Cover Image: The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club

The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club

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Member Reviews

Tried to get into this and enjoy it, but the writing was too dense and clogged to really be enjoyable. It also felt pedantic and heavy, without making me care for the characters. Maybe I wasn't in the mood for such contemplative prose, but it just didn't hook me

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Enjoyed this story very much….will definitely recommend. I look forward to reading more of this author’s stories!!

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Absolutely loved this book!

The writing style was really good and I look forward to reading any other books from this author in the future :)

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My first, I believe, Faith Hogan book. Wasn't sure what I'd expect but was more than happy to read a captivating story.

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I never look at how many pages a book has before I decide whether or not I want to read it. So I was pretty surprised how quickly I finished this one, and for such a short book, it was exactly right. I was very happy with the ending. The author chose to leave one major obvious plotline alone, and for that, I was grateful. Reading this book was like catching up with an old friend you haven't seen in years. A little awkward at first, and then it all falls into place and when it's time to leave, you don't want to.

I have to say, I guessed about one particular event in the book, but I was really happy it worked out that way.
Although there were a few minor characters, the real story is the friendship between Elizabeth and Jo. Be prepared to read this book with a box of tissues, but also, to laugh out loud and cheer for them all.

An enjoyable, fast read. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read and review this book. All opinions expressed are mine and freely given.

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I enjoyed this read very much. Lovely and hopeful story about female friendship. The love and help from friends portrayed very honestly in this book

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A lovely book about family, friendship and hope. Jo, Lucy, and Elizabeth are at different stages in their lives, all coping with different troubles, but they bond and form the family you make. It's a tad trope-y to be sure but the characters stand out. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

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I honestly need to pick my requests more carefully. This one just was a dud. I couldn’t get into it and skimmed to the end

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Lovely story of female friendship and small community living on the west coast of Ireland, where the water is clean, hence the joys of midnight dips in the sea. Focussing on Lucy escaping pressures of working in A&E in Dublin, Elizabeth who's husband's death left secrets and problems and Jo delighted to have her daughter and grandchild around. With subplots of the impact of having children when not married and how it is for women, when men have married them, to hide their homosexuality. Wonderfully told.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book is well written and the characters are described well. This book was okay about 3 stars in my opinion. It might be someone's else's 5 star book. This ebook is in stores for $3.99 (USD).

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First time reading Faith Hogan and won’t be my last. The Ladies Midnight Swimming Club is an emotional story about finding new friends and living life to the full. It is warm and heartfelt. I really enjoyed this beautifully written story and loved the three main characters who form a special bond together. The descriptions of the village and sea are so well written, you can place yourself there.
It’s a quick easy feel good read. I couldn’t put it down. Highly recommend.
Thanks to #NetGallery #Aria #FaithHogan for an arc of #TheLadiesMidnightSwimmingClub in exchange for an honest review.

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Elizabeth's husband recently died leaving behind shocking amounts of debt, she confides in her friend Jo who then calls her daughter Lucy, (who is recently divorced) to help run the dr surgery. The three women start taking midnight swims as an escape from daily life.


I was hooked from the get go, how initially 2 women come together at night to find escspe from daily life, it made me want to go midnight swimming and I don't particularly like swimming or the sea!

After her husband's death Elizabeth discovers quite a few shocking secrets and just how much under his shadow she lived.
Jo has not been facing the truth, ignoring something rightvin front of her, and then the truth is devastatingly faced.
Lucy comes for a short break but lands up by staying longer due to a few circumstances in the book.
Niall, a typical 15 year old boy is angry at his mom for bringing him to a back of the woods town where he doesn't fit in.. or does he?
Dan, a writer in search for answers comes to the small Irish coastal town and discovers much more than he ever could have hoped for.

Told in multiple viewpoints the stunningly interwoven stories hit you in the feels!

This was everything I hoped for and for the last 10% or so I could hardly see through tears.
Ladies midnight swimming club is a beautifully written heart-wrenching, memorable book about love, friendships and regaining oneself. I won't be forgetting this one.

Thank you netgalley and aria and airies for the arc copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

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Such a lovely story, told from the viewpoints of several of the main characters. Elizabeth is trying to pull her life back together after her husband dies, leaving her with his gambling debts, an old, large, expensive house, and a failing medial practice. Jo, living alone in her charming cottage, cares for the entire community. Her daughter, Lucy, a doctor, newly divorced and needing a change, comes to stay with mom Jo. Lucy's son, Niall, bitter about the divorce, wants to go live with Dad in Australia. Jo swims every night at midnight in the Irish Sea and she convinces Elizabeth and Lucy to swim with her - in the altogether. Dan, newly arrived from London, is trying to write a novel. He is an adoptee, raising in a loving home, but with so many unanswered questions as to who his mother was, and why he might have been given up for adoption.

