Liz, Jo, and Lucy discover that allowing themselves to be one with nature can be cleansing in this insightful novel about letting go of the old and facing the (sometimes daunting) new. It’s a straightforward, pleasant read in a charming setting of an Irish coastal town. There’s not to overthink or figure out, it’s best to just go on the ride that the author has created. Some may say it is predictable, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It allowed me to take a much-needed brain break and swim with the ladies of the club. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.0 for the setting reminding me of a favorite tv show. For a full review, please visit Fireflies and Free Kicks. Thank you to Aria Books and NetGalley for a digital ARC of the book.

Faith Hogan has done it again! Her latest novel, The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club is an absolutely beautiful book; once again Faith Hogan writes from the heart and will warm the heart of every single reader who picks up this book.

We return to Ballycove (the setting of The Place We Call Home) on the west coast of Ireland to meet three fabulous ladies: Elizabeth, Jo and Lucy. Although it's my second visit to Ballycove, The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club is a standalone novel with only a brief mention of the Corrigans who featured in Faith Hogan's earlier book. I felt like I was waving to old friends when they were mentioned; that's how deep Faith Hogan's novels bury themselves into your heart, however, nothing could have prepared me for the impact of The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club.

Elizabeth has just discovered the extent of her husband's debt following his death and can't see how she can keep her home, never mind keep the doctor's surgery running when she needs to find a new GP. Jo suggests that her daughter Lucy might be willing to help Elizabeth; Lucy is a doctor in a Dublin hospital and welcomes the change of pace a move back home will bring, besides she can keep a closer eye on Jo as we all know how much our loved ones like to tell us that everything is ok in the brief time we spend with them.

In a story that is a cross between The Calendar Girls and Philomena, the women of the town all come together to take a midnight dip for charity and a stranger arrives in search of answers in the abandoned old convent. I laughed and cried but mainly smiled my way through The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club. Faith Hogan's writing is so uplifting that even the sad bits are heartwarmingly beautiful. This is a truly gorgeous novel that I will never forget and it's one I most definitely want to read again.

The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club is Faith Hogan's best novel yet (and her others are pretty amazing); I really didn't want my visit to Ballycove to end. This breathtaking novel is so full of life that it beats in time with your own heart and burrows its way in to ensure you will never forget it. Heartwarming, beautiful and filled with emotion, The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club is an outstanding novel that I really can't recommend highly enough.

I received a digital ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

“It anchors me in a place that’s mine within the vastness.” The Ladies’ Midnight Swimming Club by Faith Hogan

3.5 stars. Oh this book was a pleasant surprise. The Ladies Midnight Swimming Club is made up of Elizabeth, her friend Jo, and Jo’s daughter Lucy.

This was a nice, lovely read about 3 women who sort of find their place in the word. Jo, in fact, is the glue and the spark of the club. She has been swimming in the Atlantic almost every night of her life. Then she asked her old friend Elizabeth to join her. And after, her daughter Lucy. Each woman had their own challenges to overcome, their journeys to see to the end, and the midnight swim was the opportunity to let go for awhile and find their center.

The book ends with everybody settled. Though there was one aspect of Elizabeth’s settlement that felt a bit...convenient but ah well. Happy-ish endings and all.

Thank you Aria & Aries and NetGalley for the arc of this book. I liked it.

A charming tale of friendship, loss, new beginnings and love in the most delightful seaside village. The star of this tale was definitely Ballycove. The authors ability to help the reader immerse themselves in the small village, with its gentle, decent folk and stunning scenery made the book a treasure to read.
I look forward to reading her other books next.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. In fact, it’s pushed my urge to go wild swimming again soon. I loved the friendship between Elisabeth and Jo.
The depiction of rural village life kinda makes me want to move out of the city now. The Ladies’ Midnight Swimming Club is a great read that deals with family, friendship, new beginnings and some things in between and it’s a lovely new addition to the many women’s fiction books I’ve read.

