Member Reviews
Heather Moore, Niamh Kennedy and Lauren Dwyer meet on the first day of high school, they promise to be lifelong friends, and they enjoy their weekly sunrise swims in Lough Caragh. Rosemary Lauren’s granny owns Mill House, it’s built on the Lough's foreshore, the girls link up here before their swim and afterward Rosemary warms them up with a hot cuppa,something to eat and a bonfire.
The girls are typical teenagers, they talk about boys they like, their dreams for the future and what they want do when they leave school and on the last day they promise to meet every year to celebrate the summer solstice and swim in Lough Caragh.
The story has a dual timeline, its set in 2003 and in 2024, fifteen years apart and it’s told from the three main characters points of view.
Niamh is married to Evan, she has three daughters, her life hasn’t turned out how she expected, she wants to open a B&B, her husband is opposed to the idea and they seem to be drifting apart. Heather is a high profile travelling food critic, she leads a very different life now to when she was a teenager, her parents Pippa and Cash were young parents and hippy’s. Heather didn’t have a stable home life, her friendship with Niamh and Lauren was really important, they didn’t judge her and Rosemary took her under her wing. Lauren married her childhood sweetheart Shane, both are teachers and have been trying unsuccessfully to have a baby. Her doctor has advised Lauren to have a break and she decides to stay at Mill House and where she spent so many happy summers with her grandparents Rosemary and Paddy.
All three women are back in Caragh, in a small Irish village it will be impossible for them to not seen each other, will they be able to repair their friendship, move forward and celebrate Rosemary's legacy?
I received a digital copy of The Sunrise Swimming Society by Rosie Hannigan from Avon Books, UK and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The narrative focuses on the girl’s friendship, how it all went terribly wrong and their lives didn’t go as planned.
I had two best friends in high school, reading the story reminded me of being a teenager and our squabbles, hindsight is a wonderful thing and life doesn’t come with a crystal ball and you never know what will happen to you on the crazy journey to adulthood.
Ms. Hannigan's novel is full of wonderful and diverse characters and my favourites were Lauren, Heather, Rosemary, Paddy, Shane and Pippa. I love reading stories about friendships and their ups and downs, the summer and winter solace, beautiful Ireland, loughs (I was name after two and I feel a real connection to them) and four stars from me.
Lovely feelgood story that sweeps you away to Ireland. Its a heartwarming story of friendships and re-uniting again. It made me want to swim in a lake ! A great emotional story to escape into.
Based in Ireland it’s a wonderful book about friendships and the ups and down’s there of. The three girls learn to swim in the local loch and agree to meet up every year on midsummer dawn. But as with best laid plans after 15 years it no longer happens, in fact they don’t even speak. But by chance they’re all back together and things happen to bring them back together. It’s all about second chances and friendships. It’s marvellous. Loved it
A really enjoyable story about three women who were friends in school, had a falling out at the end of their schooldays and didn't speak to each other again, until they meet up again when they are all in their mid-30s, all set in a small Irish village.
Heather, Lauren and Niamh were great friends in school, but fell out over the usual teenage histrionics, and never spoke again until they were in their 30s. Heather made her money travelling the world. Niamh married, stayed in the village and had three children. Lauren married and lived near Dublin, but had been left her grandmother's house by the lake, where she is spending most of her time now sorting things out.
The girls all used to swim in the lake, with Rosemary, and always met at each solstice. Rosemary, Lauren's grandmother, was a lynchpin for all the girls, and always there for them when they needed someone to talk to, especially Heather whose homelife wasn't great.
But Rosemary has recently died, and all the girls have reached a difficult point in their lives that they are working through and they all end up back in the village, albeit still avoiding each other initially.
The falling out, and the reason for each of them not talking to the other, wasn't as major as I expected, as we didn't learn about this until the end of the book, and seemed a bit ridiculous once they all talked about it, but I suppose they were all hurt by words spoken at the time.
Of course in the end everyone sorted out their personal issues, and eventually came together at the lake, when scattering Rosemary's ashes in her beloved Lough Caragh. The ending definitely made me shed a tear or two! Quite a slow story but with enough going on with each woman to keep you interested. Very enjoyable.
"Friends for life" seems like the perfect description of Niamh, Lauren and Heather until something happens that sees them fall out big style, not contacting each for fifteen years. Each goes their own way, but life doesn't always turn out the way they expected. Niamh- the wannabe air hostess intending to travel the world- is a mother before her career has any chance of taking off. Lauren - the one most likely to settle down and start a family - struggles to conceive, and Heather - who absolutely nobody had any expectations of - becomes a big name in the travel world with her social media lifestyle.
The reunion, when it comes, is not easy and each of them resists. As the reader, we don't know why for a very long time (and, if I'm honest, the reason does seem to have been blown up out of all proportions) but even so, we're rooting for them to bury the hatchet and rekindle their friendship.
