Watermark

by Christy Ann Conlin

In these evocative and startling stories, we meet people navigating the elemental forces of love, life, and death. An insomniac on Halifax’s moonlit streets. A runaway bride. A young woman accused of a brutal murder. A man who must live in exile if he is to live at all. A woman coming to terms with her eccentric childhood in a cult on the Bay of Fundy shore.

Genres: Short Stories, Canada, Fiction, Canadian Literature

307 pages, Paperback

Published August 13, 2019

About the author

Christy Ann Conlin is a writer, essayist, broadcaster, wildflower enthusiast and public speaker who lives with her family in seaside Nova Scotia.

Watermark, her first collection of short stories, won the Miramichi Reader Gold for Short Fiction, was shortlisted for the 2019 Danuta Gleed Literary Award and the 2020 Evergreen Award.

Conlin's first novel, Heave, was a Globe and Mail “Top 100” book, a finalist for the Amazon.ca First Novel Award in 2003 and was shortlisted for the Thomas H. Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award and the Dartmouth Book Award. Heave was also longlisted for the 2011 CBC Canada Reads Novels of the Decade. She is also the author of the critically acclaimed genre-bending novel, The Memento.

Her short fiction has been long listed for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and the American Short Fiction Prize. Her work has also appeared in numerous anthologies and literary journals including Brick and Best Canadian Stories. Christy Ann hosted the popular 2012 CBC national summer radio series Fear Itself. She teaches at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies online Creative Writing program.

THE SPEED OF MERCY, Conlin's new novel, publishes on March 23, 2021 Canada, and August 3, 2021, USA. The Speed of Mercy will also be published as an ebook, audiobook and braille book.

Reviews

[Madeline Nixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful, beautiful collection of short stories. Canadian short stories are where it’s at! I loved how emotional these made me in such a short period of time, how in-depth they got in 40 pages or less. All of them on their own were 5 star reads. Not one of the stories fell flat. I also loved the origin of the title and how the stories wound up being interconnected in various ways. I’ll definitely look into Conlin’s other works.

[SalSawler SalSawler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes delightful and often poignant, this first collection of short stories by Christy Ann Conlin is raw, real, and unflinching. Be warned: at least a couple of these stories will linger in your mind long after you turn the last page.

Many of the themes in WATERMARK are consistent with Conlin's previous work (HEAVE, THE MEMENTO); the collection is full of dark family secrets, strong women, and life-changing decisions. Conlin, who's been called a "master of North Atlantic Gothic," fiercely defends the title with her gritty depictions of the hidden parts of Nova Scotia - its remote communities, its aging marinas, and even its communes. Conlin's character development is nothing short of masterful - she has an astute understanding of her characters, their motivations, and their fears, and she reveals everything readers need to know at a perfect pace.

Fans of Conlin's novels will find a lot to love about this collection. While the characters made me think of HEAVE (unsurprisingly - Seraphina of HEAVE makes at least a couple of appearances), there's a few family tragedies and an action-packed car ride that brought THE MEMENTO to mind. And those who haven't yet discovered Conlin's work have a lot to look forward to.

[CanadianReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5

[Donna Wellard · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fab collection of short stories. Evocative language with a quiet and beautiful choice of words. There is a strong sense of place throughout the collection with a rich and interesting line up of salt of the earth characters. Surprising twists and turns with some weird and wonderful things happening! Some might even say magical, mystical, maybe even creepy in parts. Loved it!

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ways in which the past exerts influence in the present is a crucial motif in Christy Ann Conlin’s seductive first collection of short fiction, Watermark. In some cases her characters are trying to escape poor choices they have made or put bad experiences behind them. Friends and family feature prominently in these stories, and Conlin’s characters are often seeking to mend or reach a better understanding of relationships that have gone awry. The book opens with “Eyeball in Your Throat,” in which Lucy has great difficulty understanding the unusual life choices that her adventure-seeking daughter Deirdre has made and continues to make. In “Dead Time,” a snarky, manipulative teen named Isabella, in police custody accused of murdering her boyfriend’s former girlfriend, spends her time in the spotlight blaming everyone but herself for her predicament. Twenty-something Viola, in “The Diplomat,” has spent years trying to distance herself from the boredom of life in rural New Brunswick, where she grew up. But through the intervention of a Chinese student with whom she’s having an affair, she attains a new appreciation of the home and simple life she left behind. The suspenseful “Full Bleed” is a 21st-century re-telling of Flannery O’Connor’s masterpiece “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” And in the creepy, gothic-tinged “The Flying Squirrel Sermon” Ondine visits the house in the woods where her grandmother grew up only to learn more than she wants to know about the family’s sordid history from the old woman living there before everything spins out of control. This story in particular demonstrates Conlin’s ability to fill in her characters’ complex backstories while maintaining the forward momentum of the tale she’s telling. There is no filler in this book, nothing that falls flat or seems superfluous. Each story is elegantly structured and expertly paced, written with wit, urgency, compassion and attention to detail. The pull of home is a motivating factor for much of the action, but, as Christy Ann Conlin shows again and again, home can be smothering as well as nurturing. The world of Christy Ann Conlin’s fiction bursts with authenticity, but it’s also a place where unknown menace lurks in the shadows. These are surprising, thought-provoking, thoroughly entertaining stories that demonstrate that we are often unprepared for what life throws at us. All we can do is try our very best.