The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club is the fourth novel I have reviewed by Faith Hogan after What Happened to Us, The Place We Call Home and My Husband's Wives, all of which I loved.

Elizabeth is a GP who is newly widowed after her husband Eric passed away. Jo is an older lady who has lived in a tiny Irish village all her life and Lucy is her daughter and also a doctor and works in the local A&E department. Lucy has had a hard time too as her husband is now living with another woman in Australia and Lucy has a son.

The women come together to swim in the Irish Sea and share their lives and troubles.

It's the freezing water of the sea itself that opens the book and I could really envisage the visual swimming scene. The word choices were perfect throughout the book and evoked powerful emotions and settings and I wanted to know what was going to happen next.


Another great novel by Faith Hogan which focuses on the importance of family, new found friends as well as an abundance of secrets lies and laughs as well as everybody opening up about hard, happy and sad times.

Faith Hogan's writing always grips me and her richly created characters capture my heart. I wanted to get to know them all. What I love about Faith Hogan's novels is that her love for her native Ireland is present in every page and her books are so atmospheric.

Thanks to Faith Hogan and Aria & Aries for my ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

I am eagerly awaiting the next Faith Hogan novel and her novels make me feel proud that I have Irish blood and am half Irish as they show how beautiful Ireland is.

Faith Hogan is, hands down, my favourite Irish author.

5 stars.

Set on the coast in beautiful Ireland, the community spirit of Ballycove permeates this novel from start to finish. There is a great feeling of comfort and coming home throughout, despite the direst of circumstances. Three women are brought together when they go for a night-time swim in the freezing waters and it seems as though their troubles are lifted from their shoulders as they float weightless in the sea. As we find out, Jo, Elizabeth and Lucy all have their own story to tell. Lucy and Elizabeth's marriages are over and they set about finding a new purpose to their lives. Jo has a different path to tread. But they are not the only ones who are looking for home and acceptance. Lucy's son, Niall and Dan also are looking for a place to belong.

I thoroughly enjoyed following all the stories as they evolved. As each chapter focused on a different character, you discover their lives and see the village through their eyes. Crossing the generations, you get a sense of family and belonging. There is a mystery to be solved which gradually comes centre stage but I liked how the ending left a few things more open. Just like life, not everything is tied up neatly.

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the book

Who says you can’t go home again. Home is the quaint village of Ballycove. We meet newly widowed Elizabeth, whose husband was the town doctor. Jo, whose daughter Lucy and son Niall, are looking for something different from the modern hospital she works at. Dan, newly jobless and looking for something other than London

The indomitable spirit of friendship, finding oneself, and moving forward is front and center in this book. It’s a heartwarming story, with wonderful characters. I especially enjoyed the mature women...so refreshing. The story line draws you in immediately, and the writing is top notch. So nice to read a story where no one is tearing anyone down.

Thanks to Ms. Hogan, Aria and Aries and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone!

A feel good story about love, friendship and new beginnings. An easy read ideal for a holiday. It's the first book I've read by this author but I'm going to look for her others.

When I read the blurb for this book, I knew it would be a story full of emotion and it did not disappoint. A truly wonderful story set against the Irish coastline that made me laugh and want to cry all at the same time.

Elizabeth is a character who when faced with her husbands debt, tries to find a way through the mess he has created and with the love and support of Jo, Lucy & Alice she starts making plans to see what she can rescue of her life.

This story takes you on an emotional journey of love and heartbreaking loss, you get to meet Niall who is struggling since his parents divorce and his Grandmother Jo who is hoping some time away from Dublin for him and his Mum might be the tonic they need. I flew through this book in just a couple of days as once I had picked it up, I was reluctant to put it back down.

I loved the midnight swimming club and how stories from the past helped to create a happier future. A wonderful read that I highly recommend, although you might want a tissue tucked up your sleeve just in case.

