This is the first time I've read anything by Hilary Tailor, but it certainly won't be the last. This is such a beautifully written book; Hilary Tailor has a poetic way with words. It is about two women who met at natural pond for women only. Both have secret pasts which still trouble them, both swim for different reasons. The characters draw you into their separate stories in a way that makes you want to keep digging to find out more. It’s a story of loss, love and second chances. This was a great read and I highly recommend this book. Thank you, Net Galley for providing me the opportunity to read this ARC.

This may be one of the best books I have ever read. Tailor has written a story so rich in character development and scene descriptions that I FELT I was in the Ladies' Pond swimming with Eliza. I WAS bonding with and falling in love with Eric. I DID love and hate Maggie. I became Eliza reading these pages and can't wait to tell everyone I know about this book so they can experience all of this for themselves.

The personal stories held within these pages are potentially the most enthralling I've ever had the privilege to read. I have never cheered for a character as much as I did for Eliza to find the truth of her history and for Iris to find her way back to her own life. Any review could not do this book enough justice for how truly amazing it is, and I hope thousands more readers pick it up then struggle to put it down the way that I did.

What a beautiful, lyrical book. I was swept away by this story where past and present swirl around each other, ebb and flow like the water theme that runs through it. It dips into several intersecting London lives and there's also a hint of a ghostly presence, which I'm a sucker for. Hilary Tailor's writing is accomplished and poetic and a treat to read.

Two women swim in the Hampstead Ladies Pond in all weathers and through all seasons. It is a precious place for both of them, but they swim there for very different reasons. The cold, murky water filled with the detritus of dead leaves helps isolated Eliza to revisit the past. For Iris, a charity worker whose work includes reuniting missing people with their families, the pond is a refuge that helps her to forget past choices.

Neither woman expects or wants to make a connection with the other, but as the past reaches out towards both of them, their paths are drawn irrevocably together. On the bumpy road towards their different truths, they issue each other challenges that must be accepted in order for each woman to find resolution and to move on in their lives.

I adored this book. The characters and their issues, insecurities and triumphs are so well drawn, and I was with each of them for the entirety of their journeys. The pages are filled with such gorgeous descriptive writing and rich emotion. I devoured it and am now a firm Hilary Tailor fan.