A young writer takes on a story about how a local swimming pool is going to be shut down and redeveloped and in the process finds a new life. She interviews an elderly lady who started coming to the pool as a young woman, and begins to learn her story and understand why the lido pool is so important to the community and all the people who live there.

One of the advanced categories on my 2018 Reading Challenge was a book by someone with the same first or last name as you. I then saw this debut novel reviewed (I suspect in Red Magazine, that’s where I get a lot of my book recommendations from) and finally saw I could get an advance review copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review – it seemed so serendipitous that I had to read it!!

Here’s the blurb:

“Meet Rosemary, 86, and Kate, 26: dreamers, campaigners, outdoor swimmers…

Rosemary has lived in Brixton all her life, but everything she knows is changing. Only the local lido, where she swims every day, remains a constant reminder of the past and her beloved husband George.

Kate has just moved and feels adrift in a city that is too big for her. She’s on the bottom rung of her career as a local journalist, and is determined to make something of it.

So when the lido is threatened with closure, Kate knows this story could be her chance to shine. But for Rosemary, it could be the end of everything. Together they are determined to make a stand, and to prove that the pool is more than just a place to swim – it is the heart of the community.

The Lido is an uplifting novel about the importance of friendship, the value of community, and how ordinary people can protect the things they love.”

It is such a really lovely book. You are rooting for Kate from the start – she reminds me, in some ways, of Eleanor Oliphant – in the debut novel hit of 2017 ‘Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine’. A loaner who struggles a bit with other people and who comes out of her shell as the book progresses.

Rosemary is similar in age to my Grandmother and honorary Grandmother – and reminded me in particular of my honorary Grandma – who despite being in her very late 80s is up for anything! This photo of Grandma on holiday in a pool with a beer would be very ‘Rosemary’ too!

The book also looks back over the life and marriage of Rosemary and her husband George – it is such a fond and loving partnership that endured many many years – just like honorary Grandma and Grandad.

The main storyline of the book is the proposed closure of the lido in a Brixton Park by evil property developers (I say that with tongue firmly in cheek as it’s a hat I also wear when not reading books!!) but the relationships between the various characters and the community of Brixton really fills the story out. The descriptions of Brixton – both the urban areas – but also the parks – are really evocative, even though it’s not a place I know at all.

I enjoyed the interaction between all of the different characters – but it’s the relationship between Kate and Rosemary that is vital to the story – and life changing for both people. I can see how it could happen in real life too.

The community spirit was fabulous – and reminded me of the village where I live – not a suburb of London, but still with a wide cross section of people who often all pull together for local causes.

Kate’s relationships not just with Rosemary but with her sister, housemates, parents, colleagues are all explored – it’s so lovely seeing Kate blossom.

The ending was great – not exactly what I would have predicted either, which is always a bonus, and had me weeping (which isn’t difficult to be fair!!)

Overall this is a beautifully written book, which is an easy and enjoyable read – perfect for whilst lounging round a lido this summer maybe?!?

Received this book from Net Galley,well written book,gives the reader a true picture of a community,real feel to it as it names places in the book that gives the reader a visual picture in the mind eye,covers community spirit, now and then,and different generations living and working together,helping each other out.
This is definately a book everyone should read for 2018,a best seller in the making.

I picked up this charming novel on a rainy Sunday morning and read it in one sitting. A great feel-good book which has a friendship at its core. Lovely and quick read but with some poignant messages about love, marriage, community and friendship.

Fix yourself a pot of tea and find a comfortable chair with a cosey blanket nearby (you might need it when you read about the cold water) and enter the wonderful world of The Lido, in Brixton, London.

If you have friends of different ages and especially appreciate the older, wiser section of our society, you will thoroughly enjoy this story.

The Lido contains a Love Story for the ages. A couple first found each other early in their lives and their love story continues for many years. Rosemary, 86 is still very much in love with George, although he has passed away 2 year prior to this story (this is not a spoiler).

The story is also about a lonely young women, Kate, who lives with so much fear, yet she fights it to try to have the life she can envision. Her path crosses with Rosemary at a time when Kate's spirits are very low. They develop a friendship that both benefit greatly from. (An aside here: Rosemary reminded me so much of an older friend I had that is now deceased. It was so heartwarming for me to re-visit our friendship along with reading Kate and Rosemary's friendship take root and grow.)

The Lido also has a current-time love story forming in the book. I will not write about it, and let you enjoy it first hand.

The Brixton neighborhood, the Lido and it's inhabitants are also strong characters throughout the book. The writing of Libby Page is wonderful and you feel a part of the community and are welcomed with opened arms. I especially enjoyed the view of the area, several times, through the eyes of a fox roaming around, him also a part of the Brixton community.

