The Waters

by Carl Nixon

One family. Forty years.

The Waters kids ― practical, athletic Mark; the physically beautiful dreamer Davey; and the baby of the family, Samantha ― have had to face more than their fair share of challenges. 1979 was the year their father sold up the farm and invested all the family’s money in a doomed property development next to the ocean in Christchurch. Is that when 'everything started going wrong', as Mark believes?

Will their bond survive the passage of time or will the three siblings succumb to their parents’ legacy of failure? Can the past be overcome . . . and forgiven?

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2023

About the author

Carl Nixon is a playwright, a short story writer and a novelist. He has written original plays and has adapted Lloyd Jones’ novel The Book of Fame and JM Coetzee's Disgrace.

Born in Christchurch, Nixon graduated with a Masters degree in Religious Studies from Canterbury University. He briefly taught secondary school English before leaving to teach in Japan for two years.

He has won numerous awards for his fiction, including winning and being nominated for key short story competitions.

Nixon was the Ursula Bethell/Creative New Zealand Writer in Residence at Canterbury University in 2006, where he completed his first novel, Rocking Horse Road. He has also written numerous plays for children.

2017 recipient of the Mansfield Menton Fellowship, with a sum of $35,000 to cover the time in Menton, France.

Reviews

[Sandysbookaday (on indefinite hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

EXCERPT: Nineteen seventy-nine, the summer. That was when my father, Patrick Waters, who everyone always calls Pat, broke his promise to his own father and sold our family's land. My grandfather had only been dead two years before Pat cashed up and took me, my brother and our mother away from the farm and the tomatoes our family had grown for three generations. We left behind the house where I'd lived all my life and the small community in Governors Bay on Banks Peninsula, where the waters family was as much a part of things as the pub, the two classroom school or the old jetty. I think that's when everything started going wrong, especially for our mother, though I may be mistaken about that. Maybe things were already pretty bad for Mum. Her death, just a few years later, may have already been likely to happen, even then.

ABOUT 'THE WATERS': One family. Forty years.

The Waters kids ― practical, athletic Mark; the physically beautiful dreamer Davey; and the baby of the family, Samantha ― have had to face more than their fair share of challenges. 1979 was the year their father sold up the farm and invested all the family’s money in a doomed property development next to the ocean in Christchurch. Is that when 'everything started going wrong', as Mark believes?

Will their bond survive the passage of time, or will the three siblings succumb to their parents’ legacy of failure? Can the past be overcome . . . and forgiven?

MY THOUGHTS: I spent a large part of the time I was reading The Waters feeling confused. I believed I was reading a novel where the timeline jumped about in no logical order. It was not until I read in the acknowledgements: Several of these stories have appeared before in various places, sometimes in significantly different versions. I wish I had known this BEFORE I started. I wouldn't have spent much time pondering and trying to work out how the chapters were connected.

The stories (as I now know them to be) are divided into four parts: PART ONE 2001 - 2013; PART TWO 2013 - 2019; PART THREE 1986 - 2001; and PART FOUR 1979 - 1985 and are narrated by various characters.

The stories are interconnected and focus on the Waters family - father Pat, mother Marika, and children Mark, Davey and Samantha. Marika is the character we know least about, yet she is the one who most interested me. We also learn little of Samantha as a child.

The stories focus mainly on Pat, Mark and Davey - Pat's efforts to make something of himself, and Mark and Davey growing up without a mother and, eventually, also without a father. Pulled together, these stories tell of broken dreams, defeated aspirations and the disintegration of a family.

Being able to now see these stories as individual vignettes has me appreciating them in a whole different way to when I was trying to make sense of them as a novel. I can even now appreciate the reasons behind the backwards timeline.

An interesting approach, and one that works better when the reader is forearmed with the knowledge that this is a book of interconnected short stories rather than a novel. A book I will probably read again.

⭐⭐⭐.7

#TheWaters @waitomodistrictlibrary

MEET THE AUTHOR: CARL NIXON was born in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1967 where he still lives with his wife and two children. He is a playwright, a short story writer and a novelist. He has written original plays and has adapted Lloyd Jones’ novel The Book of Fame and JM Coetzee's Disgrace.

