Mr Book Exchange and I are off on our summer holiday’s later this month and to celebrate have two signed copies of Deborah Levy’s Swimming Home to give away.

Published last summer Swimming Home tells the tale of Joe and Isabel Jacobs on holiday with another couple in a villa in the hills above Nice.  None are prepared for the sight of a woman in their swimming pool one afternoon. And so enters Kitty Finch walking naked out of the water and into the heart of their holiday.  Why is she there?  What does she want from them all?  And why does Joe’s wife allow her to remain?

Swimming Home is a subversive page turner… with biting humour and immediate appeal, it wears its darkness lightly.  John Self, Guardian called it a "spiky and unsettling read" while Julia Pascal, Independent felt that Levy's "touch is gentle, often funny and always acute".

To be in with a chance of winning simply let us know what holiday read has inspired you or remained with you long after you returned home…

Mine would have to be By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho which I read in Thailand six years ago while nursing a broken heart.   This magical story of Pilar an independent young woman who is so bored and frustrated by the grind of her daily life and tormented by the notion of love she embarks on a journey through the French Pyrenees which will transform her life forever.  It is a wonderful blend of mysticism; exotic locations; intriguing characters and in Coelho’s characteristic style builds into a beautiful and profound tale of love, faith and hope.  I have returned to this lovely little book on many occasions (and recommended it many more) but it has never had the same effect as it did on that Thai beach!

Entries can be made via email to competition@thebookexchange.co.uk or simply add your book below, we'd love to have your recommendations for what to take with us on our travels. 

The competition will close at 10am on Monday 18 June 2012 and the winner will be notified by email.