I recommend The Lido highly and hope you enjoy the visit to Brixton as much as I did. I want to thank NetGalley.com and Simon & Schuster for the advanced reader's copy of this book and introducing me to Libby Page's work. I will definitely follow her and look forward to her future work. This book is set to be released on July 10, 2018.

The Lido is a slow burner, but I found the story of Kate's friendship with Rosemary and their battle to save the Lido very moving. It's both a story of a specific friendship and a celebration of community in the widest sense - as the unlikely duo struggle to save the Lido from evil developers they are helped by a growing cast of assorted colleagues, family members and acquaintances who become friends.

At times I wanted to skip over the chapters which depicted Rosemary's early life and relationship with her husband, as I found Kate's story more compelling - her initial anxiety and loneliness make her a sympathetic character, however as the two stories developed I found the sections about Rosemary very moving.

The Lido has a good, but realistic ending, which I also appreciated - it would make a great film!

I was given an advance reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

This is a very sweet book, nothing unexpected, pure comfort reading for a rainy day, but it’s also anti-gentrification and pro-immigrant in a way I wasn’t expecting. Definitely a love letter to Brixton.

A heartwarming story of an unlikely friendship between a young woman and an elderly woman who come together in an attempt to save the local lido. I really enjoyed this "feel good" story! Thank you to NetGalley and Orion publishing for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

This novel is beautifully written with elegant, almost poetic prose that carried me along from page to page like the smooth strokes of a swimmer gliding through the water. It was comforting to read the story of Rosemary and George's long and loving marriage. I felt like I knew and loved both of them by the time the book was over. I loved the story of how the community pulled together to try to save the community pool that Rosemary had been swimming in for 80 years. And I also loved the transformation of the young journalist, Kate, as well as many others in the community... transformation that sprang from their close connection with Rosemary. Highly recommend.

I was able to read this book for free from NetGalley, and am grateful to the publisher and the author for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Beautifully written, poignant and uplifting, I loved everything about The Lido. As much a novel about London as a universal story, the power of community, memory, and local history is woven throughout this story of love, friendship, and finding your place in the world.

The Lido is simply a lovely book. It is a story of friendship between the generations and the joys of community. Kate is a twenty-six year old reporter who suffers from a panic disorder. She is assigned the story of the lido, an outdoor pool, that is threatened with foreclosure. In covering this story, Kate moves ahead in her own life. Kate works with eighty-something year old Rosemary on the lido campaign. The story of the lido links with Rosemary's childhood and marriage. Widow Rosemary recalls the love of her George throughout the novel in touching and moving ways. Surprise of this book...author Libby Page is only in her 20s and this is her first novel. Bravo Ms. Page! You have written a sweet, touching and life-affirming story.

A joy to read about friendships and perseverance. The focus was on the 2 main characters and they became alive in my mind. Very readable

A charming feel good book about friendship and community pulling together over an issue which affects them all. Touchingly written with characters one can easily identify with where friendship can be found between diverse people in big cities where loneliness often prevails but united in a common cause giving a city area a village feel. Kate is a young, lonely, journalist lacking in confidence, who is finding it difficult living in London but, after her editor gives her a story about closure of the local lido, she gets to know her neighbours and in particular Rosemary an elderly widow. The tale is easy to read and sensitively written and moves between the modern day and the past in fairly short chapters which makes it an ideal read for when time is short or fragmented. It deals with anxiety issues as well as kindness and friendship in a fight against seemingly insurmountable local government and big corporate companies who try and change everyday people's lives for their own gain being insensitive to the local population. It makes a refreshing change to read about an ordinary shy girl who blossoms and has tentatively found love and friendship, and an charming old lady who is still mourning the love of her life but still needs people around.

A feel good book about an eighty plus year old and a twenty plus woman finding friendship and helping each other. The story is about changes in life and how sometimes change can be positive or negative. Often with change it is good to have at least one constant to keep you grounded and in this case it was the community swimming pool. A place people went to reconnect and forgot about everyday problems. The book is about finding love and even in death keeping love alive. It is about a community coming together and supporting each other .Thanks netgalley,

The blending of two lonely souls, one young and the other older, was a delight to read. Kate, a reporter for a local newspaper has an assignment to write about the selling of the Lido, the swimming pool that is about to close and set to become a luxurious high-rise. Rosemary, the 86 year old women has sent a petition around in hopes of saving the pool, the one she has been going to throughout her life. Set in a neighborhood in London, the author writes so vividly you can almost see yourself there. This debut novel was such a perfect read, thoroughly enjoyable. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to enjoy this novel in exchange for an honest review.