Earn Lifesaving For Beginners Imagined By Ciara Geraghty Offered In Physical Book

was an engaging, emotional story a perfect balm to follow a couple of psychological thrillers! Ciara Geraghty's Irish heritage is evident in her style, which is lilting, warm and well laced with subtle humor.
I liked it a lot, and I was moved to see Maeve Binchy mentioned in the authors acknowledgements at the end, Finally, to Maeve Binchy, who died this week, I will never hear your stories, on the page or the radio, . I will miss that. I will miss you. You inspired me. You told me that I could do it too, Lifesaving For Beginners was published by Hodder in Septemberand is Ciara Geraghty's fourth novel, Why have I not read any of her books before now Where have I been Where has she been Somehow, her novels have totally passed me by and until I saw the cover of Lifesaving For Beginners, I had honestly never heard her name before.
Big slaps around the head for me!! On the positive side though, this does mean that I now have her first three novels to catch up on.


The story is just so wonderfully told in two voices that of nineyearold nearly ten Milo and thirtynine year old nearly forty Kat.
The reader is enticed into the story when it begins with a car accident in Dublin, A lorry driver falls asleep and two cars are involved in the collision, One is driven by Beth, Milo's mother who is visiting Ireland from her home in Brighton, the other is driven by Kat, Kat's car is writtenoff but she escapes with just a fractured rib, Beth dies, she doesn't return home to Milo,

Alternate chapters are narrated by Milo and Kat, Two people connected by one tragic accident or are they As the story unfolds it becomes clear that there is far more to connect them than just the car accident.


Ciara Geraghty has created a story that is original, quirky and very emotional, She has also brought to life some stunning characters, not least the fabulous Milo, Milo is a typical nineyearold boy who says what ever comes into his head, doesn't really understand what is happening to him, but is kind and good and wants everyone around him to be happy.
Then there is Kat who at first seems to be a very insular, almost selfish character, She appears unable to care about anyone, and that includes herself, She's aloof, she's cold and she's very very alone, It's not until almost halfway through the story that the reader begins to understand just why Kat is like she is, and although she can be difficult, by the end of the novel I found myself cheering for her and desperately hoping that she would find the happiness that everyone deserves.


I was really impressed by this novel, the writing is engaging and very very funny in places, It's also heartbreakingly sad in others, The plot is fastflowing, the characters are realistic and worth caring about,

A really great read that I would recommend to others, especially if you've enjoyed novels by Marian Keyes or Ella Griffin Questo romanzo si apre con un tragico prologo: in Irlanda, un camionista molto stanco provoca un incidente stradale che coinvolge due donne quasi coetanee, ciascuna alla guida della propria vettura.
Una delle due donne si trova lì per caso: è irlandese, ma la sua famiglia abita a Brighton, Laltra ha sempre vissuto a Dublino e ha un comportamento a dir poco bizzarro a partire da quel fatale incidente, Un incidente che fa subito pensare a una coincidenza di quelle incredibili, che la vita vera a volte riserva e che sembrano frutto della fantasia di un romanziere dalla fervida immaginazione.


Kat Kavanagh è la donna che si è salvata quasi per miracolo, Kat ha vissuto unesistenza mantenendo un profilo basso, nascondendo il suo passato, nascondendo il suo successo di giallista acclamata in tutto il mondo sotto lo pseudonimo di Killian Kobain e il suo investigatore Declan Darker e nascondendo persino a se stessa i sentimenti che prova verso Thomas, un rude giornalista che ama definirsi agricoltore.


