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Avis de tempête
Moïra se rend tous les jours au chevet de sa soeur cadette, qu'une chute, cinq ans auparavant, a plongée dans le coma. Année après année, la lassitude gagne Moïra, qui ne se pardonne pas d'avoir été une soeur lointaine. Comme pour rattraper le temps perdu, elle retrace devant la jeune fille inconsciente son existence de fille sauvage et revêche, sensible pourtant, une vraie " fille de la mer " et des vents glacés des Cornouailles.
406 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published January 6, 2010
22 people are currently reading
895 people want to read
About the author
Susan Fletcher
8 books577 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Susan Fletcher is a British novelist. She was born in Birmingham and studied creative writing at the University of East Anglia. Her first novel, Eve Green, won the 2004 Whitbread First Novel Award, the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award, and the Society of Authors Betty Trask Prize; it was also picked for Channel 4's (UK) Richard and Judy Summer reading list. Subsequent novels have been shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the Writers’ Guild fiction award, and longlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year award. Her novel Witch Light won France’s 2013 Saint-Maur en Poche award. Fletcher is a former Fellow at the University of Worcester, as part of the Royal Literary Fund's fellowship program, and is the author of The Night in Question.
source: Amazon
Susan Fletcher is a British novelist. She was born in Birmingham and studied creative writing at the University of East Anglia. Her first novel, Eve Green, won the 2004 Whitbread First Novel Award, the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award, and the Society of Authors Betty Trask Prize; it was also picked for Channel 4's (UK) Richard and Judy Summer reading list. Subsequent novels have been shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the Writers’ Guild fiction award, and longlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year award. Her novel Witch Light won France’s 2013 Saint-Maur en Poche award. Fletcher is a former Fellow at the University of Worcester, as part of the Royal Literary Fund's fellowship program, and is the author of The Night in Question.
source: Amazon
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 136 reviews
January 5, 2021
I stretched the reading of this book over almost a month, grabbing a chapter while doing the laundry, resting between the packing of boxes, or trying to forget how long the wait has been for my furniture to arrive at my new home. It deserved so much more. It deserved a slow, consistent read and a mind clear of all that jingle-jangling. Still, even in these adverse reading circumstances, it was magic every time I opened the covers.
If I haven’t already told you, I am in love with the poetic, lyrical sorcery of Susan Fletcher. She rates among the best writers I know. She was a gift from my friend Candi, and one I took far too much time to open. I am always grateful that I finally did.
Now about Oystercatchers. When the book begins, we find Moira Stone sitting at the bedside of her younger sister, Amy, who is in a coma from an accident, and there is the immediate sense that there is something troubling in this sibling relationship that will be revealed and that the accident will be more than just that to Moira herself. What ensues is a life story, Moira’s.
I found Moira quite unlikeable at times, and so vulnerable and alone at others that I could not help understanding and loving her. She is all too human, and all too afraid of her own emotions and those of others; she is virtually unknown to everyone who should know her best, including her younger sister, who only sees and worships her from a distance. The story is mesmerizing, and since it is Moira’s and told by her, we must read between the lines and try to follow her bouncing thoughts to places she doesn’t really mean to lead us.
One of Fletcher’s themes, for me, would be betrayal of trust. How easily it is damaged, how hard to rebuild, and once we lose trust in one person, how difficult to establish it with someone else. And, it does not matter if that trust is damaged by an intentional act, for we often betray others without knowing we have done so and with the kindest of intentions.
And I did trust him. I trusted him like I trusted the sky to stay about my head, and the kettle to sing, and everything he ever told me was true, because why should I doubt him? I believed that starfish could grow new limbs, and gannets swam like white fishes, and mermaids were real, and babies were gifts, and pirates sailed in splintery boats, and that moonlight survived in a jar.
Along with serious themes and infinite quotable passages, there is just the absolute loveliness of Fletcher’s language.
Have you seen an evening sea, at high tide, as snow is coming? Stood on a cliff with that strange, slow light and the gulls that wheel, but do not call, as if they sense it, too, and have you looked down to the sea, where waves are ghostly-looking, with an Arctic blueness to them, and the cove is full of white, hissing water, and their foam scuds on beaches, and you can smell it--the snow? You feel aware. You know the sea’s power, and your own, an evening like this.
Finally, this is a book about loss, about memory, about the quality of a life and its briefness.
The tinsel, and the lollipop she gave to every Curie girl on their birthdays--me included. Did I ever tell you that? Swirled, red-and-white. These things have gone, and will not be remembered for long. A generation keeps such things alive. But who will know these things in a century’s time? Who knows them now?