I loved how their story mirrored that of Lauren's grandmother and her friends, a group of women who managed to weather the storm despite great distances between them. These older ladies bring wisdom to the younger ones, enabling to see that despite a rocky few years, they really are - and always will be - friends for life.
This is an emotional story with engaging characters, and regardless of the slow start, it soon becomes a book you won't be able to put down. A heart-warming tale that shows how true friendship is not always easy, but it's definitely worth the effort.
#Netgalley #TheSunriseSwimmingSociety
---- A lovely, light-hearted book about friendship, loyalty and love. You will find this a wonderful read!
Really loved the story and plot. The characters were very loveable and I was hooked from chapter 1. Great show of friendship and relationships
The Sunrise Swimming Society by Rosie Hannigan.
This is a charming story set in a country lakeside town of Ireland called Lough Caragh. Lough Caragh means "The lake of beloved Friendship" as Rosemary a character in this book describes the local lake utilized by all.
This is also the story of 3 teenage girls who meet at high school and who have big dreams for their future. They become good friends even though they are worlds apart in their characters and nature. In fact they aspire to be lifelong friends......or so they think.
Niamh Kennedy - who married Evan her highschool sweetheart, has had 3 children of her own at a young age. Now living with her parents, feeling unhappy and neglected..... her dream to run a B & B, will it happen?
Heather Moore - grows up in a hippie household to parents Pippa & Cash. She becomes a Travel blogger, has infrequent income and thankful her partner Simon is her opposite with a steady income to support her blogging lifestyle. She wants an escape of her life.... but where too?
Lastly, there is Lauren Dwyer - who grew up with her Grandparents Rosemary & Paddy, she wishes for a big family with her steady boyfriend.....but does her wish come true?
The 3 friends help, support and love being together through school and life by a common interest in swimming. They make a pat to get together each Solice at dawn to swim in the local lake, making their wishes each new season.
Move forward 15 years all 3 ladies are now in their thirties..... but has life changed and moved in an array of different directions. Yes, infact this is the case. None of their youthful dreams have been fulfilled and they even lost their friendships and don't even talk to each other no more.
Now they have come together to celebrate the life of Rosemary who helped raise the 3 of them. even once said to them "They were lucky to have each other".
What caused such a rift to pull their friendships apart?
Will they continue to swim together. Meeting during Solice at dawn..... wishing to renew their friendships?
This book is for everyone who has close friends and or to remember friends of old and where life can lead you toward.
I really enjoyed this book it reminded me that you never really forget the value of family and friends. They are the gems in life you can hold dearly and treasure deeply.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers Avon a division of Harper & Collins for this advanced copy of the book.
This is my review and I rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars.
Lovely story about the enduring nature of friendship and second chances. I enjoyed this book immensely
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book is fantastic. It made me wish that I lived closer to my girlfriends who I miss all the time.
A fantastic story of friendship and love of an important mother/aunt figure in your life.
Everyone comes home to celebrate the life of a woman that helped raise the friends, she was their constant sounding board while growing up and she never understood what broke them apart.
Coming home to celebrate her and hopefully rekindle friendships they’ve missed and how that happens.
I didn’t want this book to end and will for sure be suggesting it to everyone I know that reads.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy and to the author for such a great heartfelt book.
An enjoyable heartfelt novel of friendship, lost and reunited. The Sunrise Swimming Society shares a story of three young friends and a grandmother who touches them all. We follow them through youth, a 15 year separation and ultimately a reunion. This novel beautifully examines how perspectives can change throughout one’s life. Through hardships and unexpected paths the bond of friendship is beautifully examined in this novel.
This novel takes place in rural Ireland, in a small lakeside town. Three young girls - wealthier golden girl who dreams of adventure, Niamh, unhappy and neglected Heather, who is bent on escaping the shadow of her hippie family, and Lauren, who dreams of one day having a large family with her steady boyfriend - meet and, despite their differences, become fast friends.
These three friends support one another throughout school and gather at each solstice to dive into the frigid local lake and to make their wishes for the new season at sunrise. Fast forward fifteen years, when all three women are in their mid-thirties. Their lives have not spooled out in the ways they imagined in their youth, and they are no longer friends. Or even speaking to one another.
This novel had a lot of elements I love in a story: its rural Irish setting, a somewhat unlikely friendship, digging into how life turns out differently to how the characters imagined it would as young girls, and the swimming angle. While I enjoyed it, I did find it a bit slow and I didn’t feel as drawn to the characters as I felt I could have. I think part of the issue is that so much emphasis is placed on a blow-up between the three girls as the reason for their break. When the explanation finally arrived, it felt anticlimactic.
Still, it’s a pleasant story in an enjoyable setting of smalltown Ireland and I’m certain many readers will appreciate this feel-good tale.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy - all thoughts are my own.