Beth McIntyre è la donna che, invece, in quel tragico incidente ha perso la vita, Lei è la madre di Milo, un ragazzino di nove anni e mezzo ne compiràil giorno di Natale, di Faith e di Ant e Adrian, due gemelli che studiano a Londra alluniversità.
Milo soffre per la morte della madre e teme di dover abbandonare il corso di nuoto di salvataggio, che frequenta assiduamente e che sembra essere lunico punto fermo della sua vita, poiché il padre è andato via di casa da un po con una donna più giovane, tornando nella natia Scozia e Faith, la sorella maggiore che si prende cura di lui ora che la mamma non cè più, ha appena scoperto di non essere la sua vera sorella, ma di essere stata adottata.
Il corso di salvataggio è proprio la sua ancora di salvezza, dunque,

Forse Damo ha ragione, Sul fatto che Faith non è più mia sorella, Secondo me non è neanche la mia sorellastra, Non proprio, almeno. Vorrei che fosse ancora mia sorella, Lei dice di essere un disastro, ma non è vero, È solo difficile fare le cose bene quando sei quasi sempre triste,

Le vite di Milo e Kat sembrano essere a un punto di svolta: entrambi stanno per compiere quella cifra tonda lui, leiche sembra essere una boa da raggiungere e doppiare.
Non si rendono conto che la boa lhanno doppiata il giorno dellincidente, che le loro esistenze sono cambiate definitivamente in quellattimo, Le vite di Milo e di Kat sono destinate a incrociarsi ancora una volta, anzi, a intrecciarsi, nonostante le centinaia di chilometri di lontananza fra loro, in un triangolo BrightonDublinoEdimburgo con Londra, o meglio, laeroporto di Gatwick al centro.


Si tratta di una storia delicata, piena di sentimento e in cui le grandi sofferenze e le verità della vita vengono filtrate dagli occhi dellinnocenza, che siano quelli di Milo o quelli di Ed, il fratello amatissimo di Kat che ha la sindrome di Down.
Questi filtri rendono tutto più semplice, smontando ogni artificiosità e andando dritto al cuore di ogni problema, che subito non sembra più tale,

Quellincidente, quel miracolo che ha salvato Kat è come se lavesse uccisa e poi fatta resuscitare diversa, più sensibile e più legata alla vita, come ormai non era più da anni.


Il romanzo è narrato in prima persona dalle voci di Kat e Milo, che sono nettamente discernibili, e non per merito della scelta della casa editrice di adottare font diversi per i due personaggi, ma per unabilità della Geraghty di calarsi alternativamente nei panni di una quasi quarantenne scrittrice di successo e di un quasi decenne appena rimasto orfano di madre, con unenorme capacità di donare e stimolare affetto e linnocenza matura che arriva dritta al cuore.


Amore e altri casi demergenza è un romanzo che si legge tutto dun fiato, pieno di bellissimi personaggi mirabilmente delineati, Oltre a Kat e Milo ci sono Thomas, Faith, Hamish il padre di Milo, Celia la sua nuova compagna, giovane, egoista e tremendamente incinta, Minnie Driver lamica di Kat che fa la contabile, non lattrice, Brona la sua assillante editor, i genitori di Kat, i fratelli gemelli di Milo, Damo, il suo amico del cuore e infine Ed, un bambino in un corpo di trentaduenne con un cuore malconcio.


Questa storia ci fa comprendere che vale la pena di salvare le cose importanti della vita, anche se questo volesse dire che la dobbiamo rivoluzionare quella vita, perché i cambiamenti arrivano repentini sia nel bene che nel male e allora lunica àncora di salvataggio è lamore.


Potete leggere la recensione completa sitelinkQUI Ciara Geraghty has a lot of potential, but I felt that Lifesaving for Beginners fell a bit flat/was hitting a lot of offkey notes for me.


First, the title, It's mindbendingly cloying and overly metaphorical, I could have maybe stomached it a little better IF it wasn't referenced constantly in the book as a sort of "ha ha ha ha these characters will save each other how beautiful is this metaphor!" moment.
Like, notice: HE NEVER ACTUALLY GOES TO LIFESAVING CLASS IN THE BOOK, He only mentions it to people after the fact or talks about going in the future, I think sometimes Geraghty is a little too reliant on relating things this way,

Moving on. Geraghty continues to write the same character over and over in every novel with a few things changed, And to some extent I can be understanding of this I'm wondering how much is loosely autobiographical, and "write what you know" makes sense for making a story feel authentic.