And, about the wisdom of living it well.
I believe the world is as we choose to view it. Simple as that. Our happiness is, in the end, up to us, and no one else.
If I haven’t already told you, I am in love with the poetic, lyrical sorcery of Susan Fletcher. She rates among the best writers I know. She was a gift from my friend Candi, and one I took far too much time to open. I am always grateful that I finally did.
Now about Oystercatchers. When the book begins, we find Moira Stone sitting at the bedside of her younger sister, Amy, who is in a coma from an accident, and there is the immediate sense that there is something troubling in this sibling relationship that will be revealed and that the accident will be more than just that to Moira herself. What ensues is a life story, Moira’s.
I found Moira quite unlikeable at times, and so vulnerable and alone at others that I could not help understanding and loving her. She is all too human, and all too afraid of her own emotions and those of others; she is virtually unknown to everyone who should know her best, including her younger sister, who only sees and worships her from a distance. The story is mesmerizing, and since it is Moira’s and told by her, we must read between the lines and try to follow her bouncing thoughts to places she doesn’t really mean to lead us.
One of Fletcher’s themes, for me, would be betrayal of trust. How easily it is damaged, how hard to rebuild, and once we lose trust in one person, how difficult to establish it with someone else. And, it does not matter if that trust is damaged by an intentional act, for we often betray others without knowing we have done so and with the kindest of intentions.
And I did trust him. I trusted him like I trusted the sky to stay about my head, and the kettle to sing, and everything he ever told me was true, because why should I doubt him? I believed that starfish could grow new limbs, and gannets swam like white fishes, and mermaids were real, and babies were gifts, and pirates sailed in splintery boats, and that moonlight survived in a jar.
Along with serious themes and infinite quotable passages, there is just the absolute loveliness of Fletcher’s language.
Have you seen an evening sea, at high tide, as snow is coming? Stood on a cliff with that strange, slow light and the gulls that wheel, but do not call, as if they sense it, too, and have you looked down to the sea, where waves are ghostly-looking, with an Arctic blueness to them, and the cove is full of white, hissing water, and their foam scuds on beaches, and you can smell it--the snow? You feel aware. You know the sea’s power, and your own, an evening like this.
Finally, this is a book about loss, about memory, about the quality of a life and its briefness.
The tinsel, and the lollipop she gave to every Curie girl on their birthdays--me included. Did I ever tell you that? Swirled, red-and-white. These things have gone, and will not be remembered for long. A generation keeps such things alive. But who will know these things in a century’s time? Who knows them now?
And, about the wisdom of living it well.
I believe the world is as we choose to view it. Simple as that. Our happiness is, in the end, up to us, and no one else.
September 4, 2021
This is my first book I’ve read by Susan Fletcher, a British novelist.
Her writing is STUNNING….
….lyrical, dreamlike, poetic, original, emotionally felt, slightly haunting….(touching on sibling rivalry, envy, bitterness, loneliness, and love: craving it and the fear of it).
Amy is sixteen years old. She’s in a coma. Her older sister, Moira…(troubled and complex), visits her hospital bedside most evenings. Amy was born when Moira was already eleven years old. She felt abandoned-had negative uncomfortable thoughts about wishing to punish her baby sister.
Moira talks to Amy. She tells her secrets, and a wide range of commentaries about her life.
Most… Moira is seeking forgiveness and retribution.
Much of this novel takes place after Moira leaves home to attend a boarding school in Whales (loved the stories with other students and teachers),….and then later living in Norfolk with her husband, Ray.
A standout character is eccentric Aunt Til…and a major running theme throughout is water…(the sea)…
The nature images are breathtaking.
Susan Fletcher is extraordinarily talented.
I’m in ‘awe’.
The storytelling is richly complicated with subtle and intricate layers.
Her writing is STUNNING….
….lyrical, dreamlike, poetic, original, emotionally felt, slightly haunting….(touching on sibling rivalry, envy, bitterness, loneliness, and love: craving it and the fear of it).
Amy is sixteen years old. She’s in a coma. Her older sister, Moira…(troubled and complex), visits her hospital bedside most evenings. Amy was born when Moira was already eleven years old. She felt abandoned-had negative uncomfortable thoughts about wishing to punish her baby sister.
Moira talks to Amy. She tells her secrets, and a wide range of commentaries about her life.
Most… Moira is seeking forgiveness and retribution.
