Stillwater

by Darcie Friesen Hossack

When Lizzy is forced to move to the Adventist commune of Stillwater, she is sure the end times have begun. She’s not wrong.

Sixteen-year-old Lizzy is trapped, caught between her passion for science and the teachings of her Seventh-day Adventist father and Mennonite mother. But she isn’t the only one with her mother, Marie, is increasingly reliant on prescription medication to recover from a car accident that might – or might not – have been deliberately caused by her husband, Daniel.

In a bid to regain his social standing and self-esteem, Daniel moves the family to an Adventist commune in BC’s Okanagan Valley, where Lizzy meets another recent arrival with secrets of his own. He helps her establish a clandestine connection to the outside world that she hopes will help her curb her tongue and retain her sanity long enough to finish high school, but her plans change when her younger brother, Zach, is threatened. Lizzy and Zach flee to Marie’s childhood home with their reluctant mother in tow. When her father arrives to take his family back to Stillwater, old resentments collide with new, forcing everyone to face a day of judgement.

294 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 22, 2023

Reviews

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still Water is a delicious story of simmering cultural tensions that boil over during the pandemic. In turns irreverent, funny, deeply moving and heart-wrenching, this novel offers a window into the worlds of both Seventh-day Adventist and Mennonite believers who evidently mix about as well as oil and water. Darcie Friesen Hossack writes of these conflicting worldviews with both deep affection and unflinching honesty. At the center of the story there is Lizzy, an unforgettable character who finds relief and escape from her strict upbringing within a whole other worldview, science. But the real heart of this story is food, food that defines each culture and cleaves it from the other, even to the point of tearing a family apart. Food as an act of defiance and rebellion. Food as solace and comfort, as refuge. By including the recipes for the many tasty and quirky foods she writes about, Hossack hits home that recipe, just as much as taste and smell, is a form of cultural and familial memory, and that, at the most fundamental level, we really are what we eat. This is a novel that will quite literally leave you hungry for more.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teens Lizzy and Zach are living in a battlefield between two parents, two religions and at least two different sets of social norms, and suffering all the grief and discomfort all that entails. Parts were amusing, parts were gruelling, but the whole thing was enjoyable. Each chapter title was the name of a Mennonite recipe which we're given at the end, which was a delightful surprise. Looking forward to trying Nuteena. Yay Canadian authors! 4 stars

[Marthese Fenech · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stillwater is profoundly engaging, each passage woven with imagery that is beautiful, haunting, hopeful, and resonant. The novel will churn your gut, as Darcie Friesen Hossack’s words unleash a cyclone of emotions within. Through the lenses of various, often at-odds family members, Stillwater provides a telling, heart-wrenching glimpse into life in a strict religious commune in modern-day western Canada. Main protagonist Lizzy, a young, burgeoning scientist, is the soul of the novel, yet multiple narrative perspectives keep the story balanced and nuanced, gaining sympathy for even some of the most difficult-to-like characters. The reader comes to see the characters as complex, multi-layered human beings, though several are governed by extreme, misguided convictions. I am not a fast reader, yet I consumed this novel in just a few days. And when I was not reading it, I was thinking about it. Darcie Friesen Hossack’s Stillwater runs very deep.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cover of this book grabbed hold of me, and the story inside tossed me around and about in ways I'm not even sure I could explain. This book has earned a place on my bookshelf, though I'll definitely pass it around to other worthy readers first. Well done.

[Denise Goodkey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly kept me turning pages!

[Claire Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read this book! Can’t wait to discuss it our foodie book club.

[Shelby · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Glenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have known Darcie for many years so was really looking forward to reading this as she is a brilliant writer, so I pre-ordered the book.
I enjoyed the read and Darcie's prose brought the characters to life in a lovely way, especially Lizzie, who stayed with me for a while after I'd finished.
My only problem with the novel was the number of typos. In my opinion, Tidewater Press should never have allowed a book to go out their doors with that many typos in it. Seriously, it got to the point where I couldn't got more than 20 pages without hitting another one. And sadly, typos really throw me out of a story.
My squeamish side kept me from reading several of the recipes (each chapter ends with a recipe). Darcie is a beautiful writer, I just wish the publishers had taken more care to let her work shine.