BUT, if you've read a few of her novels, they're similar to the point where prior novels serve as spoilers for her work, which isn't pleasant.
Like how many writers with writers block, who write some amazing thing at the conclusion of the novel as a result of the plot, can you possibly make into characters! And because I read "This is Now," I correctly understood that the growing references to alcohol meant the characters was slipping into a bad habit, and that Cillian/Thomas, depending on the novel, would eventually return to her even though she was the one to push them away and reject the other woman they've replaced her with.


Sometimes the voice of the little kid, Milo, didn't feel quite as authentic as it could have been, My eyes almost rolled out of my head when he correctly remembered that "Dad used to like doing the books, He said it relaxed him, Mam said there were better ways to relax, She said it in a funny sort of voice and looked at him weird, and then they'd go for a nap, which is when you go to sleep in the middle of the day with no pajamas on.
" Like, come on. He must have beenat the time of the memory and recalled a FUNNY GLANCE they gave each other EVERY time his mom said something

like that, and they don't wear pajamas, but he doesn't connect it to sex.
. . but we do and it's funny because kids don't get it hah ha Ok,s Sitcom

Thomas's Eyes Change Color Because Magical Eyes, . . one of my top hated tropes, Listen. Eyes don't change color. Why There are little cells in your eyes, giving them a color, Yes, they will look kind of different depending on lighting and whether you're outside and things like that, just like your hair and skin will look separate, but we don't describe people's skin as "milky white in the sun, yet magically shadowy dark inside.
" these eyes were "grey from a distance" how far away are you! "but they change to green the closer you get" "or blue sometimes" right.
Purple too, or

Thomas in general I wasn't really feeling, but possibly because he's mostly in the book as a memory, rather than a present character.


Ehh I keep saying it will be the last time I download one of these because I'm in a rush, but this time I hopefully mean it Interesting memoir

This is an interesting story by Edlestein that shared a life experience, and brought to life the story.
There were a lot of details and angst in the shared experiences, I found the writing style to be enjoyable, and with darkness there was a bit of life, The story seems to be written for the author's benefit, maybe seeking some healing or catharsis, It's interesting to see the experience of others, and how it may help them, and in some ways help the reader, too, I hope Edlestein continues to share more stories, not just for herself, but for readers as well,
Lifesaving for Beginners

By Ciara Geraghty

Two lives, one day, one car crash and a twist of fate bringsfamilies together living in different countries.


Milo McIntyre isnearlyyears old and lives in Brighton with his mum and elder sister, He loves his lifesaving class after school and going to the Funky Banana Café which his mum owns but one day everything changes,

Kat Kavanagh lives in Dublin, survives a fatal car crash and from that moment struggles to make sense of her life and why she survived.
When the past catches up with her she realises that maybe that is why she survived the crash,

A really enjoyable read which will make you laugh and cry in equal measures, I just loved this book, Perfect for fans of Dani Atkins and David Nicholls I love both of these authors, I have certainly found a new author that I LOVE!!
Told through the eyes of both a nine year old boy from Brighton and ayear old woman from Dublin, this looks at the aftermath of a road accident.
The story works well and the characters are convincing, Would suit fans of One Moment One Morning, The story manages to be quite sentimental in places, while never becomming cloying, not as light a read as you might think from the child narrator.
I was completely engaged with story from the very first page, In my view Lifesaving for Beginners is one of Ciara Geraghty best novels,
A truck is going too fast with the driver falling asleep at the wheel, The truck hits an animal with the truck then crashing into a woman driving a Mazda, Das erste Buch seit langer Zeit, dass mich zum weinen gebracht hat, Es ist so eine tolle Geschichte und ich habe den kleinen Milo richtig ins Herz geschlossen, Reading Lifesaving for Beginners as part of a bloggers read along didnt work for me as it has in the past while I loved the conversation, I just wanted to keep reading at my own pace rather than stopstart mode this time.
I had so much else going on at the time, that I found it harder to pick up where I left off because my mind was jammed with so many other things.
That said, I was sucked in with the first chapter of this book, It had a great hook worthy of “how to start a novel” writing classes: a tired truck driver in Ireland closes his eyes just for a second and opens them to see a deer in the middle of the road.
And then, a bright yellow car tossed in the air “like a bag of feathers”, Its a tragedy. One woman dies. Its a miracle more werent killed, Like Kat, a thirtynineyearold woman who has to be cut from her car,

