life's small and large catastrophes, Wickham (A Desirable Residence, 1997, etc.) delivers a workmanlike tale of separated parents who are manipulated by an ambitious young lawyer. When divorce-bound British suburbanites Louise and Barnaby Kember, temporarily reunited at a neighbor's pool party, witness a diving accident that puts their youngest daughter in the hospital, Louise's soigne new suitor, the attorney Cassian Brown, persuades them to sue. As it turns out, the politically and socially ambitious Cassian is more interested in winning a case that will bring him a connection to Louise's father, the famous Lord Page, than he is in Louise or her child. A subplot about a brilliant young piano student and a somewhat older man in the Kembers' village brings humor and a melancholy revelation at the end. If the novel drags in the middle, it's only because we can't help but wonder why it takes Louise so long to come to her senses and blast smarmy Cassian out of her life.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Once again, Wickham (A Desirable Residence, 1997, etc.) uses a favorite, and sometimes effective, formula: throw a large group of people together and see what mischief comes. In this case, the mischief turns tragic: At the annual charity swim at the Delanys' English manor house, little Katie hits her head on the diving board, putting her in a coma with probable brain damage and putting the villagers at odds with each other when Katie's family decides to sue for negligence. But it's not Louise and Barnaby (Katie's separated parents) who first propose suing their old friends, it's the duplicitous Cassian Brown, a social-climbing lawyer besotted with Louise's political pedigree (daughter of MP Lord Page). Cassian convinces Louise that suing is imperative to Katie's future, and, anyway, the insurance will pay. But when they find that venerable old Hugh and his dotty but well-meaning wife Ursula aren't properly covered, the novel's moral dilemma develops: Is Katie's comfort worth the ruin of Hugh and Ursula, especially since they weren't at fault? The community divides, and the town busybodies fan the fire, but for Louise and Barnaby, all that matters are Katie's slow recoveryand the court case. Meanwhile, Wickham trots out a series of secondary concerns: a romance between young Daisy, new to the village, and the much older Alexis, counsel for the defense, who recently snubbed Meredith, surrogate daughter to Hugh and Ursula. It's all a bit soapy, but Wickham salvages (just) her weakness for melodrama with page-turning pacing that quickly brings the reader to a satisfying, albeit predictable, end. Just as Katie miraculously recovers, Hugh suffers a heart attack, bringing into question not only the integrity of the court case but the possibility of a reconciliation between Louise and Barnaby. As before, Wickham is adept at creating a random mix of likable people, but the lack of substance and depth here makes it more guilty pleasure than literary treasure. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Swimming Pool Sunday book,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Swimming Pool Sunday (Paperback)
My wife would like to read everything written by Madeleine Wickham, aka Sophie Kinsella, and this was the last book we found that she had not read. It is different from the others as it does not have the humor factor, but is more serious. However, it still is a good read.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Endearing and emotional tale that makes for a quick read,
By
This review is from: Swimming Pool Sunday (Hardcover)
Long before she penned the Shopaholic Series as Sophie Kinsella, Madeleine Wickham wrote this emotional tale about what happens when a tragic accident and the law suit that follows turns the lives of not just a family, but a whole community upside down. In the past I have been critical of some of Wickham's other work outside the Shopaholic series, finding it more formulaic and less fine tuned. However, after reading and really enjoying Remember Me? I decided to give more of her books a chance. I'm glad I decided to pick up this older work of hers. It's definitely much more emotionally charged than her later works, but this isn't a bad thing. In fact, it was a nice change of pace from the chick lit I tend to read, but still not as emotional as books by Jodi Picoult. It was very well written and did a fantastic job of holding my attention. She does a great job of developing multiple characters in such a way that you find yourself not just relating to them, but really pulling for them. There were also a couple interesting subplots with the more minor characters which added further depth to the read. I did, however, find myself a bit conflicted at the end of the book. The main story line was left very open ended. This I appreciated as sometimes books can be summed up too quickly and in a way that seems hasty. However, some of the subplots were also unresolved and left me wondering about the characters. For instance, there are several scenes in the book that involve the eldest daughter of the main couple in the story her feelings about the accident. We never really get to learn whether her feelings change or she gets any closure.
Overall though I was very impressed with this book. It's very different from some of Wickham's latest work, but I still believe will be appreciated by fans of her more recent book. I consider it a highly enjoyable and easy read.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good read, has a charm all its' own,
By A Customer
This review is from: Swimming Pool Sunday (Hardcover)
In Melbrook, England Louise and Barnaby Kember are divorcing each other. In spite of their personal animosities towards each other, they still go to the annual charity swimming party. However, this year a tragedy occurs when their daughter is injured in a poolside accident. Louise's lawyer and lover, Cassian Brown convinces her to sue her neighbor for negligence in the accident, which she does. By doing so, she has alienated the townsfolk. Meanwhile, Barnaby blames her for the accident. As the couple turns even more acrimonious towards one another, neither realize that the ambitious Cassion has his own agenda, and does not care what happens to his lover, her daughter, or the rest of her family as long as she further his political and social plans. In a rather short period of time, Madeline Wickham has earned the reputation for writing about the effects of life's disasters on relationships. Her latest novel, SWIMMING POOL SUNDAY, enhances her deserved reputation by depicting the impact of a trauma on a couple already too deeply buried under personal troubles to even notice how they are being used. The secondary characters add humor while providing insight into the lead characters. Ms. Wickham scribes a winning tale about the down side of family relationships. Harriet Klausner
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
