Night Swimmers

The Irish cult hit novel of 2025 for fans of Claire Keegan

By: Roisin Maguire

Narrated by: Roisin Maguire

SHORTLISTED FOR THE KATE O'BRIEN AWARD

'Heaven' Katherine May, bestselling author of Wintering

'A glowing, generous novel' Irish Times 'A warm, unsentimental and beautifully observed book for our times' Lucy Caldwell, author of These Days

'Grace is a fabulous character ... there's a touch of Olive Kitteridge in her' Good Housekeeping

Grace lives alone in a coastal village in Northern Ireland, filling her days with wild swimming, fishing, quilting and baiting the tourists who blow in from the city.

One of the visitors is Evan, on an enforced holiday from his family in Belfast as he grieves the death of his infant daughter. But before a week is out, he is trapped there by lockdown. When Grace grudgingly saves Evan from drowning, and his reserved young son arrives unexpectedly, all three are startled into a reckoning with their past and a reconnection with the outside world.©2024 Roisin Maguire (P)2026 Profile Books Limited

A wonderful and captivating story

I loved all the characters, the plot development, and how the author made the characters process their grief. I did not care reading about the pandemic — maybe it’s too soon for me or too fresh of a terrible and traumatic memory. But because the characters seemed far away from the pandemic, it became remote background. I could see the ending coming a mile away but that is ok and did not deter me from reading till the end. The author did a fantastic job reading it—I sometimes laughed out loud and sometimes cried. I enjoyed listening to this book very much!

A story of loss, healing and rediscovery

I loved the characters in this book, the coastal landscape and plot. It took me a while to get into the book, but once the story and its characters develop, I was hooked. This book is about pain and loss, but also hope, love and a liberating story of self-(re)discovery and healing. So much humanity in these pages.