The Swimmer by Graham Norton
Published by Coronet, 2022

After a several weeks of reading depressing, poorly written, unnecessarily detailed or cliched books, I was in need of one of the excellent Reading Agency’s Quick Reads series. They’re short (this one is 80 pages), written by best selling authors and not very taxing. They’re also, as I’ve mentioned before, aimed at those who are “still to discover the pleasure of reading”.

Graham Norton writes well and there’s no gratuitous violence or bad language. He seems to care about his characters in a way that shines through and makes the reader care too.

Retired teacher, Helen, lives with her sister (strictly it’s the other way round however it doesn’t always seem that way). One day she sees a man in the water. Then the mystery begins. Who is he? Where is he? And does it really matter? Helen had hopes of a quiet life; sometimes what you hope for doesn’t work out, but it might be the start of something just as good.

I suppose I’d compare this book to a bar of Cadbury’s fruit and nut chocolate; pleasant, not as exciting as a box of assorted Paul A Young or Prestat chocolates, yet sometimes exactly what you want at the end of a hard day or to enjoy on a journey.