Nixon graduated with a Masters degree in Religious Studies from Canterbury University. He briefly taught secondary school English before leaving to teach in Japan for two years.

He has won numerous awards for his fiction, including winning and being nominated for key short story competitions.

When asked what genre he prefers writing in, he often says, "whatever one I'm not working on at the moment".

[Trudie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

I appreciate a novel set in my hometown of Christchurch, there are not many - I can only think of books by Kate de Goldi (From the Cutting Room of Barney Kettle and Eddy, Eddy) and some crime thrillers by Paul Cleeve. So I was really happy to be gifted this new novel by Carl Nixon which has such beautiful descriptions of places I remember from my childhood - New Brighton Mall in the 80s, the city as it was pre earthquake. The Waters is infused with an unmistakable "South Islandness" that I soaked up.

There are some great stand-alone short stories here - My Beautiful Balloon : based on the 1995 New Brighton hot air accident. Bullrush : seems entirely lifted from my own primary school. The Bach: Kaikoura takes center stage, although its renamed Kaipuna.

Nixon is a good writer ( and I am keen to try his other novels ) but this one left me with too many questions. The Waters family deserved a novel. Marika's story, for example, remained frustratingly vague, she is a spectral presence, and yet I craved at least one story from her point of view.
It's devilishly tricky to pull off the "linked short story" concept, it can seem like you have just pulled some old short stories out of a drawer and cello-taped them together to form a novel. This is not quite whats happening here but these characters are so strong, I can't help but feel an opportunity might have been missed for the great South Island multi-generational novel ?

[Marcus Hobson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The back of this novel describes itself as 'a new novel in 21 stories'.

I absolutely loved the way this novel worked, starting close to the beginning (2001-13), moving forward a little (2013-19), then backwards to the early story (1986-2001), before going back to the very beginning (1979-86).
It is a story simply told through multiple flashbacks which are narrated by multiple people - first person by Mark, third person, omnipotent narrator, a different first persons (Mrs Fisher from across the road having a one-sided conversation where the other party isn't there).
Even the title is clever, as it is some time before you learn that the family we are gradually introduced to is called Waters.
We draw our conclusions about each member of the family - how good or bad or guilty they are - and then watch as the full story gradually unfolds.
The reasons for earlier scenes become clear as the stories unfold; we know a little and gradually build a picture. We come to understand why characters have arrived where they have. Why Mark hates his father for example and the reasons behind the family dysfunction.

There are some great moments - the description of the game of bullrush is so skilfully crafted - building tension and developing it into a gladiatorial contest between two boys. Mark, the new boy at the school, taking on the school hero who plays rugby two years about his age group. It's not a pretty outcome, but the tension and excitement are palpable.

I have read this as an enjoyable ride over several days, but I'm sure if you really read it closely there would be so many more linkages and explanations to unearth. I love that it works on so many levels.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended by the New Zealand Review of Books, Carl Nixon's The Waters is a collection of linked short stories that tell the story of a dysfunctional Canterbury family over a forty year period.  The novel is well-structured from these collective stories with the separate strands linking coherently, and its characters are well-developed so that the reader never loses track of who they are. Thematically, the novel joins a string of recent novels tackling the vexed issue of property development, but in this setting the developments come in the wake of the Christchurch earthquake when for obvious reasons the region was undergoing massive rebuilding projects.

Pat, a violent alcoholic father to his motherless children, has a different relationship with all three. Samantha is a 'change-of-life' baby so she is much younger than her brothers Mark and Davey.  By the time she's old enough to be aware of his behaviour, the children have been removed from their father's care because of an 'accident' that left Mark permanently scarred both physically and mentally.  Davey is more sanguine about his father because his experiences are different.

The back story of the mother, Marika, eventually comes into focus when she narrates her experience as Pat's wife, and then her voice is undercut somewhat by the rather judgemental narrative of the woman who takes care of the children.  Marika was a woman who wasn't coping but lacked the resources to run away.  Her solution is a tragedy for her children, but is also emblematic of the desperation of women who were not supported in domestic violence situations during the 20th century. And of the way they were judged.