This was a sad but uplifting tale if that’s possible, life in a rural Irish village, families , grief loss and illness all feature which make it sad but the friendship, love and family bond give this book the feel good factor.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

A beautiful tale of friendship, hope & happy endings, thoroughly enjoyed another winner from Faith Hogan

Elizabeth is a woman released from a long, but unhappy, marriage after the death of her GP husband Eric. She is unsure what the future holds, but is looking forward to a life out from under Eric's domineering shadow - until that is she finds out he has left her with crippling gambling debts that look likely to leave her with nothing.

Shocked and upset, Elizabeth turns to her oldest friend Jo for advice. Fortunately, Jo has a plan: her daughter Lucy, a doctor, is also trying to piece her life back together in the wake of a divorce and coming back home to run the GP surgery might just be the new start she needs - even if Lucy's teenage son Niall is likely to be a bit reluctant to be dragged to the back of beyond on the west coast of Ireland.

Things start to look up as Elizabeth and Lucy work together to get their lives back on track, with the indefatigable Jo in support. But then Jo's world is turned upside down with some shocking news of her own, and it looks like the time comes for her to need to support of her nearest and dearest.

Heartbreak lies ahead, but the three woman form a strong bond enjoying midnight dips in the freezing Irish sea, encouraged by Jo who has always been a keen sea swimmer. Although Elizabeth and Lucy are reluctant at first, they soon find themselves enjoying their nightly dips and the freedom to laugh, cry and clear their minds that comes with their midnight swims. They eventually hatch a plan between them that is designed to celebrate Jo's life in the best way imaginable, and raise some money for a good cause at the same time - by getting all the women in the village to join them in a sponsored midnight swim branded as a 'dip in the nip'.

The combined stories of these three women is a masterclass from Faith Hogan in exploring warm friendship, deep love, coping with loss, and new beginnings. But she also weaves some gold in the rest of the novel with Niall's story of finding acceptance and a place to belong, which was joyful, and a delightful thread about a character called Dan who is searching for the mother he never knew in this little corner of west Ireland.

As the stories of Elizabeth, Jo, Lucy, Niall and Dan collide, Hogan uses the theme of the bond between mother and child beautifully, but it also allows her to shine a light on the plight of those women who found themselves in the Irish mother and baby homes. It is shocking to read about the hundreds of women and children that died in these homes, and the babies that were taken from their mothers, in the days when to be an unmarried mother was considered to be shameful in the eyes of God and respectable people, but I really enjoyed the way Hogan examines this through her characters, bringing in some interesting threads about discrimination and hypocrisy along the way - and wraps everything up in a glorious, bittersweet ending.

This is an incredibly emotional story and although you know pretty early on that there is going to be a hefty dollop of sadness to come, this is actually a very uplifting tale that will warm the cockles of your heart, and have you craving the wild beauty of the west coast of Ireland. If you are looking for a book to make your heart full and your eyes brim over with tears, then The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club is it.

“She loved the silence and the roar of the ocean, the velvet sky and the inky water. Mostly she loved the fact that it made her feel alive in a way that nothing else could. She even loved the biting cold that ate through her skin and into the very marrow of her bones – in some absurd way, it warmed her from the inside out, as if it lit some fire that would never be extinguished.”

The Ladies’ Midnight Swimming Club is the sixth novel by award-winning, best-selling Irish author, Faith Hogan. It’s not until the death of her husband Eric, Ballycove’s local GP, that Elizabeth O’Shea discovers the extent of his deceit. She knew he drank, but not that he gambled, and to her dismay, he was more prolific at both than he was at being successful as a GP. The level of debt he has left her with in the form of loans is staggering. Will she lose everything?

Elizabeth’s closest friend, Jo Harris is addicted to the natural high she gets from swimming at midnight in the icy Irish Sea off Ireland’s west coast. She manages to draw her friend into trying it, and during this intimacy Elizabeth reveals her problem. Jo is delighted to be able to offer a potential solution in the form of her daughter Lucy.

