Swimming with Tigers

by Kathy Hopewell

Swimming with Tigers is an absorbing novel about friendship and self-discovery set in Europe in the 1930s.
It brings to life the forgotten stories of the women who were part of the surrealist art movement.

It is 1938, and headstrong art student Penelope has left behind her privileged English family to join the surrealists in Paris. In a café, she meets a mysterious, haunted woman who calls herself Suzanne. When Penelope’s artwork is shown at an exhibition, she realises that both she and Suzanne have been betrayed by members of the surrealist group.

Gradually, a friendship develops and together they begin to throw off the subordinate role that the surrealist movement expects of them as women.

The dislocations of war separate Penelope and Suzanne from each other and send them on a desperate chase across France into Spain and finally to Lisbon.

In the darkest of times, will they find a way to save each other?

A story of passion, creativity and courage, Swimming with Tigers is based on real-life women surrealists such as Leonora Carrington and Lee Miller who inspired great art but also wanted to be recognised as artists in their own right.

333 pages, Paperback

Published October 15, 2024

Reviews

[abi · Rating 1 out of 5]

this was a hard read. i picked up almost straight away on the bad writing - every sentence just read like ‘penelope did this, then she did this. suzanne also did this’… etc. which just made it a bit of a slog to get through, and made me miss a lot of what i think were supposed to be the key messages in this. because of the writing style, the pacing was also completely thrown off, and it was as if we didn’t get to sit in the moment and reflect on something after it happened, and instead we were just rushing to get to the next action, which made me feel like i didn’t really know the characters at all, because there was no time to pause and consider how they might have been feeling or thinking at any given moment. admittedly, i don’t know much about surrealism in the 1930s, but that shouldn’t have been a factor, as i have enjoyed several other historical fiction books that i think were executed much better.

[Lora Arbrador · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't usually like historical fiction...the whole time I'm reading, I'm wondering what is factual and what is made up. But I have a weakness for books about art so I took a chance on Swimming With Tigers. I have a bit of knowledge of early female (and male) surrealists, but I did not clearly recognize any of the artists. That was a good thing because I was able to enjoy the book as a work of fiction. Hopewell used these characters as a jumping off point for a good story. Swimming With Tigers never flagged and was interesting! Penelope's struggles were eerily like our own even though it was set in the 1930s. And the contrast between Penelope and Suzanne provided a tender dynamic that resonated throughout the book. There is drama but also restraint which makes the book ring with authenticity. Swimming with Tigers is an unusual and worthy read!