You know exactly were this book is going from the first page, but the journey there is an absolute delight.
Three friends, now estranged, thrown back together in the village they grew up in. Did their life choices pan out as they thought they would? Are they happy in their lives? Can they ever get over their differences and get back their friendship?
A lovely warm blanket of a read that I would adore a sequel to as I’m now bereft I’ve left their company.

Lauren, Naimh and Heather were firm friends from starting secondary school to the night of celebrating their leaving certificates. Then, they had a massive row and haven't spoken to each other since.
Fifteen years later they are all going to be in the village at Christmas. Naimh still lives there, despite having big plans to travel the world, she got married and had children.
Lauren has returned to convalesce both her body and mind after losing another baby. She has also inherited her grandmother Rosemary's house and needs to sort it out.
Heather has returned from her travels and has agreed to help Pippa her mother, sort out her house, now that her father has left.
When they were teens they used to swim in the Lough with Rosemary who firmly believed that the Lough was the cure for most things that ailed your mind. Individually they return to the Lough, but it's not until there is a near tragedy that invisible strings start to pull things together once more.
A lovely book to read and I enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed the previous book by this author.

I never pass up an opportunity to read an Ireland-set book. Throw in friendship and one of my favourite hobbies, open water swimming, and I’m sold. The question is, did the reading of the book live up to my high hopes for it?

This story covers two timelines, the here and now in the lives of three grownup, estranged women and flashbacks to their teenage years when they were the closest of friends. What happened in the intervening years to ensure they haven’t spoken to each other from then until now and how has the estrangement affected their lives. Women with a close group of friends will know how important this relationships are in our lives and for our mental wellbeing; I can’t imagine not having my closest friends in my life for five minutes, let alone years.

I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of how life never quite ends up how you believe it will turn out when you are young and carefree and believe the world if your oyster and nothing can touch you. How easy it is to take your opportunities and the people around you for granted and think nothing of squandering them. How different things look back with the benefit of hindsight, but of course you can never go back and change things, you have to move forward.

This is a book of gentle but truthful drama and very female centric. I really loved the characters, they were all interesting, flawed but eventually redeemable women that you would be quite happy to be friends with if they crossed your path. Their lives were believable; not straightforward but completely relatable to a normal woman picking up this book. If you enjoy seeing people like yourself reflected back at you from the pages of a novel, you can do much worse than this novel.

If, like me, you enjoy reading books sent in the beautiful, verdant scenery of Ireland, you will love immersive yourself in the world of Lough Carragh and its inhabitants. If you have travelled in rural Ireland, particularly in the south, the place will feel familiar and homely to you, and you will quickly relax into life there and feel part of the story.

Overall, this was a thoroughly lovely read that delivered everything I hoped it would when I picked it up and if you are a fan of the writing of Maeve Binchy, Cathy Kelly or Faith Hogan, you will love this book.

Life changes people, but down deep are they really different?

This story centers around 3 women who were best friends until they were torn apart. It is told in two timelines, 20 years apart. Niamh, Heather and Lauren were high school friends and life has taken them along different paths. Heather is a facade to the outside world, Niamh feels unfulfilled and Lauren longs for a child. The story follows what happens when Heather returns to their town, and how they interact.

I don’t think I enjoyed this book as much as I did the last book by this author, The Moonlight Gardening Club, but it is a solid read for those who enjoy reading women’s fiction and friendship books. I will continue to look forward to future books by this author.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

This touching story has love, kindness and friendship at its core.. three teenage girls find friendship when they start secondary school, yet after sharing their hopes and dreams for the future nobody could predict where their lives would be 15 years after leaving school.
I loved the interaction between these characters and grandmother. Rosemary, the lynchpin of the story. It was interesting to see how the teenage dreams changed and how the now mature girls dealt with the changes.
My only irritation was the use of the word ‘gotten’. It grated as it seemed out of place in the narrative.
Overall I enjoyed this warm story.

Friends from the first school days these three people then fall out and it is 50 years later that they meet and become friends again. This is a heartfelt novel and I enjoyed it. 5stars.