Lucy Nolan has taken leave of absence from her high-stress A&E position in a Dublin hospital, and is taking her teenaged son, Niall back to Ballycove to catch up with her elderly mother before doing some travelling. She’s not at all sure about filling in for Eric O’Shea, but agrees to help out for two weeks, until more permanent help can be found.

While Niall is quickly bored with village life, wishing he could go to live with his father in Australia, Lucy is enjoying the country practice much more that she would have expected, and then a more compelling, if worrying, reason to stay on is revealed.

Dan’s scriptwriting job in London has come to an ignominious end and he’s taking the opportunity to see if he can write the novel he has always planned, and a quiet cottage in Ballycove is the ideal spot. It also presents what he sees as the last chance to find the birth mother who gave him up thirty years earlier.

On the background of Ireland’s awful legacy of the Catholic homes for unmarried mothers and forced adoptions, Hogan’s story also touches on the toll taken by laws against homosexuality, and the overwhelming imperative to maintain the veneer of respectability in a small Irish community.

As Hogan introduces her characters and fills in their back stories, it seems fairly obvious how the plot will develop, but the journey there is a very agreeable one and her descriptive prose easily evokes the Mayo coastline and her love of it. This is truly a heart-warming and uplifting read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Aria and Aries

This is the first book I have read by Faith Hogan and it most definitely won’t be the last. I laughed, I cried, I was completely engaged from the outset.

The story centres around Jo, her friend Elizabeth, and her daughter Lucy. Each has their own struggle and the book really showcases the power of friendship, especially at those difficult points in life when you aren’t too sure what will happen next.

I really enjoyed having chapters from different characters points of view and loved the descriptions of the landscape. I would highly recommend.

Thanks to #Aria&Aries and #NetGalley for the ARC.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Great read. Kept me interested from beginning to end. First book I gave read of this author but will not be my last.

Feel good story with a touch of magic.

The allure of the Irish coast beckons as several people work out life challenges in the picturesque town of Ballycove.
Author Dan decides to leave Dublin and take time out to write a novel, and to investigate a question he’s wondered about most of his life.
Elizabeth, wife of the village doctor, finds herself left with huge debts when her husband dies. As she faces the future she also faces the boundaries of her married life.
Jo, a close friend of Elizabeth’s, persuades her divorced daughter and coincidentally a doctor to takeover the surgery until Elizabeth can move forward. Lucy’s son Niall accompanies her into what he views as a fresh new hell. He’s busting to join his father in Australia,
Jo talks Elizabeth into joining her for late night swims—refreshing and releasing. Magical!
A story with a nicely woven plot and some wonderful highlights—the ladies swimming in the altogether at midnight is a vision of warm friendship and individual courage.
I saw the writing on the wall for one subplot from early on in the novel, making it all too neat, but then I thought, Why Not?
A tight knit story, with occasional lapses where some happenings are maybe a tad too fortuitous. But then this is a novel of hope and stretching oneself, so again, Why Not?
A very enjoyable and warm read!

An Aria & Aries ARC via NetGalley
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

This is the book – the one that will finally make everyone understand why I’ve always been so passionate about Faith Hogan’s writing. In fact, there’s almost no need to write a review – it would be enough to just place the book, with its glorious cover that promises so much, into your hands and let you read the first few chapters. Whatever the books you usually read, whatever your age, whatever might be happening in your life, you will love this book every bit as much as I did – and that’s something I’ve never been so certain about.

At first, this is Elizabeth’s story, her life falling apart after the death of her doctor husband – not through grief, as theirs was never the most loving or conventional of marriages, but because she discovers that he’s left her with life-changing debts through his drinking and gambling. But she is fortunate to have a close friend she can confide in as she contemplates her past and the uncertain future – and Jo is also able to help in a practical way. Her daughter Lucy is taking a much needed break from her pressurised job in A&E, a breathing space she’s never really taken to recover from the end of her marriage, spending time with her mother while she decides what to do next with her life, and she steps in for a while to run the doctor’s surgery in Elizabeth’s Georgian house on the hill.

