Water Wings

by Kristen Den Hartog

When their beautiful and seductive mother, Darlene, announces plans to marry Reg, her grown daughters, Vivian and Hannah, along with their cousin Wren, a young woman born with deformed hands, return home for the wedding and revisit the turbulent backdrop of the past. A first novel. Reprint.

Genres: Fiction

269 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Kristen den Hartog is a novelist and non-fiction writer whose novels have won the Alberta Trade Fiction Book of the Year and been shortlisted for the Toronto Book Award and the Trillium Award. She is the co-author (with her sister Tracy Kasaboski) of two previous non-fiction books: The Occupied Garden: A Family Memoir of War-torn Holland, a Globe & Mail Top 100 selection, and The Cowkeeper’s Wish, praised by Canada’s History as a blend of “graceful prose” and “meticulous research on a stupendous scale.” Work on these two books — intimate histories of ordinary families — sparked the writing of The Roosting Box and den Hartog’s ongoing interest in how war changes the direction of people’s lives so dramatically. Kristen den Hartog lives in Lyndhurst, Ontario, and also in the west end of Toronto, not far from the site of the former Christie Street Hospital.

Reviews

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a story about a mother who is getting remarried after her husband dies in a tragic accident. Her adult daughters have come home to attend their mother's wedding. The daughter's relive the memories of their childhoods. The story is set in Ontario!!

From dust jacket: "Darlene Oelpke is getting married, again. After a string of failed relationships, beautiful, vampish Darlene has finally chosen a second husband - inexplicably, Reg the Shoe Store Man. Her grown-up daughters, Vivian and Hannah, are home for the occasion, and find themselves immersed in memories of their girlhood both thrilling and tragic. And as they revisit the landscape of their youth - the river, the forest, their worn-out green house - they uncover long-buried secrets, as well as deep ties to one another.

The sisters recall the death of their father, killed in a bizarre boating accident when they were still young. Vivian, then an imperious teenager who wields her intelligence like a weapon, does her best to keep the memory of their father alive, particularly for little Hannah, whose recollections are as changeable as the face of the river that silently snakes through the town. But Hannah will have to come to terms with more than one death, as she learns that sinister people can inhabit the most benign places."

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

one of my new games is that whenever i go into the ballard library to pick up the books i have on hold, i also make a stop at the fiction section and pick a random novel. yes, usually i do make the choice based on the cover and yes, some of them have been so bad i didn't make it past the first 10 pages. Water Wings, however, was really sweet and thoughtfully written. i definitely am partial to a good non-linear narrative. i might even try to find some of her other books, though that kinda goes against the rules of my game.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The grown-up daughters of Darlene are going back to the town where they grew up for their mother's wedding. We learn some of secrets of their childhood, their friends and neighbours, the pathways through the bush to the river, and the strange and scary things that happened there.
This is Kristen den Hartog's first book and it is a winner.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it intriguing and wanted to keep reading, but I can't really think of what to say about it. The device of the mother's wedding bringing the two girls back to town is weak and barely-there as a pretext for the memories, which are the real story. The characterization is very strong. It reads more as a series of vignettes than a story, which works under the circumstances.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3-1/2. A strong 4 stars until the last chapters. The author didn't know how to end it. Each thread tapered off rapidly in a separate direction; cut with rough scissors rather than tied off or sewn together.

[Vivienne Strauss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written, intriguing story, couldn't put it down.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wacky family story. I would find myself angry with a character, then suddenly laughing. I enjoy that there are a few surprisingly dark moments.

[Lori Bamber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the writing in this book, and the characters are compelling. But my this author is hard on the mothers in this story.

[sushicata]

oh no, I can't remember!

[C.j. Irwin]

Facinating and sad.