What would it feel like to go wild swimming? And I don’t mean a refreshing dip on a scorching day. Could you plunge into icy water in the depths of winter when every nerve ending screams at you to get out? The Winter of our Lives by Sara Barnes gives you the chance to find out.
The Winter of our Lives by Sara Barnes immerses you in the world of cold-water swimming. First up this is very firmly a novel. However, it came as no surprise to discover Sara is a wild swimmer, so this woman knows her stuff.
Our protagonist in the story is Stevie May, a middle-aged divorcee who has yet to fully resolve issues around the breakdown of her marriage.
“The underlying sadness and low-level stress she’d lived with since her marriage fell apart needed to be shaken off and ripped away from her shoulders. Her daily solo dips in the lake soother and comforted, but barely scratched at the scab that had formed over her pain”
Can wild swimming come to the rescue?
At her lowest ebb wild swimming does rescue Stevie. It gives her a reason to keep going and has a profound effect on the other three main characters – Angela, Holly and Chris. All four are middle-aged and facing their own challenges. And as the chapters switch between their point of view it reveals their emotions, hopes and fears as the story builds to a Scottish open water swimming competition.
Is this story for me?
The Winter of our Lives by Sara Barnes is a story of four everyday characters. There’s nothing particularly remarkable about any of them. And that’s the clever part. So many people of a certain age will identify with Chris who’s battling grief and guilt over his controlling wife; or for Angela, a farmer’s wife who’s dealing with a bitter and controlling mother-in-law. There’s Lake District outsider Holly whose husband lives in London during the week and she suspects he’s playing away. And then there’s Stevie who cannot face getting close to another man again.
And what did I think?
The Winter of our Lives deals with big themes through a gentle paced story. It doesn’t contain high drama but life as we know it. And because of that many may find solace and hope in its pages. I thoroughly enjoyed this debut novel but when it comes to cold water swimming, I’ll give it a miss and stick to running. But if it has whetted your appetite, why not check out Sara’s non-fiction book The Cold Fix.