Ballymore is the last place on earth that Lucy’s son Niall wants to be – he’s very much a city boy, and although his young life has been far from perfect he wonders how on earth he’s going to survive in the back of beyond. And then there’s Dan – forced to abandon his high-flying life in London as a screen writer, he’s taking some much-needed time to lick his wounds and write his novel, but has also chosen to come to Ballymore for some compelling personal reasons.

The three women become firm friends, and Jo introduces them to her passion for swimming under the stars – the sheer exhilaration, the release, the opportunity to laugh and cry and shed their troubles as they shed their clothes, their friendship deepening with every dip in the ocean. And when it turns out that Jo has significant problems of her own that eclipse Elizabeth’s, that friendship deepens as they plan one big milestone that they’re all able to focus on – a charity event for a cause very close to their hearts, with all the women of the village coming together for one enormous (and naked) midnight swim.

Goodness, I do hate retelling a story – I can’t begin to convey just how wonderful it is, and I do feel I’ve rather squeezed the life out of it. What I really want to talk about is how this book made me feel – it’s all about the female friendships, but captured and told in a way I found so intensely moving. I read the book in one sitting, and nothing on earth could have made me leave the cocoon of love and support that the author created until I’d turned the final page. In so many ways, it’s an incredibly sad story – I had a lump in my throat from the halfway point, and then the tears started. But there’s absolutely no manipulation – it’s just a book where you come to care so deeply for its characters and their relationships that they become women you love, that you know so intimately, and every hurt and setback becomes something you feel at your core.

There is plenty of lightness too, the whole book perfectly balanced – there were so many moments that made me smile, and others when I found myself laughing out loud (the night when Dan discovers how they spend their nights will particularly stay in the memory). And there are so many other strong threads to the story, all impacting on the women’s lives – Dan’s work on his novel and the possibility of his quest reaching resolution, difficult decisions to be made over Niall’s future, the evolving plans for the surgery. The storytelling is entirely compelling, the characters so very real and relatable, the setting so vivid, and the whole book just feels just like the best night you could ever spend watching a great film – where you return to your own world at the end, blinking into the light, wiping away the tears, overwhelmingly empowered and uplifted, flooded with emotion, feeling so very privileged to have spent time with these wonderful women. And as well as that female friendship and closeness, there’s a really compelling theme of finding “home” – which is so much more than where you might choose to live, and more about where your heart really belongs.

This is, without question, one of the best books I’ve read this year – emotional and compelling, all-consuming, life-affirming and uplifting, and the strength of the characterisation and the sheer quality of the writing took my breath away. I’ll never forget how Elizabeth, Jo and Lucy and their love for each other made me feel. You really must add this wonderful book to your reading list – it’ll be a decision you won’t regret for an instant.

This book is the story of a small town on the coast of Ireland. It mainly focuses on three women but also incorporates other characters as well. Each character has a unique story and this book attempts to highlight them all. While the storyline as a whole is intriguing the book itself just didn’t do it for me. In fact I had to skim the last 35% because I just needed it to be over. I never connected with a single character. There were too many moving parts with too many holes. I really wanted to like this book but I just didn’t. The predictability along with the randomness made it hard for me. A lot of people seemed to like it so maybe my expectations were too high.

Thank you Aria and Aries for the ARC.

This is a lovely heartwarming story set on the west coast of Ireland. It explores female relationships and the importance of living life to the full. The setting is an immense part of this story giving the women space to breathe and think. The relationship dynamics are relatable, and the author explores topical issues in an enlightened way.

Character-driven, it immerses the reader in the main protagonists' lives, which is an emotional experience. Family drama, heartbreaking decisions and romance are interwoven into this literary puzzle, and despite the shocks and tears, it leaves you feeling uplifted.

I received a copy of this book from 'Head of Zeus' - Aria in return for an honest review.