Ingrid Coleman writes letters to her husband, Gil, about the truth of their marriage, but instead of giving them to him, she hides them in the thousands of books he has collected over the years. When Ingrid has written her final letter she disappears from a Dorset beach, leaving behind her beautiful but dilapidated house by the sea, her husband, and her two daughters, Flora and Nan.

Twelve years later, Gil thinks he sees Ingrid from a bookshop window, but he’s getting older and this unlikely sighting is chalked up to senility. Flora, who has never believed her mother drowned, returns home to care for her father and to try to finally discover what happened to Ingrid. But what Flora doesn’t realize is that the answers to her questions are hidden in the books that surround her. Scandalous and whip-smart, Swimming Lessons holds the Coleman family up to the light, exposing the mysterious truths of a passionate and troubled marriage.

there was very little I liked about this book --I definitely did not like the characters....found nothing redeeming about them. I honestly didn't get the high ratings other readers gave it. Left me with a lot of questions -- had Gil found all the notes Ingrid wrote and left in the books? Is that why he burned them all? Flora seemed so unreasonable and in la la land to me. OF course the big question is what is really Ingrid in the end? Lots to talk about for a book club - but not my favorite story