{"id":107369,"date":"2025-02-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/archwaybookshop.co.uk\/?post_type=product&#038;p=107369"},"modified":"2026-01-10T11:06:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T11:06:53","slug":"breaststrokes-2","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/archwaybookshop.co.uk\/product\/9781398525795","title":{"rendered":"Breaststrokes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Sharply observed and painfully relatable,\u00c2\u00a0<i>Breaststrokes\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>is a novel that seems to emerge from the haze of our current time. This story of unexpected encounters and intimacies is perfect for fans of<i>\u00c2\u00a0Cleopatra and Frankenstein<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0<i>Beautiful World, Where Are You<\/i>.<\/b><\/p>\n<p> Cloe and Gertrude and the Jenkins-Bell sisters, Mathilde and Sarah, have never met.\u00c2\u00a0They are strangers who share a city.<br \/> \u00c2\u00a0<br \/> It is Sunday morning. Cloe has woken-up in someone else&#8217;s home; Gertrude starts her shift in the pub kitchen, while Mathilde and Sarah are on their way to lunch.<\/p>\n<p> Soon, these four women&#8217;s lives will overlap.<\/p>\n<p> Saturday felt like a normal day, but on Sunday the past will catch-up with them as they realise that there never is only one side to a story.<\/p>\n<p> &#8216;A study of womanhood, vulnerability, and the secrecy of the inner-life. Vialleron&#8217;s writing is laced with a love for these women who can barely love themselves. A novel for anyone interested in the way the body keeps score or in the complex intimacies between women&#8217;\u00c2\u00a0<b>Rowan Hisayo Buchanan<\/b><\/p>\n<p> &#8216;A\u00c2\u00a0tender, lyrical novel about the ripples caused when consent is taken away from women and the loneliness this causes, even when you&#8217;re surrounded by people. It will tug at your heart strings&#8217; <b>Araminta Hall<\/b><\/p>\n<p> &#8216;Reading <i>Breaststrokes <\/i>felt a little like watching ribbons unfurl &#8211; or intertwine. Margaux Vialleron writes tenderly and evocatively about female friendship, fear and desire&#8217;\u00c2\u00a0<b>Chlo\u00c3\u00ab Ashby<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><b>One weekend. Four women. A novel about desire and consent.\u00c2\u00a0<\/b><b>Cleverly structured and told over the course of one weekend, <i>Breaststrokes<\/i> will see the four women&#8217;s lives overlap and interweave as they grapple with who they are in this modern world.<\/b><br \/> \u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[68],"product_tag":[26896,26830,26901,26843,26898],"class_list":["post-107369","product","type-product","status-publish","product_cat-general-fiction","product_tag-fiction-general-literary","product_tag-modern-contemporary-fiction","product_tag-narrative-theme-coming-of-age","product_tag-narrative-theme-interior-life","product_tag-narrative-theme-social-issues","pa_book_author-vialleron-margaux","pa_cover-paperback","pa_dewey-823-92-edition23","pa_edition-1st-paperback-ed","pa_imprint-simon-schuster-uk-ltd","pa_language-english","pa_pages-8634","pa_publisher-simon-schuster-uk-ltd","pa_readership-general-trade-code-k","first","onbackorder","taxable","shipping-taxable","purchasable","product-type-simple"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Breaststrokes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sharply observed and painfully relatable,\u00c2\u00a0Breaststrokes\u00c2\u00a0is a novel that seems to emerge from the haze of our current time. This story of unexpected encounters and intimacies is perfect for fans of\u00c2\u00a0Cleopatra and Frankenstein\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0Beautiful World, Where Are You. Cloe and Gertrude and the Jenkins-Bell sisters, Mathilde and Sarah, have never met.\u00c2\u00a0They are strangers who share a city. \u00c2\u00a0 It is Sunday morning. Cloe has woken-up in someone else&#039;s home; Gertrude starts her shift in the pub kitchen, while Mathilde and Sarah are on their way to lunch. Soon, these four women&#039;s lives will overlap. Saturday felt like a normal day, but on Sunday the past will catch-up with them as they realise that there never is only one side to a story. &#039;A study of womanhood, vulnerability, and the secrecy of the inner-life. Vialleron&#039;s writing is laced with a love for these women who can barely love themselves. A novel for anyone interested in the way the body keeps score or in the complex intimacies between women&#039;\u00c2\u00a0Rowan Hisayo Buchanan &#039;A\u00c2\u00a0tender, lyrical novel about the ripples caused when consent is taken away from women and the loneliness this causes, even when you&#039;re surrounded by people. It will tug at your heart strings&#039; Araminta Hall &#039;Reading Breaststrokes felt a little like watching ribbons unfurl - or intertwine. Margaux Vialleron writes tenderly and evocatively about female friendship, fear and desire&#039;\u00c2\u00a0Chlo\u00c3\u00ab Ashby\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archwaybookshop.co.uk\/product\/9781398525795\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Breaststrokes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sharply observed and painfully relatable,\u00c2\u00a0Breaststrokes\u00c2\u00a0is a novel that seems to emerge from the haze of our current time. This story of unexpected encounters and intimacies is perfect for fans of\u00c2\u00a0Cleopatra and Frankenstein\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0Beautiful World, Where Are You. Cloe and Gertrude and the Jenkins-Bell sisters, Mathilde and Sarah, have never met.\u00c2\u00a0They are strangers who share a city. \u00c2\u00a0 It is Sunday morning. Cloe has woken-up in someone else&#039;s home; Gertrude starts her shift in the pub kitchen, while Mathilde and Sarah are on their way to lunch. Soon, these four women&#039;s lives will overlap. Saturday felt like a normal day, but on Sunday the past will catch-up with them as they realise that there never is only one side to a story. &#039;A study of womanhood, vulnerability, and the secrecy of the inner-life. Vialleron&#039;s writing is laced with a love for these women who can barely love themselves. A novel for anyone interested in the way the body keeps score or in the complex intimacies between women&#039;\u00c2\u00a0Rowan Hisayo Buchanan &#039;A\u00c2\u00a0tender, lyrical novel about the ripples caused when consent is taken away from women and the loneliness this causes, even when you&#039;re surrounded by people. It will tug at your heart strings&#039; Araminta Hall &#039;Reading Breaststrokes felt a little like watching ribbons unfurl - or intertwine. 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