All these characters come together in interesting, heartfelt ways. Each chapter is told by one of these individuals and the story gradually weaves itself together. We are filled with a lovely sense of community and caring. Descriptions of the small Irish village are great.

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A Delightfully Intimate and Deeply Moving Story of Friendship

SUMMARY
Elizabeth O’Shea’s husband had just died, leaving her on the brink of bankruptcy and saddled with a sad and outdated medical practice. She lives on top of a stone cliff in a small Irish village on the western seaboard.

Elizabeth’s best friend, Jo, lives just down the hill. Jo wants to do what she can to help Elizabeth in her time of need, so she calls her daughter Lucy, an emergency room doctor in Dublin. She hopes Lucy will be willing to take over the medical practice and move back to Ballycove.
Lucy is still reeling from a divorce, but she and her son Niall pack up the car for a visit with her mom. After talking with Elizabeth, she feels compelled to give the practice a trial run for a few weeks. It doesn’t take long for her to figure out that a move back to her rural seaside hometown town might be just the thing for her.

These three women, Elizabeth, Jo, and Lucy, are thrown together by circumstance and become fast friends. But Jo's world soon turns upside down, and Elizabeth, Lucy, and Niall rally around her. For peace and relaxation, Jo has been swimming in the frigid Atlantic water in the dark of night for years. It is hard for her friends to understand. But after Elizabeth's husband’s death, Elizabeth, on the spur of the moment, decides to join Jo on a midnight swim and soon realizes how refreshing it is,

In search of solace, Jo and Elizabeth enjoy midnight dips in the freezing sea. Here they can laugh, cry and wash away all their fears. The idea takes root with others, and soon, the entire community is involved.

REVIEW
THE LADIES MIDNIGHT SWIMMING CLUB is an inspiring tale of friendship, fortitude, and resilience. The setting is delightfully picturesque, with the golden sand beaches of Ireland’s west Atlantic coast, where a midnight dip in the frigid waters creates a bond and heals more than one troubled soul.

Author Faith Hogan writes a delightfully intimate and deeply moving women’s story of new beginnings and friendships. Her writing is insightful and emotional, and the vibrant characters drive the story. It’s a dramatic story you don’t want to come to an end.

This is a great pick for a bookclub! Thanks to Adela Mitchell for bringing this book to the attention of our book club. Cant wait to talk about it.

Publisher Aria
Published September 30, 2022
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

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An emotional but hopeful read.
They strength of these female characters coming together & helping each other along was a joy to read.

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A wonderful, emotional journey of three friends as they form a bond of love and hope when life is not all that.
I absolutely adored this story and will remember it for a long time to come!

I encourage everyone who wishes to "feel good, to engage in this novel.
I assure you it will be an unforgettable book!

Thank you to #NetGalley and #Aria & Aries publishing for this amazing ARC and allowing me to provide my own review.

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I loved the title of this book and cover, and had never read Faith Hogan's work before. I love its focus on friendship and the healing power of the natural world. Night swimming is intriguing to me, and sounds too daring to be something I would try, but the book descriptions make it very appealing. Highly recommended for those who enjoy atmospheric writing, stories of female friendships, and the joy of the ocean. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

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I received an ARC of, The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club, by Faith Hogan. This is a good read. Friends and relationships. starting over and moving on, and swimming of course.

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What a great and enjoyable book this was to read. Great characters you could get into and a storyline that was great to read - the sign of a perfect book! Highly recommend.so much that I started to read other books published by Faith Hogan

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I just adore Faith Hogan’s books, and she’s one of my top go-to authors for a guaranteed beautiful, atmospheric, and authentic read.

This book focuses on three wonderful women, all at different stages in their lives. Jo is a lover of sea swimming, a brave thing to do in Ireland, and even more unusually, she likes to swim at night. Elizabeth finds herself persuaded to join Jo, and they find healing and comfort in this ritual.

Lucy has recently returned to the West of Ireland, with her son, intending it to be temporary, but the pull of home is strong, and she soon finds herself becoming a vital part of the community.

All the characters are going through, and have gone through, immense change in their lives, and have a lot to deal with. There’s a very strong sense of community and friendship in this book.

Haunting and atmospheric, but real and authentic, with love and loss, humour and sadness, this poignant and thoroughly enthralling and captivating novel will completely draw you in. I could not put it down, and it is a book that will stay with me for a long time. It’s a really special book.

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