Much of this novel takes place after Moira leaves home to attend a boarding school in Whales (loved the stories with other students and teachers),….and then later living in Norfolk with her husband, Ray.
A standout character is eccentric Aunt Til…and a major running theme throughout is water…(the sea)…
The nature images are breathtaking.
Susan Fletcher is extraordinarily talented.
I’m in ‘awe’.
The storytelling is richly complicated with subtle and intricate layers.
February 10, 2013
The main protagonist in this book is very complex in fact she is not very likeable at all. Her antipathy towards her much younger sister is not really explained but her feeling that her boarding school would be a better place if she were the only student is a good indication of her solitary nature. Despite some of her actions - her desire to distance herself from her family, reluctance to make friends and her affairs when she believes, without real proof, that her husband is cheating - it is difficult to dislike her. The way the book is written made me want to try to understand her, I really enjoyed this book.
July 24, 2017
This book came highly recommended to me by someone with whom I share many favorite books, someone who Loved the story, Loved the writing. I did not love this book.
Moira was SO difficult a character; I know that is what the author tried to do, and she did it. But it is damn hard to hang on when the main character is a stone and you have to find compassion and insight through teeny tiny glimpses or pure guess-work. I was thinking of other dark novels I consider great - The Road, for one, and how that the story revealed more humanity amidst the darkness. And other difficult characters - Olive Kitteridge, for one, where the writing also revealed more character there, so you could grasp on to something about the lighter shades in the character's soul, no matter how much black there was! In the end, Moira was not really complex enough - just dark and unknowable. I also found it difficult to believe in the Ray-Moira story, because there wasn't enough breakdown on his part. He had to have more breakdowns, pulling back, living with HER. Although he added some great lightness to the novel, he was not developed near enough in his dark parts.
I thought the writing was good. I was irritated by the pervasive fragmented sentences, however. I know a good writer can use fragmented sentences, but Fletcher is over the top here, and it was a constant irritant while reading. I also have fragments still in my mind that referred back to nothing - or nothing that I can figure out. Too many factual/descriptive gaps between words, sentences paragraphs, so the reader is always trying to figure out what's going on. Even as I write that, I realize that it fits with always trying to figure out what's going on with Moira - but it's not fair and I just don't have the patience!!
I would still give it a 3 out of a 5, as it is good writing and it is haunting - but a haunting I am glad to be done with.
Moira was SO difficult a character; I know that is what the author tried to do, and she did it. But it is damn hard to hang on when the main character is a stone and you have to find compassion and insight through teeny tiny glimpses or pure guess-work. I was thinking of other dark novels I consider great - The Road, for one, and how that the story revealed more humanity amidst the darkness. And other difficult characters - Olive Kitteridge, for one, where the writing also revealed more character there, so you could grasp on to something about the lighter shades in the character's soul, no matter how much black there was! In the end, Moira was not really complex enough - just dark and unknowable. I also found it difficult to believe in the Ray-Moira story, because there wasn't enough breakdown on his part. He had to have more breakdowns, pulling back, living with HER. Although he added some great lightness to the novel, he was not developed near enough in his dark parts.
I thought the writing was good. I was irritated by the pervasive fragmented sentences, however. I know a good writer can use fragmented sentences, but Fletcher is over the top here, and it was a constant irritant while reading. I also have fragments still in my mind that referred back to nothing - or nothing that I can figure out. Too many factual/descriptive gaps between words, sentences paragraphs, so the reader is always trying to figure out what's going on. Even as I write that, I realize that it fits with always trying to figure out what's going on with Moira - but it's not fair and I just don't have the patience!!
I would still give it a 3 out of a 5, as it is good writing and it is haunting - but a haunting I am glad to be done with.
July 17, 2017
Susan Fletcher's Oystercatchers is breathtaking and utterly beautiful. I very much enjoyed Eve Green and The Silver Dark Sea, and almost loved Let Me Tell You About a Man I Knew, but this is my favourite of her novels to date. The prose throughout is beautiful, as is the way in which Fletcher builds up our multi-layered protagonist, Moira. The descriptions are sensual, and the structure works marvellously. Oystercatchers is beguiling and startling; it is a quiet novel with a real power to it.
May 31, 2011
I don't understand why people have said this book isn't as good as her first book Eve Green, perhaps it speaks to me because I see myself (another pisces) in Moira, and I've been to Stackpole, Broad Haven and looked on Skomer Island?
The brilliance of this book is subtle and it only just hit me today as I was researching the origins of Mary Magdelene's pagan origins that it struck me, the names are important in this novel.
