Swimming Upstream Author:Ruth Mancini ?I once read that the end of a relationship is like being involved in a road traffic accident. Which is quite fitting really, given what happened.? Lizzie has begun to achieve all the things she thought she had ever wanted, but realises instead that she is far from happy. Then she steps out into the path of an oncoming car, and her life begi... more »ns to unravel, setting off a life-changing chain of events. Lizzie leaves her boyfriend and her home and moves to London to pursue her career. There, she attempts to overcome the legacy of her past and find out how to be happy alone. In doing so, she reconnects with two old friends, Zara and Catherine. Each friend, however, harbours a secret that is slowly revealed to Lizzie until Lizzie?s life takes another shocking twist and the friendship of all three women is threatened. Swimming Upstream is a thoughtful but often humorous book about life and surviving its knocks. Set in the early 1990s in Cambridge and London, it is also a story of friendship, love and divided loyalties ? and the moral choices that Lizzie ultimately faces, when the chips are down. Described as ?Eat, Pray, Love? meets ?The Last Weekend?, Swimming Upstream is similar in style to books by Jojo Moyes ("Me Before You"), Elizabeth Gilbert ("Eat, Pray, Love"), Nick Hornby ("How to be Good") and Blake Morrison ("The Last Weekend"). ?I really enjoyed Swimming Upstream. There is a nice rhythm and pace?credible dialogue, compelling protagonist, recognisable settings and good supporting cast.? ? Eloise Millar, journalist and award-winning novelist "The story is both entertaining and enlightening in equal measure. There is a poignancy which tugs at the heart strings. As a debut novel, the book has much to commend it, and I hope to be able to read more from this talented author in future novels" - Jo Barton, Amazon Top 500 Reviewer.« less