The Swimmer

‘The Swimmer’ is a gripping, captivating novel about love, loss and what home really means.

Forty-three year old Ria is used to being alone. As a child, her life changed forever with the death of her beloved father and since then, she has struggled to find love.That is, until she discovers the swimmer.

Ben is a young illegal immigrant from Sri Lanka who has arrived in Norfolk via Moscow. Awaiting a decision from the Home Office on his asylum application, he is discovered by Ria as he takes a daily swim in the river close to her house. He is twenty years her junior and theirs is an unconventional but deeply moving romance, defying both boundaries and cultures – and the xenophobic residents of Orford. That is, until tragedy occurs.

Reviews

Praise for Brixton Beach:

‘Rich and satisfying’ The Times

‘An ambitious, lyrical novel, distinguished by its refusal to offer false consolation’ Times Literary Supplement

‘Richly characterised, elegantly modulated and deeply moving’ Daily Mail

‘A vividly sensitive writer’ Independent

‘Three remarkable novels’ Guardian

Praise for Mosquito and Bone China:

‘The prose is as polished and pictorial as an intricate piece of china’ Independent on Sunday

‘One of those rich, nourishing family sagas that seizes the imagination.’ The Times

‘Mosquito…announced a fresh lyrical talent’ Guardian

‘Readers of this novel cannot fail to be moved’ Spectator

About the author

Roma Tearne fled Sri Lanka at the age of ten, travelling to Britain where she has spent most of her life. She gained her Master’s degree at the Ruskin Shool of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford, and was Leverhulme Artist in Residence at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. She was recently awarded a fellowship in the visual arts by the Arts and Humanities Research Council of Great Britain. She lives and works in Oxford.