Swimming on the Moon

Any child will find it hard to cope with their parents growing apart but sometimes it may mean a stronger bond between siblings. In Anna and Anto’s case, there is already a remarkably strong connection. Not only are they twins, but Anto is autistic and does not speak and Anna has long been a loving buffer and interpreter between him and the rest of the world. With Anna as narrator, Brian Conaghan skilfully introduces us to the family: to parents who have fallen out of love for each other but remain united in their love and care of their children; to Anto, whose best friend is a coat hanger that he carries with him everywhere and who communicates mainly through his moods and the arrangement of Lego bricks; and, most of all, to Anna, whose longing for a different life, where she doesn’t have to feel so responsible either for Anto or keeping her family together, is expressed in fantasies of a parallel “perfect” life. It is this other life that seems to be partially coming true when she is selected to take part in a dance competition in Rome, but it becomes increasingly clear that her hopes of a family trip to Italy bringing her parents back together is itself a dream. This is a remarkable novel, most of all in the subtle way that Conaghan acknowledges all the pressures on Anna, both from within the family and in her friendships; some of which pressures derive from Anto’s autism and how others might perceive him. Yet, at the same time, Conaghan shows us that Anna’s love for her twin and the bond between them is a source of strength for both of them.