Learning to Swim

by Clare Chambers

From the highly-acclaimed author of SMALL PLEASURES – longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2021

(First published in 1998. Reissued by Cornerstone in 2021.)

Abigail Jex never expected to see any of the Radley household again.

The Radley’s were extraordinary, captivating creatures transplanted from a bohemian corner of North London to outer suburbia, and the young Abigail found herself drawn into their magic circle: the eccentric Frances, her new best friend; Frances’ mother, the liberated, headstrong Lexi; and of course the brilliant, beautiful Rad.

Abigail thought she’d banished the ghost of her life with them and the catastrophe that ended it, but thirteen years later a chance encounter forces her to acknowledge that the spell is far from broken…