737. Waterland

Waterland
Graham Swift
1983
Around 310 pages

I was surprised to learn that the film adaptation moved the location to Pittsburgh. This feels like a story that can only happen in the Fens. And Jeremy Irons stars in it, so not really sure what's going on there. I guess childless women being crazy is a trope you can take anywhere.

Tom Crick is a history teacher who is slowly being phased out by his school to make way for more STEM subjects. He takes the fresh approach of using his personal history to engage his students. Tom's relationship with his wife Mary is juicy enough to engage even the most bored pupil.

Swift manages to come up with some disturbing, albeit not entirely original, twists to this story, and the way he presented the narrative was unique. Much of my enjoyment came from the descriptions of the Fenlands, and I can see the influence this had on future works that I admire (Ian Banks anybody?).

I know a few scenes in this story are going to stick with me, which is more that I can say for a lot of the slogs on this List.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

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