Thanks to Netgalley, author and publisher for this ARC

A lovely tale of friendship told by three women over two time frames. Niamh, Heather and Lauren were BFFs until they weren't but now they're back together and the years- and the arguements- fall away. It's a gentle, nicely written novel that will make for a pleasant weekend read.

The Sunrise Swimming Society is a captivating tale that will resonate with readers who appreciate stories of friendship, resilience, and the enduring bonds that withstand the test of time. With its poignant narrative and richly drawn characters, this book is a testament to the healing power of love and forgiveness, reminding us it's never too late to reclaim what was once lost.

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

The story is about 3 girls, they meet at school on their first day, together they become best friends. One of the friends’ grandmother is always there for them to help and offer advice.

But, when they are 18, they go their separate ways after having huge arguments.

Then after 15 years, their individual issues bring them back in the village they grew up in. The story is told from all three girls’ perspectives in the present and the past.

The characters were all relatable.

I recommend this book.

Set in Ireland, 3 friends from school had a big fallout and never spoke to each other until they are reluctantly reunited many years later.

A heart-warming/ heartbreaking story of friendship. I was particularly drawn the Rosemary, the grandmother of the group. Its a slow burn read set over two timelines

The Sunrise Swimming Society by Rosie Hannigan focuses on young women learning to grow their friendship and support each other through life. Ultimately, it is the older women in the community who show them the best example of how to do this.

This was my first book by Rosie Hannigan. I really enjoyed this book. It is about 3 girls who meet on the first day of high school and become the best of friends until they have a huge falling out when they are 18. Circumstances then bring them back to their village 15 years later. I like the way the story is told from each girl’s perspective and I also enjoyed the way the story was set in 2 time zones. The characters were all believable and I loved the connections to the grandmother, Rosemary and her friends as well. Its well worth a read.

A sensitive insightful and touching tale of three best friends from a small town in Ireland who swim in their lake on early mornings.
Niamh Heather and Lauren became firm friends when they started at secondary school together but as the years go by a blow up between them pulls them apart. Fifteen years later can they pick up their friendships and live and support each other again.
This is a beautiful story of friendship and the different types of families there are in a community. Great characters, easy to visualise and warm to, their history and individual stories were brilliantly written. I really enjoyed this tale taking me to county Wicklow in Ireland. A moving story that made me smile.
Thank you NetGalley and Avon for the early read. Highly recommended.

They were supposed to be friends for life but after a few years that was not to be until a second chance came along that brought the three friends back together. A wonderful encapsulating story of friendship and relationships. This is a book not to be missed.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Heather Moore, Niamh Kennedy and Lauren Dwyer meet on the first day of high school, they promise to be lifelong friends, and they enjoy their weekly sunrise swims in Lough Caragh. Rosemary Lauren’s granny owns Mill House, it’s built on the Lough's foreshore, the girls link up here before their swim and afterward Rosemary warms them up with a hot cuppa,something to eat and a bonfire.

The girls are typical teenagers, they talk about boys they like, their dreams for the future and what they want do when they leave school and on the last day they promise to meet every year to celebrate the summer solstice and swim in Lough Caragh.

The story has a dual timeline, its set in 2003 and in 2024, fifteen years apart and it’s told from the three main characters points of view.

Niamh is married to Evan, she has three daughters, her life hasn’t turned out how she expected, she wants to open a B&B, her husband is opposed to the idea and they seem to be drifting apart. Heather is a high profile travelling food critic, she leads a very different life now to when she was a teenager, her parents Pippa and Cash were young parents and hippy’s. Heather didn’t have a stable home life, her friendship with Niamh and Lauren was really important, they didn’t judge her and Rosemary took her under her wing. Lauren married her childhood sweetheart Shane, both are teachers and have been trying unsuccessfully to have a baby. Her doctor has advised Lauren to have a break and she decides to stay at Mill House and where she spent so many happy summers with her grandparents Rosemary and Paddy.

