
Summerwater
Reviews

Masterful exploration of boredom; perhaps so much so that I never truly connected with the story. The abrupt ending with so little context was unsatisfying… I wondered if I had missed a page.

3.5/5

Summerwater comes together as a collection of stories from the POV of people living on a small Scottish isle, and how their lives interact on a rainy day. Although I enjoyed the book overall, there were a few characters I couldn't connect with and found myself skimming those chapters. Even still, I did not expect the ending AT ALL, and it left me wanting so much more! I really hope this won't be the end of Moss's writing about this group of people because I would love to hear more of this story. 4/5 Stars Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It never rains but it pours. Sarah Moss is a master of character and atmosphere and Summerwater is no exception. Like Ghost Wall it is seething with tension as she lets us into the innermost thoughts of a series of characters, all holidaying on the banks of a rainy Scottish loch. The characters throb with resentment and boredom in the wilderness, reflecting on their lives and relationships, making assumptions about one another as they glimpse temporary neighbour through the mist and rain. She makes the most of a setting that is wild and isolated and the claustrophobia intensifies the gnawing frustration that is so clear in the internal monologues. These monologues are one of the things she does best, revealing complex and contradictory personalities full of conflicting actions and opinions. Moss writes people brilliantly in all their darkness and light and the tension is on a steady rise as relationships fray and people pass judgement until the final dramatic conclusion.

Families and couples in a rain-drenched holiday park in Scotland. Brilliantly written, nuanced and detailed character studies, old and young alike, all struggling with cabin fever, skillfully interlaced. A state-of-the-nation, with a dark undercurrent. Also, "other silent swimmers" is my new all-time favourite chapter title.


















