Book 15 toppled – a biography/social history of women, freedom and the water

Swell by Jenny Landreth is a book I bought for myself. It sells itself as a “Waterbiography” and I do enjoy biographies but it’s also a book of social history, which is another of my enthusiasms. I suspected that I would enjoy it and I was correct.

The author is a keen swimmer, especially in lidos and outside pools. She came to swimming in middle age and after having very much not enjoyed sport as a child. Her enthusiasm for swimming comes through on every page in this book and she conveys how it makes her feel and why she enjoys it so much. I am not a keen swimmer but I felt that I could understand why she swims and what she gets out of it very well from her prose.

The social history aspect of the book is a look at public swimming for women in Britain and some of the pioneers. I realised, of course, that for a long time swimming was regarded as a male activity but I knew nothing of campaigns to allow women to swim too and how very recently we have had advent of mixed swimming. The author talks about the first advocates for swimming, why people (mainly men) thought it dangerous for women, the first women to swim the channel, what women had to wear to swim and the first women to compete in the Olympics. She illustrates her history with real examples of some remarkable women and also links it to the struggle for female equality.

The book is written in a chatty, personal, prose which felt like the author was telling you what she thought directly and I think it worked well for this book. I found it compelling reading and it introduced me to lots of things I didn’t know and didn’t realise that I needed to know about swimming and its history – it’s the sort of book where you want to read sections to other people because they are so interesting.

I recommend this book as a cracking good read, even if swimming is not your thing. I am passing my copy to my sister-in-law who is a very keen swimmer and a reader as I feel sure that she will enjoy it.