From the thirdperson narrative of the first chapter, the book switches to a dual firstperson narrative, It took me a bit of getting used to at first, because I thought the story would include a focus on the truck driver how he fared after that horrible night.
Instead, the story is told by Kat the survivor and nineyearold Milo, whose mother died in the accident, Somehow, through this tragic twist of fate, they are brought together,

Kat lives in Ireland, has an ordinary job as a technical writer, lots of friends, a boyfriend shes not in love with, and shes not at all hung up on her past.
Thats what she tells people and herself, Its not true, of course, Kat writes the Declan Darker novels under the pseudonym Killian Kobain but hasnt even started the latest one her editor thinks shes writing and really does care about Thomas unfortunately, she fails to tell him this when it matters.
And theres one more thing, Something that Kat did when she was just, Something she doesnt want to think about ever again,

Milo lives in England, His mother was visiting her sister in Ireland when she was killed, Now his twentyfouryearold sister Faith is looking after him because his dad lives with his pregnant girlfriend Celia in Scotland, Everything is different, but at least he still gets to go to his beginners lifesaving classes and hang out with his best friend Damo.
When Faith finds some of her mothers old papers and discovers a secret she was never meant to know, she wants to go to Ireland to get to the bottom of it.
Milo doesnt want to be left behind after all, his mother never came back when she went to Ireland,

For me, one of the strengths of this novel is in the characterisation, Kat is the more dominant character in the novel the one who goes through the most change, so a lot of our readalong discussions focused on her.
Contrary and at times dismissive, she hides her past and true feelings behind a dual veneer of denial and indifference, I found myself reacting to her with frustration at times because she would push people away who clearly cared for her, Its deeply ingrained behaviour stemming at least from the incident when she was, After the accident, she starts to exhibit depressive symptoms, with some of her behaviour bordering on selfdestructive, She was a hard character to like at first, but as I came to understand her more, I found myself caring more, Her development over the novel was believable, Milo, on the other hand, was a lovable young boy who I just wanted to wrap up in a big hug, I liked his voice. It added a muchneeded sense of optimism to Kats darker, more selfcentred voice, He, like Kats brother Ed, has a simplicity about him partly because he is a child, but also I think within his character that contrasts beautifully with the cynical Kat.
If the catalyst for Kats growth was the accident, Milo is the glue that brings all the pieces together,

Lifesaving for Beginners is a novel about growth and change, loss and letting go, living and loving, These themes are explored in a variety of ways ranging from the loss of a parent to the fear of ageing, from letting yourself love someone to loving yourself.
I particularly enjoyed how Geraghty gently explored what it means to be a woman the pushes and pulls of careers, ageing, children or no children, decisions made, regretted or left to stew, relationships with mothers and partners, and the fact that change is inevitable.
I also enjoyed the reverse the reminder of what it means to be a child, how it feels when a parent or parents are absent, the moments when you realise your parents dont know everything or kept things from you and how children can be valuable teachers.
One thing that still puzzles me though Kats friend Minnie knows what happened to Kat all those years ago, Yet it was not talked about for nearlyyears, I found that strange I suppose its in keeping with Kats tendency to stick her head in the sand, but Minnie didnt strike me that way.


I really enjoyed this book, There were no real surprises, and some of the of the ending had a Disneylike quality other issues were left openended, which suited the novel well, but it still made me laugh and cry and not want to stop according to the readalong plan.
Theres a lovely sense that all will be well and after reading two more confronting books between this one, that was refreshing, Will I read more of Ciara Geraghtys backlist/her future novels Sure will,

This copy was courtesy of Hachette as part of the bloggers readalong,

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