Miriam - an older version of Mary (origins Mari - Sea Mother)
Moira - also Mary
Matilda - woman of Magdala which is also Mary "mighty in battle"
The three Marys - Moira is the maiden, Miriam the Mother, Matilda the crone
Amy means beloved
Ray is the sun God, the protector
George is the Patron Saint of England
These names were chosen for a reason.
Can't understand why people haven't taken to this book as much as Eve Green or Witchlight, I loved it.
The brilliance of this book is subtle and it only just hit me today as I was researching the origins of Mary Magdelene's pagan origins that it struck me, the names are important in this novel.
Miriam - an older version of Mary (origins Mari - Sea Mother)
Moira - also Mary
Matilda - woman of Magdala which is also Mary "mighty in battle"
The three Marys - Moira is the maiden, Miriam the Mother, Matilda the crone
Amy means beloved
Ray is the sun God, the protector
George is the Patron Saint of England
These names were chosen for a reason.
Can't understand why people haven't taken to this book as much as Eve Green or Witchlight, I loved it.
February 27, 2017
At times stark, bleak and melancholy, like the coast perhaps, but beautifully so; poignant and tender. I enjoyed this slow moving story of remorse and loss, and Fletcher's dreamy poetic prose describing the growth of a bitter, strange and difficult to like protagonist as she talks to the sister she hated and never let herself know or value, as she lies in a coma. But I was bored a lot during the last 100 pages so it's not worth more than three stars no matter how moved I was with the end. I felt Moira's deep, irredeemable regret, the finality of it. I would recommend it for the power of that alone, as I will probably linger on it for some time. Perhaps it is worth four stars, I swithered, but I don't think a book that bores me for 100 pages warrants that high an overall score. Good writing though.
September 30, 2012
Can this be as good as her Eve Green? One of the components that is the same is her ability to make the natural world a part of the story. This time it is the sea primarily, and because of that, for me, it makes this one just slightly better.
Fletcher alternates between a first person narrative - Moira - and that of third person limited. This works because it feels as if Moira only switches to telling her story in third person. We know only what Moira knows and sees. The prose is easy. Elsewhere, I have criticized an author for incomplete sentence structure, which does happen in this. I noticed it and yet wasn't annoyed. I admit that I, myself, don't always think in complete sentences. No, this isn't a stream of consciousness narrative, but it is Moira's story, and told only in her voice.
The story isn't as easy as the prose. Even as a small child, Moira is lonely. Moira is different, and keenly feels it. She feels herself unloved and, therefore, unlovable. In the edition I read, following the novel the author speaks to this loneliness and that her character is so unlikable that some readers have abandoned the book. This surprised me - that some readers might abandon it. I didn't find Moira that unlikable, even though she calls herself hard and does some mean - almost cruel - things. I felt this to be a means of self-protection.
I hope you find Susan Fletcher as pleasing as I do. I'm very glad she's young and undoubtedly has more to come.
Fletcher alternates between a first person narrative - Moira - and that of third person limited. This works because it feels as if Moira only switches to telling her story in third person. We know only what Moira knows and sees. The prose is easy. Elsewhere, I have criticized an author for incomplete sentence structure, which does happen in this. I noticed it and yet wasn't annoyed. I admit that I, myself, don't always think in complete sentences. No, this isn't a stream of consciousness narrative, but it is Moira's story, and told only in her voice.
The story isn't as easy as the prose. Even as a small child, Moira is lonely. Moira is different, and keenly feels it. She feels herself unloved and, therefore, unlovable. In the edition I read, following the novel the author speaks to this loneliness and that her character is so unlikable that some readers have abandoned the book. This surprised me - that some readers might abandon it. I didn't find Moira that unlikable, even though she calls herself hard and does some mean - almost cruel - things. I felt this to be a means of self-protection.
I hope you find Susan Fletcher as pleasing as I do. I'm very glad she's young and undoubtedly has more to come.
April 11, 2014
One of the most beautiful books I have ever read. Sheer poetry. Every sentence to be treasured and savored. If I could give this book a 10, I would. A book to reread, to keep. Will be reading all of her other books too. Susan Fletcher takes words and creates magic, she paints with them, they sing off the page, they entice and enthrall. I was mesmerized, lost within the pages of this book. Didn't want it to end. Every sentence in this book is perfection and it was hard to choose but here are a few I particularly liked.
Page 6: '...your stale smell and your thin green heart.'
Page 7: 'Watch your heart flinch on a screen.'
