Swimming Underwater

An admirably muted novel combining graceful description with piquant observation ... a fine second novel from a perceptive author

TLS

Don't miss this, a take on the idea that the course of true love never runs smooth

Red

Compelling

Woman's Own

Joughin's characters are always tangible. Yet while her dialogue has the ring of authenticity, the inclusion of selected lines from Larkin, Hughes and Yeats ensures an appealing languor

The Observer

Joughin's second novel confirms her gift for mining tragi-comic gems from outposts of shabby bohemia

The Independent

Joughin's poetic prose perfectly conveys the delicacy of human emotion, and the frequent disjunction between art and life'

Choice Magazine

Like a cross between Margaret Drabble and Francoise Sagan

The Times

Joughin has an appealing darkness and urgency, as she potently conveys the pleasures and pains of human interactions

The Sunday Times

Adeptly written and enjoyable... Ruth's childhood perspectives are extremely well captured

Telegraph

Striking story of Ruth and Gray under the spell of famous poets' lives

Good Housekeeping's 8 Great Reads

Reading Joughin's second novel is like immersing yourself in a cool pool at a hazy summer party ...as addictively abrasive as a shot of cold vodka, this wil leave you both refreshed and gasping for stability

Time Out

'[Joughin] displays her short-story writing gift for minute observation, starting slowly with the dysfunctional relationship between Ruth and Liam. Joughin's acute sensitivity to language and idiosyncratic behaviour makes this a coolly refreshing read'

Glasgow Herald

'Many things are left unsaid in Sheena Joughin's Swimming Underwater and the effect is all the more resonant and intriguing...superb control'

Elizabeth Buchan, Sunday Times

This darkly comic story about unpredictable love is perfect if you're looking for some intelligent chicklit

Family Circle

A carefully charged novel about insiders, outsiders and the unsayable things and passions in any life....As with her first novel, something comes together here with a kind of grace. When it does, the effect is both philosophical and a pleasure...beautifully underplayed

Ali Smith, The Guardian