Daisy Belle: Swimming Champion Of The World by Caitlin Davies

This is a beautifully evocative story that encapsulates the determination of one woman from early childhood to become the best swimmer that she can possibly be.  Make no mistake, Daisy Mae Belle is no ordinary Victorian Miss. This is a continuous disappointment to her mother and a source of pride to her father but no matter what they think Daisy knows what she wants and she will stop at nothing to get it.

The real beauty of this story is the way the author transports you to the time and the place.  You can hear the echo of the baths, smell the tang of bleach in the air and feel the silky, still water heavy around you.  Although it feels like a bad pun this is a truly immersive story that sweeps you along as you follow Daisy from trial to trial and grand gala event to treacherous open water swim on to daring high dives.  Interspersed with the minutiae of daily life and the restrictions placed upon her by virtue of her being born female you soon find yourself firmly backing Daisy and feeling her desperation and elation in equal measures.

Based on the real lives of lady Victorian swimmers every daring feat and unbelievable trick (eating and drinking underwater seems particularly bizarre) they are all taken from contemporary reports of the time.  Daisy's feats really happened which makes them all the more extraordinary.

The writing itself is a wonderfully contradictory mix of paucity and richly detailed passages that completely absorbs the reader and brings the whole to life in your heart as well as your head.  It is so skillfully paced that you find yourself racing through eager to find out just what will happen next to our intrepid tadpole and wishing you could reach out and simply touch this exceptional young woman.

I'm not going to tell you of all that Daisy accomplishes, of her failures, of her loves and losses.  What I am going to do is urge you pick up this book.  Clear your schedule, let the dust settle and the laundry remain in the basket, open the pages and allow yourself to be transported to a wonderfully rich Victorian World full of character and bristling with energy.  Then when you surface, brushing the water from your face and slicking your hair back I would encourage you to take the plunge once again, from the beginning and this time savour it - that is what I intend to do.

THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK PROVIDED BY THE PIGEONHOLE