This enchanting story of Deborah, a bright 10-year-old raised by a young solo mum who does not conform to the mothering ‘wisdom’ of the times (1972 small town England) but is way more savvy than most, and Deb’s very relatable and amusing friendships with a clutch of other 10-year-old girls, took me back to my own childhood even though that was earlier than the 1970s and in another country. On reflection, in the late 1950s the 10-year-olds I was and knew were far less worldly than these kids; I think as the decades have moved on, so has the ‘sophistication’ of the children. So Deb’s 10 was more like my memories of me and my friends at 11 or 12. 10-year-olds today are very different again in their knowledge base, and it is mostly not positive… But this novel takes the reader right back to those lovely, innocent, childish days when levitation was possible (and we all tried it.) But wait, into the mix comes Sarah-Jayne, 10 going on 15, and bringing with her a seductiveness and seeming maturity that Deb isn’t sure she is ready to embrace. Why are her friends attracted to this newcomer, singing and performing on the sideline of the sports field to attract 10-year-old boys who she knows are basically boring? Why are they envious of Deb’s vague connection with 18-year-old Sonny, and why does her mum like him coming around? Does Sarah-Jayne really have a swimming pool in the big house they are renting and why is she always going on about Max, the fiance of Sarah-Jayne’s much older sister? This is a slow-burn novel, beautifully written, beautifully subtle, wonderfully nostalgic, and the ending one no reader will guess or even suspect!

I was so thrilled to see that Suzannah Dunn had written another non historical novel and approached Levitation for Beginners with real excitement. I haven’t read any of the author’s historical novels but loved her early novels so much that I re read many of them in my 20s and 30s.
This is set in 1972 and told from the point of view of 10 year old Deborah growing up in a rural village. I grew up in the 1970s and so I loved the nostalgic feel of the novel with all of the 70s references. The author writes brilliantly and insightfully about friendship and I was completely drawn into Deborah’s world. The novel is fairly slow paced but I was immersed in the quality of the writing and loved this novel.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

This book has really strong writing and is a great look at the blurred lines between friendshio/hatred/lust. The POV was a great choice and found it quite effective in terms of the story telling of the book

I wasn't sure what to expect from Levitation for Beginners - entering it with an open mind, I was effortlessly transported to the 1970s and the world of school-girl, Deborah. When new student, Sarah-Jayne starts, she is just so sophisticated and grown-up compared to Deborah. Deborah is instantly both pushed to and pulled from, perfectly capturing the way 10 year old girls can be.

An effortless read that blends nostalgia with themes of friendship and trust. The story plays out from a child's perspective, so the ending comes as a surprise in a way, but leaves you thinking.

I had high hopes for this book. There is a lot of scene setting at the beginning and it kind of carries on that way.
Deborah lives with her widowed mother and is in the last year of junior school in 1972. When a new girl, Sarah-Jayne, arrives it changes the dynamics of the school group and challenges their innocent view of things.
The book is a lot of this and nothing really happens until the end.

Being a child of the 70s, Levitation for Beginners was a huge nostalgia trip for me.
All the pop culture references and food mentioned took me back to my childhood and as the story was written from a child’s point of view it helped put me in a context I was familiar with, albeit a group of girls rather than boys. I do seem to remember the experiment of levitation was also quite big at the time, as described in the book.
It’s all quite cosy and focuses on the relationships between the group of girls and how that changes and adapts when a new girl arrives at school and moves into their circle. The last ten pages, however, drastically shifts gear and makes the reader reassess some of the previous chapters and what was really happening.
A short read with a memorable ending that you’ll be thinking about after turning the last page.

An enchanting story that walks that razor-thin line between friendship and something more, exploring the relationships that leave parts of themselves with us through life. It holds up a lens to magnify the power of friendship, the intensity and heartbreak they can bring especially as a pre-teenager, as well as bringing back some painful memories of that awkward age trying to figure out who you are while trying to be someone you’re not.

We walk through memories of Deborah’s pre-teenage years in the 80’s, and are transported back to a time when everything was intense and important, everything felt important and the world was so much smaller; with the oddly jarring effect of her recounting childhood thoughts but through the lens of a grown woman with a new perspective. The entire story took on that intensely dreamy nostalgia, almost like reading through a haze that became more suffocating as the secrets that are always hiding in a small town start to creep out.

The storytelling was a quiet stream of thought simply capturing a moment in time without any peaks and valleys or plot movement. It was lazy, but not in a bad way, in a very slowly relaxed way similar to those hot, long-summers off school that took its time and meandered playfully through school trips, discos and boys on bikes.

It was strange, everything took on this almost magical glow despite the mundanity of the surroundings, creating a real sense of child-like wonder that I’ve not felt in a long time. A portrait of youth and the love between friends, this was a striking and poetic story that will strike a chord with so many readers.

'Levitation for Beginners' by Suzannah Dunn is set in a small village in 1972. Deborah (10yrs old) is one of the smartest children at her tiny primary school and it's planned that she will be off to the local grammar next year. However, her homelife is different to some of the other children, due to her father dying when she was a baby, her mother being young compared to the other mothers, and her taking an approach to childrearing that does not involve thermometers and hugs (although plenty of wit and Horlicks 'ash'). Then arrives Sarah-Jayne at the school. She has has a worldliness and seductiveness that both attracts and repels Deborah and her arrival brings with it thoughts about boys or men that Deborah hasn't previously had to consider. Why are the girls suddenly singing and performing dances for the boys? Why does 18yr old Sonny keep appearing around their house? Why does Sarah-Jayne talk about Max in such glowing terms when he doesn't seem so nice?

The focus of this novel is on Deborah's childish understanding of the world. The book is crammed with nostalgia from the 1970's, many of which I could relate too (although I wasn't born until 1979). Because we are viewing things from a 10yr olds perspective there is much that we know (as a reader) that she has got wrong, and much is left unsaid but hinted at. Dunn manages to write about this in a very believable way, and I enjoyed this novel a great deal.

There were lots of things I really liked about this book. The evocation of days gone by was wonderfully true and it brought back all sorts of memories of similar times and places. I really liked the early chapters too. Ultimately, though, I found it a little slow-going.

It is 1972 and 10-year-old Deborah is living a white bread life in a small place, when her world is tilted on its axis by the arrival of the glamorous Sarah-Jayne.

Although the other girls in the area are taken with the new arrival and her wild claims about levitation, Deborah remains sceptical. But friendship, like most other things, can be faked convincingly if necessary.

So, when events conspire to bring Deborah's life at school a little too close for comfort to her home life, she decides to prevent any inconvenient spillover by keeping a closer eye on Sarah-Jayne, the likely catalyst for any such cross-contamination. Will that be enough to avoid a potential disaster?

This is a well-observed coming of age story that analyses youthful friendships and addresses the extent to which people can be trusted. Especially given that some of the faces that people put forward in dealing with each other are sometimes projected so convincingly, that those who are doing the projecting may be in danger of believing their own story...

It was very intriguing to read this book and delve into many friendships. Leaves you questioning what friendships truly are.