Pat moves into the family 'bach' (holiday house) on the coast (thereby denying its use to his irritated sister and her family)... and oh yes, he says he's going to get his kids back, he says he's going to get a job, he says he's going to get a proper house... but meanwhile there's a handy pub where he can prop up the bar all day...

Samantha's more forgiving than Mark and though she chooses the father that brought her up rather than her biological father  to 'give her away' at her wedding, Pat is invited.  This leads to a spectacular barney when all Mark's old resentments and propensity for violence flare into a punch-up.

Of these three siblings, Samantha is the only one to marry, and to sustain that marriage with a loving and caring husband, (called Scribbler because he's an artist). But when their daughter Taylor develops anorexia, they are subsumed with guilt about why it's happened.  Samantha berates herself over how the freedom and trust they invested in Taylor led to them not noticing until the condition was well-established and difficult to treat.  Nixon's portrayal of Samantha's thoughts about the family history and contemporary theories about intergenerational trauma is food for thought...

She watches a TV program about an author who described her irresponsible parents in a memoir. Beyond providing food and shelter, they had taken almost no responsibility for their children.  These parents had thought that there was no point in investing time and effort when genes determine everything. The kids would become what they would become regardless. 

You would like to believe that strongly in the power of genes.  That way, you and Scribbler would be off the hook. Nothing you’d done as a parent would have contributed in any way to Taylor’s condition because all her problems had been there when you gave that last grunting heave and she slipped bloody and squalling from between your legs. If genes were the be-all and end-all, then Taylor had already been broken even as Scribbler took the shiny scissors from the nurse and cut the rubbery length of umbilical cord. What was happening now was inevitable right from the moment you held her in your arms for the first time. (p.89)

Pop psychology would seem to have a lot to answer for, in that scenario.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2024/02/17/t...

[JanGlen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed it this novel about the Waters family, written as 21 short stories. I thought the structure very clever - it works as a novel but each of the stories is satisfying in itself. I read it over a couple of weeks unfortunately, not ideal given the back and forth time time periods. I occasionally lost the thread and had to look back over what had come before. It is a book I would like to reread.

[Dany Katz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the way it was written, very readable and engaging. I wish it was longer and went into more detail and storytelling. The ending was disappointing though it seemed to end suddenly without any indication the book was finished.

[Fiona Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Waters is a dream-like reverie; a collection of stories that work in isolation, but gathered together, are observations of the rise and fall of a family, like flotsam washed up on the beach.

[Emma Potter-Hay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the structure of this book, starting at the current day and working its way back in time to the beginning. It was a really clever way of slowly unravelling what had happened in the family and shape the children. It took me a bit to get my head around and get into, particularly with multiple storylines and minor characters brought into focus, “linked short stories” I have read it described elsewhere with some standalone stories included. I did feel like the book ended quite abruptly, and could have done without the explanation on the last page that made it feel like it concluded the story too neatly. Overall an enjoyable if sad read - I would be enjoyed reading more about the mother though, but I did love that it was set in Christchurch.

[Rick Yeowart · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book comprised of 21 stories spanning 4 decades about the Waters family.

Dad, Mum, and 3 kids; Mark, Davey and Samantha

Spoilers…

It’s a family seemingly cursed, like the Kennedy’s or the famed Von Erich wrestling family. One of those families that seems to fall apart at the seams, and is scarred literally and figuratively by events in their lives. A car accident, a hot air balloon incident, alcoholism, suicide, anorexia, poor business decisions, poor life decisions, unfaithfulness, a creepy and dangerous neighbour you wouldn’t trust with your kids. It’s all a bit grim. There isn’t a lot to smile about, a mummified cat used as a weapon is as light as it gets, but in the context of the story it features it’s not actually funny at all.

There are some triggering chapters, a man beating his child on one chapter, and a psychic claiming to be able to help a child with anorexia by performing an exorcism is especially enraging.

As opposed to his last novel I read - “The Tally Stick” which was sorrowful but with real emotion, I found this one lacking. I think it’s really hard to string together 21 chapters which aren’t chronological, and have each one mean at least something, and reach to any real depth of feeling, especially as it lacks any joy in there at all.

