Book review: ‘Summer water’ - Sarah Moss
Summer water is Sarah Moss’ contemporary novel published in August 2020. The title of the novel is a reference to ‘The ballad of semerwater ‘ by the poet William Watson.The story is set in a group of log cabins on the shore of a loch somewhere north of Glasgow. Despite being near the city, it is still a very remote location . In other words , it combines the comfort of one’s home with the wilderness of nature which is familiar for those who have travelled in a caravan with their families during the holiday period. The novel takes place within a twenty-four hour period and is narrated by different characters from different age ranges staying in the park. Justin and Steve with their two children , David who is a retired GP and his wife Mary, Milly and Josh who are engaged, two teenagers Alex and Becky, and young Lizzie with her Mum Claire. Each scenario gives us a glimpse of what British society is like based on generation and age. For families like Lizzie and her Mum, the experience of worrying about the cost of the holiday whilst keeping the family happy is well displayed.
With this type of skill, Moss was able to let the readers know the character's deepest concerns. Often a hard thing to do. For example, behind Josh’s cheery mood, he is shown to be worried about how Milly will cope with island life once they get married. David struggles with the adjustment to Mary’s deteriorating mobility as Justine describes her awareness of the fragility of her skin. All these issues are heightened when the massive rain storm hits the park later in the novel.
One of the big topics that comes up throughout the narrative is Brexit. Moss presents this with the different effects it has on each character. Justine looks back on the different directions she could have taken before marrying Steve. She wishes she travelled to Paris and Vienna and admits that, now, because of Brexit, it will be harder to travel to the places she wishes to go. David appears to question the stupidity of English people voting to leave the EU ( he’s Scottish). Also, there is a long cabin occupied by a Eastern -European family. No one seems to know their nationalities. They appear in all the narratives because they tend to play loud music during the night thus adding more misery to the terrible rain. Due to this, their narrative is the only one we don’t here due to the fact that they are not British holiday makers.
However , despite the different narratives for each character , I find that this is also a novel about exploring families. Due to the limited space in the cabin and the terrible rain outside, it forces the families to come together . This is especially the case with the two teenaged characters Alex and Becky. Most teenagers can relate to being stuck with their parents in a small place with no form of entertainment forcing them to communicate with each other. Only instead of this, Becky climbs out of the window to visit the ex-soldier she met earlier on in the day. We also see other characters dealing with family life. Justine is shown doing her early morning run which she needs for her mental health and Lola’s dad goes to the pub to use the WiFi for work.
Sarah Moss has proven to be an expert of evocative writing. It is a short but compelling story in which the writer has captured all aspects of family life.
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