This book was just okay to me. I never was attached to the characters as I should have been. The plot is based on the friendship of three girls that were supposed to be very close, and their friendship was broken by something horrific. I kept waiting for the awful situation and it did not meet my expectation. Honestly, I did not receive the information I wanted to understand why this friendship was so valuable.
The character I liked the best was an older woman, Rosemary, and for me, she made the story readable. I usually read a book in 2 to 5 days, but this one took longer. I stopped reading for periods and my mind did not wander to the story, as it usually does when I am reading, so that also was a sign to me, that I was reading to finish the book, instead of reading for pleasure.
Almost everyone in the story is dealing with difficulties and it was a bit hard to read without making my spirit very low also. Just a FYI to people that want a easy, carefree reading experience, this might not be for you.
I love the book cover and it definitely has the feel of the story. So many times, covers are misleading, and I want to applaud the person that chose this beautiful picture.
I want to thank Avon Books UK, and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity of reading a book by a new to me author. My opinion is my own, not influenced by receiving the advanced reading copy.
This is a new Author to me. The sunrise swimming society comprises of 3 friends and a Grandmother who daily swim in a nearby lake. The friends have different family backgrounds and find comfort in each other. They swear to remain friends for life but something happens and they do not see or speak to each other for 15 years. This book delves into their stories and how their lives have changed from what each had expected. You will encounter love, loss, friendships and families. I found it a little slow at first but soon desperately wanted to learn what had happened!
I liked reading this gentle tale of life and its ups and downs. After being best friends at school, Lauren, Niamh and Heather part ways and the book explores their lives, the impact of their friendship and their relationship with Lauren's grandmother, Rosemary. The book is set in two time periods – in the past and present day.
It took me a little while to get into the book and to keep track as there were so many characters to deal with, often with nicknames too. My favourite character was grandmother, Rosemary. I enjoyed learning how the lives and loves of the characters developed and the ending was satisfying.
Oh how I loved this. It was an amazing story of friendship through different generations and times. Rosemary was a wonderful woman who touched so many lives, bringing happiness to so many. The ending on the beach brought a tear to my eye ( no spoilers here).
Each character had an element that was so relatable. We all can feel lonely and isolated, even when surrounded by people. We all say things in the heat of the moment and it’s hard to take it back and move forward, and the more time that goes past the harder it gets. And maybe more relatable is that we all look at others and assume they have everything they ever wanted, that their life is so much better than yours and they have no space in it for you.
This book shows that the power of friendship is an amazing thing and seeing it span through the years, even when there has been years of no contact is a wonderful thing.
From start to finish I was invested in each character and hoping that they get the happiness they deserved. A wonderfully uplifting read.
An enjoyable heartwarming story set in Ireland following the lives of three girls from when they start secondary education through to the finish of their education with a big falling out as they each go off on their life's path The plot then jumps between then and the present day when the three friends are still giving each other the cold shoulder but find themselves back in the same community once again. Wonderful descriptions with characters that develop over the course of the book with Rosemary, one of girl's grandmothers holding the group together during their teenage years. She was utterly delightful. I did think the way that the reason why the girls all fell out, being held back to the end but referred to constantly, was somewhat frustrating and drawn out. Then in the end the reason was fairly mild to create such a chasm of bitterness between the girls particularly as it was all really only started by one rather vindictive member of the three.
This is an emotional story about three teenage girls who swear to be friends for life, this is until they have a falling out and they go their separate ways. Fifteen years later they all find themselves back in the town by the lake in Ireland. This story tells of their lives growing up together and then in the present day as they have to face up to the past. I loved the friendship and the wisdom of their elders that guided them. The sunrise swimming is done on the solstices at dawn, which is a nice touch in the book and a thread that runs through their lives.
The characters are really good, I liked Niamh, Lauren and Heather, despite their sometimes intransigents. The characters are well-written and easy to engage with. I particularly liked Rosemary, Lauren's grandmother, she was a very special lady and spoke a lot of sense.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the characters and their lives. It is an emotional story and I thought the ending was great, and yes, I did get emotional. This book is worth reading, although it had a little bit of a slow start once you get into it, you won't want to put it down.
"The Sunrise Swimming Society offers a heartwarming story about friendship and second chances. The setting of the small coastal town is beautifully depicted, making it feel like a character in itself. In my opinion, the pacing is bit slow, but the well-developed characters and the author's descriptive writing style make this book an engaging and comforting read.
A heartwarming story about friendship.
The story intertwines two time frames the childhood friendship and the nowadays riff between them. It explores dreams, hardships and everyday drama of tree girls/women. While reading the most awaited point is to figure out what could have ruined such a great friendship and I have to say I expected something worse, so that was a bit disappointing.
Overall a good read.