Where Water Lies, Hilary Tailor, book review: ‘The intimacy of the community on the Heath’

The emotional power of swimming has been a frequent theme in recent writing, and there are few better settings to explore this topic than the famous Ladies Pond on Hampstead Heath.

Where Water Lies, the new novel by local author Hilary Tailor, is set in and around the pond and its community.

Eliza, a teacher in her late 30s, uses wild swimming to escape the present and preserve her connection to the past. Iris, a charity worker in her 60s, sees something of her younger self in Eliza and wants to help, but she has shadows in her life as well.

Both women are loners, but bonding often takes people unawares, and the intimacy of the community on the Heath weaves social support into the activity of swimming itself.

The story moves along at an increasing pace and the reader is gradually drawn to the two rather brusque women.

Turbulence beneath a steely surface is a characteristic they share as they each work through loss, connection and deciding what they want.

Where Water Lies by Hilary Tailor is published by Lake Union; ISBN: 978-1542036597; RRP: £8.99.