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absolutive's review against another edition
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This book takes place on one very wet rainy day in a holiday park on a Scottish loch. Each chapter is told from the viewpoint of a different character, and we revisit the various families and their holiday cabins from different members' points of view. The flitting from mind to mind and the prose mirror the waves of loch and wind, the circular path around the loch, and the steady downpour of rain in a lovely style. Some of the themes in this book are ageing, immigration and inclusion, and for the young and middle-aged how to live the good life in a changing world with an uncertain future and seemingly rosy past. The book contains its share of sparkly wee gems of insight, humour, irony, pathos, and prose. I found the book fun and engaging but not challenging or deeply moving. The ending seemed tacked on, like a hopeful attitude on a rainy day, though it was not hopeful.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Xenophobia
michellehogmire's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Thanks to FSG for an advance galley of this title, which came out in the US on Jan 12, 2021--
After really enjoying Ghost Wall, I was excited to read this new book by Sarah Moss, whose writing is quiet and understated, yet hugely emotionally impactful; I think I prefer Ghost Wall overall, but Summerwater definitely didn't disappoint.
Despite the fact that Summerwater describes a group of people vacationing in remote cabins in Scotland, the experience is much more anxiety-inducing than relaxing. The weather is relentlessly rainy, and the novel's characters either soak themselves outside or stay inside--and judge the behavior of the strangers staying around them through their windows. Mothers try to relax when it's impossible: they still have to cook and clean and take care of the kids on holiday. Teenagers resent their parents, and the quickly dying world and uncertain futures they've been dealt. Young couples try to figure out how to live a more sustainable life, while older couples resent change and hide rapidly encroaching memory loss. And everyone's upset about the "foreign" family, who host loud parties late into the night.
Moss is a master at rendering unsettled minds and rapid, associative thoughts on the page (my favorite being a woman who can't stop thinking about genocide when her partner is trying to attain a simultaneous orgasm). Summerwater is the perfect depiction of that common feeling of "trying" to relax--of criticizing ourselves for "wasting" our few days off by not appropriately enjoying them.
Large scale social upheaval and political clashes, climate change, inherited prejudice, and natural loss loom in the background of every small moment--with interstitial chapters about animals trying to survive a perilous environment complimenting scenes of trivial human concerns. But Moss' point seems to be that these human moments actually aren't trivial: instead, like the book's stressful end, the little things often add up and burst forth dangerously, if we don't try to deal with them.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
lian's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Child death, Fatphobia, and Bullying
lorellei's review against another edition
emotional
relaxing
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This year I have firstly encounter Sarah Moss, through Ghost wall and similar to that one, Summerwater gets 4 stars. Sarah Moss reminds me of Ali Smith, I will for sure read all her books. Summerwater is not plot driven, some families and couples are on holiday, somewhere near a loch, in Scotland and it rains. You get the perspective of each character (with one exception), a lot of info for such a short book and a lot of subjects, like climate change, feminism, immigration, long term relationships, sex, family, money, sport. Basically every possible subject appears due to lack of activity thanks to the rain.
I enjoyed the details for each character, you could differentiate clearly between them. The scenery, loved it, I really miss Scotland, the holiday there still brings back great memories. I am amused by "the Romanians" with the loud music, we do not appear a lot in english novels, but when we do...things happen, it seems.
I enjoyed the details for each character, you could differentiate clearly between them. The scenery, loved it, I really miss Scotland, the holiday there still brings back great memories. I am amused by "the Romanians" with the loud music, we do not appear a lot in english novels, but when we do...things happen, it seems.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
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