[Karan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3+

[Jim Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing like no other, Ms. Conlin has a distinctive style that is astounding. My full review is here: http://bit.ly/WatermarkConlinReview

[Leo McKay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was about two stories deep in this book before it hit me: This is a top-notch collection of stories.

More than genre, more than subject matter, this work is defined by the high artistic achievement of the writing.

Time and again I found myself getting to the end of a story and wondering to myself in admiration: Damn! How did Conlin do that?

There is a powerful aesthetic effect that writing this good produces in a careful reader. And I felt that often as I was reading.

This book is transporting, not in an escapist way, but in the way that very good art can transport an audience or reader to a realm of higher consciousness.

[Ramona Jennex · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am have been processing Christy-Ann Conlin's stories for days and I am not ready to write down my thoughts yet. However, I will share it is a strong book with much to bring to every reader.

[Marie Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Watermark is an arresting collection of driving, evocatively written short stories full of unexpected twists and memorable characters on the edge. While the soul of the book is anchored in the painfully beautiful and culturally rich Canadian Maritimes, the stories reach beyond, both in terms of physical geography and a deeper navigation of intimate relationships, through time and circumstance. Thoroughly original and unforgettable, Christy Ann Conlin's gorgeous prose pulls beauty out of darkness, wisdom from insanity, agency from the subdued and the supernatural from the profane.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took my time with this book. I savoured a story at a time, usually while in the bath. Most of these stories have a darker element to them, and I just love that in a book, poem or short story collection.

These stories will hurt and heal your heart and will leave you wishing for just a little bit more, or in some cases you may be relieved the story is over because it was so emotional.

This was my first read from the author but I have already added her other books to my TBR list.

5/5 rating

[Amy-Mae Jewell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this spooky short stories collection, most of which are based in Nova Scotia with some West Coast storylines thrown in the mix.

[Jade · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Cast away what I don't understand, run from life which felt like a tunnel collapsing on me." (p. 251)

The above quote from the book was a wake up call for me. It gave me a senses of purpose and the motivation I need to finish up this book.

In general, I rate a book based on the flow of the story [since my whole life has been reading fiction stories]. This one was unique because of the different short stories, and also how every story's structure was told differently. Some of the stories I asked myself: Why write it this way?, other stories, I clicked with it.

Overall, this book was a 3/5 because [to say it bluntly] some parts were good, other parts were bad, to the point where I didn't know what the purpose of the story was for.

[Hollay Ghadery · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beguiling collection of short stories that span the body of Canada, but have their heart in the east coast. I am mesmerized by her talent. The elegance with which Conlin slips into different voices—different skins—but still maintains clarion thematic focus speaks to her deftness as a writer. The stories range from dark to funny to heartbreaking and ecstatic—sometimes in the course of a few sentences. Highly recommend.

[Emma Prunty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evocative and approachable. I love short stories but often drop off halfway through a collection. But I really wanted to keep going with these. All separate stories but with common themes of strong (even scary) women and the beautiful landscape of Nova Scotia where I was lucky to live for one year.

[litost · Rating 5 out of 5]

I usually prefer novels, but I really enjoyed Conlin’s stories as they are so well crafted. They are mostly set in the Annapolis Valley, a place dear to me from my childhood. Some were “Valley gothic”, but most dealt with the pain of love and parenting. I would still like another novel from Conlin.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a magnificent book full of mystical short stories, some interwoven with others. They all take place in Canada with the majority taking place in and around the Annapolis Valley. These are well written stories and I couldn’t wait to read the next one.

[Penn Kemp · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last 2 stories are especially intriguing: they combine realism with a magic that I hope is Conlon's new direction. Truly, these stories brought me into her world. Beautiful writing. "Desire Lines": what a powerful, evocative story! My fave in Watermark.

I have The Speed of Mercy on order!

[Not Sarah Connor Writes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a strong collection of short stories, so raw and giving a Flannery O'Connor vibe!

Read the full review on my blog!

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t read many short stories, but I really loved these.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each story is impressive. With some set in the same area in Nova Scotia, the descriptions are so vivid it's almost as if the places are familiar.

[Nisreen Nijmeh · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[TSM · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't typically read short story collections. I enjoyed this one. The stories were interesting and engaging. My favourite was "Dead Time".

[Maggie Mugford]

This is a unique collection of 11 short stories, written by a local author, with very unique characters. My favourite story is, “Eyeball in Your Throat.”

[Alex Krosney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a sucker for a good short story, and this collection is satisfying! The right mix of sad and spooky and a distinct sense of place.

[Emilylutzns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captivating, dark, interesting, vibrant storytelling.

[Deborah Sowery-Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Evergreen nominee for this year (Ontario Library Association Forest of Reading program), it is a great selection of short stories with a dark edge.

[Ismay Suzuki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this collection more and more as the book went on. Don't be put off by the first story, most of them are excellent.

[Nicole Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this collection of short stories both dark and beautiful.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful collections of short stories.