Page 11: 'Smelt a whole country on airmail envelopes.'
Page 18:' Calling out through the night-time house and altering the shape of it.'
Page 20:'...and moonlight survived in a jar.'
Page 79:' A map of skin rivers. Red lines or colorless, running over my palms.'
Page 168:'There were spaces between stars, and the lines on a map, and the depths of things.'
Page 173:'A smile at the shallow edges of her voice.'
Page 207:'...he could talk about all the world's countries and flowers, if he wanted to, but no one really knew what their body was capable of.'
Page 242:'...trailed her emptiness over the stage, like her skirts, like her citrus smell.'
Page 248:'A ball of starlings rolls across the sky.'
Page 375:'And by existing, there will always be traces of you, blowing over the earth.'
Page 6: '...your stale smell and your thin green heart.'
Page 7: 'Watch your heart flinch on a screen.'
Page 11: 'Smelt a whole country on airmail envelopes.'
Page 18:' Calling out through the night-time house and altering the shape of it.'
Page 20:'...and moonlight survived in a jar.'
Page 79:' A map of skin rivers. Red lines or colorless, running over my palms.'
Page 168:'There were spaces between stars, and the lines on a map, and the depths of things.'
Page 173:'A smile at the shallow edges of her voice.'
Page 207:'...he could talk about all the world's countries and flowers, if he wanted to, but no one really knew what their body was capable of.'
Page 242:'...trailed her emptiness over the stage, like her skirts, like her citrus smell.'
Page 248:'A ball of starlings rolls across the sky.'
Page 375:'And by existing, there will always be traces of you, blowing over the earth.'
January 2, 2008
I really liked 'Eve Green' by Susan Fletcher - her prose style is so poetic and beautiful - so couldn't resist picking her new novel up when I spotted it at the library.
After making a false start, I began the book again and found it difficult to put down, rushing through to the end. As in 'Eve Green', the descriptions of the landscapes are breathtaking.
This book is largely set at bleak stretches of coastline in both Pembrokeshire and north Norfolk, and follows the life of Moira, a quiet and studious but inwardly wild and bitter girl, who goes to boarding school and dreams of being a doctor. A lot of the book unfolds in flashback, as the adult Moira sits at the bedside of her younger sister, Amy, who is in a coma, and struggles to make sense of their fraught, sad relationship. As with 'Eve Green', it's the writing style that draws me rather than the plot.
After making a false start, I began the book again and found it difficult to put down, rushing through to the end. As in 'Eve Green', the descriptions of the landscapes are breathtaking.
This book is largely set at bleak stretches of coastline in both Pembrokeshire and north Norfolk, and follows the life of Moira, a quiet and studious but inwardly wild and bitter girl, who goes to boarding school and dreams of being a doctor. A lot of the book unfolds in flashback, as the adult Moira sits at the bedside of her younger sister, Amy, who is in a coma, and struggles to make sense of their fraught, sad relationship. As with 'Eve Green', it's the writing style that draws me rather than the plot.
June 11, 2013
I really enjoyed this book, I found it very engrossing and couldn't put it down.
The protagonist Moira is very quirky and she is definitely the centre of the book. A lot of the circumstances are down to her actions. I am sure the outcome would've been different had she behaved differently.
Moira is a very awkward character to like but during her childhood years a lot of her actions were understandable if a little precocious and detached for a child of her age. If I were her mother I would of encouraged her to open up more but due to her Mother's anguish she probably didn't have it in her. Moira had an idyllic childhood but a Macabre personality still formed and festered in her through her time at boarding school.
Her relationships were very intense and I did question her judgement towards the end, given she changed very much from being sexually inexperienced to being quite a sensuous lady, driving the men in her life a little crazy. She seemed unaware the effect she was having on people.
Moira was very selfish & childish. Moira learnt too late and knew it. I felt very sad at the end of the book. I think the Author wasn't sure where to end it as I kept thinking this was the last chapter then I'd turn the page and there would be a bit more!
I would recommend this book. The writing is superb. The descriptions are very evocative and even the simplist of things sound so beautiful.
I enjoyed Eve Green too although I can't quite remember it now but I do recall the same descriptive prose.
The protagonist Moira is very quirky and she is definitely the centre of the book. A lot of the circumstances are down to her actions. I am sure the outcome would've been different had she behaved differently.
Moira is a very awkward character to like but during her childhood years a lot of her actions were understandable if a little precocious and detached for a child of her age. If I were her mother I would of encouraged her to open up more but due to her Mother's anguish she probably didn't have it in her. Moira had an idyllic childhood but a Macabre personality still formed and festered in her through her time at boarding school.
