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A review by lunchpoems
The Tidal Zone by Sarah Moss
3.0
2.5 stars. My second Sarah Moss and probably my last for the moment. I’m afraid to say that this author isn’t for me — although in both The Tidal Zone and Ghost Wall the writing has, on the whole, been extremely good, I’ve found them both pretty dull. I’ve mostly found that Moss is perceptive about British society and she very deftly goes into the cultural and economic divides that disadvantage us. But it’s all just a bit middle class for me, and that annoying kind of middle class that is self-deprecating and “oh what is to be done? I’ll mull it over while I enjoy some vintage wine on my holidays in the Italian mountains.” That’s all well and good because of course, everything is relative, but I have to say that I don’t find it very interesting reading.
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The Tidal Zone begins with 15 year old Mimi collapsing in school, as part of her as yet undiagnosed medical issue. She spends 12 days in hospital, and during her stay and for some weeks after, we follow her precariously employed academic father and his worries about her health. He is married to Emma, the breadwinner in their family, who is very busy being a GP in an underfunded practice. They also have another daughter who is 8 and who I can’t remember the name of as I type this even though I finished it 2 hours ago which says enough. Intercepted with the story of their family life is the history of the father’s American and Jewish dad and his travels, and the academic work that he is researching on the Arts and Crafts movement in cathedrals. I *think* what Moss was getting at with these individual threads was the shared history of labour that unites us but I’m not too sure and don’t care enough to think about it too much.
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The Tidal Zone begins with 15 year old Mimi collapsing in school, as part of her as yet undiagnosed medical issue. She spends 12 days in hospital, and during her stay and for some weeks after, we follow her precariously employed academic father and his worries about her health. He is married to Emma, the breadwinner in their family, who is very busy being a GP in an underfunded practice. They also have another daughter who is 8 and who I can’t remember the name of as I type this even though I finished it 2 hours ago which says enough. Intercepted with the story of their family life is the history of the father’s American and Jewish dad and his travels, and the academic work that he is researching on the Arts and Crafts movement in cathedrals. I *think* what Moss was getting at with these individual threads was the shared history of labour that unites us but I’m not too sure and don’t care enough to think about it too much.