Swimming Home by Deborah Levy

It is not hard to believe that the author of this novella writes plays.  The book reads like a play in prose form, and the story unfolds in such a way that it could be easily staged as a play.

The basic story is not complicated.  Two couples are sharing a villa in France for vacation.  The Mitchel's have their problems but they are not the main event.  The Jacob's are the couple to keep your eye on.  Joe is a poet and a serial philanderer.  Aside from his international reputation as a poet, he feels his only real accomplishment is that he has almost single-handedly raised his 14 year old daughter Nina while his wife Isabel has traveled the world as war correspondent.  She witnesses catastrophes and tries to get people to remember them.  He has witnessed catastrophes and tries to forget.  Their marriage is tenuous, although they feel genuine love and affection for each other, and deeply love their daughter.

Enter Kitty Finch into the scene.  She is a red-head who spends much of her time naked and has recently been discharged from a long term stay in a psychiatric hospital which included ECT.  They come upon her swimming in the pool naked, and it is immediately clear she is trouble.  A borderline personality disorder who delights in stirring the pot and seeing what might happen.  Isabel invites her to stay, which is like throwing bait at her husband, and we sit back and watch the story unfold.  There are parts of it that we see quite clearly and there are parts that come as a surprise.  Sparsely and beautifully written.