“Bullrush” is a great chapter telling us of Mark’s ability to be totally determined.
The end is ever so slightly uplifting, Pat, the dad in the story, protects his kids from the creepy neighbour by instilling warning in them that they never ever go over there, don’t even speak to the guy, etc, well mate that’s the least you could do after selling the happy family home to relocate to a shit box house, and use the proceedings to fail in a business venture, to cheat on your wife, to disappear for months on end on multiple occasions to do nothing but drink and make grand plans which never come to fruition, and to get drunk and scare your kids when you are around.

The book is set in Christchurch, I know all the areas Carl Nixon refers to and that’s always interesting

Outstanding cover art.

[Kiwiflora · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved reading this, it is such a journey into the life of a family over a 40 year period that you are moving and swaying, taking the bends and swerves along with the Waters' family. This is a novel, yes, but it is told by way of 21 linked short stories - each story/chapter stands on its own - yet together they make up a whole. The story is told in blocks of time, eventually going back to the origins of the dysfunction and the various circumstances/tragedies that unfold. Mark, Davey and Samantha are the three children, Samantha many years younger than her two brothers. The boys bear the brunt of the what is going on in their parents' lives, and how their lives are shaped by the events, their sister being too young to have any recall of any of it. Christchurch pre-earthquake is the dominant setting, and what we know as Kaikoura also features as a holiday town. The seaside suburb of Brighton and surrounding suburbs is beautifully rendered, the world through a child's eyes, and I did like how the means of narration changed - moving from first person, to third person, to almost an eye in the sky - even within the characters. A great story for a book club - so much going on, the style of writing, the pleasure of reading great writing too.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a novel about the effects of childhood trauma and neglect. The Waters siblings - Mark, Davey and Samantha - are adults and dealing with the world - and particularly relationships - with varying degrees of commitment and success. Nixon, a New Zealander, is also a short story writer. Some of the novel's chapters seemed to be short stories themselves with only marginal links to the Waters family. I found the structure disconcerting at first as the author moved between characters and different timelines but gradually he drew the connections together. It's a jigsaw puzzle really but eventually the pieces came together - though with tantalising gaps remaining. An interesting story without being a compelling one.

[Josie Laird · Rating 4 out of 5]

A series of vignettes which build into a snapshot of a family over decades.
It is a pleasure to continue to meet different characters, but it does mean the reader needs to work to put all the pieces into place.
By the end, I felt as if I knew these people, especially Mark.
The chronology meant that the final stories filled in some of the missing information, but left me wondering what the future held for them. An unsettling story overall.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read all of Carl Nixon's novels and this one is my favourite. I love the way the story of the Waters family jumps from different perspectives and different periods of time to piece the whole story together. Beautifully written, and with themes and places familiar from my childhood growing up around the same time and in the same city this book is set

[Charlotte Lobb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different, yet beautiful form of storytelling. In this novel, 21 separate, but also masterfully interconnected short stories, tell the life story of the Waters family. Viewed through the eyes of multiple narrators and points in time, the reader is able to slowly piece together the complex bonds of this troubled family.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strange book. It was like the author was experimenting with changing POV and flipping back and forth in time. There was enough here to make me think the Waters family’s troubles made them interesting but the flipping around meant that we got hardly any insight into them. Could have been so much more.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written and structured.

[Helen Cummings · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of short stories that blend into the family history of the Waters family. Good characterisation and narrative. I enjoyed the New Zealand setting for the novel.

[Karen Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read two local books this week. They both represent a lot of what is so familar to us. Part of our culture is our stories.

Loved this read.

[Karen Dowle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read - collection of stories about a family
woven together - bit hard to follow in places…

[Pauline Savage · Rating 3 out of 5]

21 short stories put together. It both works and doesn't work all at the same time.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know what's up with all the rest of y'all, but I loved it. Five stars, Carl. Five stars.

[Toni · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the was he writes & explores his characters - he seems empathetic to them, their suffering. I wanted to know more at the end.
Interesting.

[Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would have got 5 stars but for the last few pages, not necessary and unconvincing.

[Steve Lillyston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent!