Name: At the Pond
ISBN: 9781911547396

Sophie Mackintosh

Margaret Drabble

Esther Freud

Combining personal reminiscence with reflections on the history of the place over the years and through the seasons, for the first time this collection brings together writers' impressions of the Pond.

Swimming at the Hampstead Ladies' Pond

At the Pond

I was moved by the way the book offers intimate glimpses into the lives of women who come to the Hampstead Ladies’ Pond not just to swim, but to heal, reflect, and be.

the essays are varied in voice but unified in feeling: raw, real, and full of unspoken tenderness. I found myself particularly drawn to the themes of female friendship, self-discovery, and the quiet power of shared space.

I deeply value stories of service, of subtle acts of care—and this book is full of them, whether in the way women look out for one another, or in how they care for their own inner worlds.

I did wish at times for a little more narrative flow—a stronger thread to bind the essays—but perhaps that is part of the charm. it feels like a conversation, not a performance.

cherish

I was moved by the way the book offers intimate glimpses into the lives of women who come to the Hampstead Ladies’ Pond not just to swim, but to heal, reflect, and be.

the essays are varied in voice but unified in feeling: raw, real, and full of unspoken tenderness. I found myself particularly drawn to the themes of female friendship, self-discovery, and the quiet power of shared space.

I deeply value stories of service, of subtle acts of care—and this book is full of them, whether in the way women look out for one another, or in how they care for their own inner worlds.

I did wish at times for a little more narrative flow—a stronger thread to bind the essays—but perhaps that is part of the charm. it feels like a conversation, not a performance.

Celine Nguyen ✿

A lovely, leisurely collection of essays about the joys of the Hampstead Heath ladies’ pond (and filled with tender details about living in London more generally). The essays are pleasantly varied in voice and topic; there are writers I love (Jessica J. Lee, Nina Mingya Powles, Leanne Shapton, Lou Stoppard) and writers I discovered through this book (Ava Wong Davies, Nell Frizzell, Eli Goldstone, Deborah Moggach). Lots of beautiful meditations on aging with joy and gratitude, the serenity of being unselfconscious and physically present in your body in women’s spaces, the thrilling shock of entering cold water…

At the Pond Swimming at the Hampstead Ladies' Pond