This is a beautiful, singular, short novel published in 2022, which I decided to read after seeing good reviews on Goodreads.

It is in two halves: in the first, we follow the recreational swimmers at a local pool, getting to know each of their habits and motivations. We also follow the response of the swimmers as a crack appears in one of the lanes. This section is particularly beautifully written. I am a recreational swimmer, and Otsuka’s writing is so insightful that she seemed somehow to have a better understanding of my motivations than I have.

Only one of the swimmers is named: Alice.

In the second part of the book, we follow Alice’s development of dementia, mostly from the perspective of her daughter. Alice is admitted to a care home, and Otsuka’s account of this has emotional depth and close observation. The main focus of this section is on Alice’s experience of memory loss, including the effects of this on her relationship with her daughter.

The reader is left to draw the parallels between the events described in the swimming pool, and people’s reactions to them, and the story of Alice’s decline.

The Swimmers was unique, poetic, and beautiful.