All three women are back in Caragh, in a small Irish village it will be impossible for them to not seen each other, will they be able to repair their friendship, move forward and celebrate Rosemary's legacy?

I received a digital copy of The Sunrise Swimming Society by Rosie Hannigan from Avon Books, UK and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The narrative focuses on the girl’s friendship, how it all went terribly wrong and their lives didn’t go as planned.

I had two best friends in high school, reading the story reminded me of being a teenager and our squabbles, hindsight is a wonderful thing and life doesn’t come with a crystal ball and you never know what will happen to you on the crazy journey to adulthood.

Ms. Hannigan's novel is full of wonderful and diverse characters and my favourites were Lauren, Heather, Rosemary, Paddy, Shane and Pippa. I love reading stories about friendships and their ups and downs, the summer and winter solace, beautiful Ireland, loughs (I was name after two and I feel a real connection to them) and four stars from me.

Lovely feelgood story that sweeps you away to Ireland. Its a heartwarming story of friendships and re-uniting again. It made me want to swim in a lake ! A great emotional story to escape into.

Based in Ireland it’s a wonderful book about friendships and the ups and down’s there of. The three girls learn to swim in the local loch and agree to meet up every year on midsummer dawn. But as with best laid plans after 15 years it no longer happens, in fact they don’t even speak. But by chance they’re all back together and things happen to bring them back together. It’s all about second chances and friendships. It’s marvellous. Loved it

A really enjoyable story about three women who were friends in school, had a falling out at the end of their schooldays and didn't speak to each other again, until they meet up again when they are all in their mid-30s, all set in a small Irish village.

Heather, Lauren and Niamh were great friends in school, but fell out over the usual teenage histrionics, and never spoke again until they were in their 30s. Heather made her money travelling the world. Niamh married, stayed in the village and had three children. Lauren married and lived near Dublin, but had been left her grandmother's house by the lake, where she is spending most of her time now sorting things out.

The girls all used to swim in the lake, with Rosemary, and always met at each solstice. Rosemary, Lauren's grandmother, was a lynchpin for all the girls, and always there for them when they needed someone to talk to, especially Heather whose homelife wasn't great.

But Rosemary has recently died, and all the girls have reached a difficult point in their lives that they are working through and they all end up back in the village, albeit still avoiding each other initially.

The falling out, and the reason for each of them not talking to the other, wasn't as major as I expected, as we didn't learn about this until the end of the book, and seemed a bit ridiculous once they all talked about it, but I suppose they were all hurt by words spoken at the time.

Of course in the end everyone sorted out their personal issues, and eventually came together at the lake, when scattering Rosemary's ashes in her beloved Lough Caragh. The ending definitely made me shed a tear or two! Quite a slow story but with enough going on with each woman to keep you interested. Very enjoyable.

"Friends for life" seems like the perfect description of Niamh, Lauren and Heather until something happens that sees them fall out big style, not contacting each for fifteen years. Each goes their own way, but life doesn't always turn out the way they expected. Niamh- the wannabe air hostess intending to travel the world- is a mother before her career has any chance of taking off. Lauren - the one most likely to settle down and start a family - struggles to conceive, and Heather - who absolutely nobody had any expectations of - becomes a big name in the travel world with her social media lifestyle.

The reunion, when it comes, is not easy and each of them resists. As the reader, we don't know why for a very long time (and, if I'm honest, the reason does seem to have been blown up out of all proportions) but even so, we're rooting for them to bury the hatchet and rekindle their friendship.
I loved how their story mirrored that of Lauren's grandmother and her friends, a group of women who managed to weather the storm despite great distances between them. These older ladies bring wisdom to the younger ones, enabling to see that despite a rocky few years, they really are - and always will be - friends for life.

This is an emotional story with engaging characters, and regardless of the slow start, it soon becomes a book you won't be able to put down. A heart-warming tale that shows how true friendship is not always easy, but it's definitely worth the effort.
#Netgalley #TheSunriseSwimmingSociety

---- A lovely, light-hearted book about friendship, loyalty and love. You will find this a wonderful read!