Her relationships were very intense and I did question her judgement towards the end, given she changed very much from being sexually inexperienced to being quite a sensuous lady, driving the men in her life a little crazy. She seemed unaware the effect she was having on people.
Moira was very selfish & childish. Moira learnt too late and knew it. I felt very sad at the end of the book. I think the Author wasn't sure where to end it as I kept thinking this was the last chapter then I'd turn the page and there would be a bit more!
I would recommend this book. The writing is superb. The descriptions are very evocative and even the simplist of things sound so beautiful.
I enjoyed Eve Green too although I can't quite remember it now but I do recall the same descriptive prose.
January 6, 2018
Another wonderful book by Susan Fletcher. She writes beautifully, as much poetry as prose, creating a landscape as vital to the novel as the characters. She is so skilled in capturing the beauty and isolation of Welsh sea coast with hints of sea lore, magic and a bittersweet melancholy woven into her characters. "I was dark and silent. A sea baby."
She can create a flawed female character but still give her strength and depth without turning her into a victim. I finished January 2016 with a Susan Fletcher novel thinking it was the best I've read. Once again I am finishing this year with Susan Fletcher and this must be the best I've read.
"We live our lives, and we grieve, and we hope, and we live our lives, and Miriam laughed at a novel, once, and pressed her hand against her mouth ashamed of it, of laughing".
She can create a flawed female character but still give her strength and depth without turning her into a victim. I finished January 2016 with a Susan Fletcher novel thinking it was the best I've read. Once again I am finishing this year with Susan Fletcher and this must be the best I've read.
"We live our lives, and we grieve, and we hope, and we live our lives, and Miriam laughed at a novel, once, and pressed her hand against her mouth ashamed of it, of laughing".
December 16, 2008
Moira sits by the hospital bed of her sixteen year old comatose sister and tells her all of the things that her sister's arrival changed in her life. When Amy was born, it abruptly changed the trajectory of eleven year old Moira's existence and took her down a completely different path in life. This was another of my favorite quiet novels about sisters who never quite connect until it is too late. Beautifully written, my only wish is that I had been able to read this all in one sitting instead of spreading it out over several days. Still, it was a book worth savoring.
July 16, 2015
I honestly wanted to love this one, but didn't even like it that much. Such a drag to read. I'm not a fan of long sentences and descriptive language, but I do prefer whole sentences. The fragments of sentences this books was made of, was driving me crazy. I was constantly trying to figure out what was going on in the story or in Moira's mind, but I felt I was failing most of the time. Very frustrating and very unsatisfying.
January 28, 2025
"I walked on the edge of friendships, of marriage, of sisterhood, and of being a daughter as if these things were wires, or fenceposts, or shorelines, and I have imagined a simpler life, where there are no boundaries at all." -- Moira
Oystercatchers is very, very unique. The author makes interesting stylistic choices that sometimes hinder the story's clarity, like the narrator switching between first and third person and the excessive use of sentence fragments. And commas. Some parts are confusing, or choppy, or too lyrical, and I almost gave up on the story 20 pages in.
In the end, though, I'm glad I gave it another chance. I was completely drawn into the story and couldn't even put the book down for the last 120 pages. I even ended up loving the lyricism of it. I actually think this book should be studied and annotated in school for it's style. It's beautifully written--like one long poem. I wouldn't want all my novels written this way, because I missed having more dialogue and action, but it was still a cool reading experience for me. Filled with introspection. Broken grammatical rules. Coming-of-age girlhood. Sisterhood and friendship, or the lack of. Family, fidelity, guilt, grief, insecurity, life--powerful themes. I love the way the author highlights ordinary moments and details in life.
Also, Moira is a dark, complex, and unlikable protagonist. I was so intrigued by her, even if I didn’t see what Ray saw in her. Also, I’m amazed by how well Susan Fletcher pieced this whole novel together, with all the time jumps and side stories. Also, this book confirms my belief that the ocean is scary.
Oystercatchers is very, very unique. The author makes interesting stylistic choices that sometimes hinder the story's clarity, like the narrator switching between first and third person and the excessive use of sentence fragments. And commas. Some parts are confusing, or choppy, or too lyrical, and I almost gave up on the story 20 pages in.
In the end, though, I'm glad I gave it another chance. I was completely drawn into the story and couldn't even put the book down for the last 120 pages. I even ended up loving the lyricism of it. I actually think this book should be studied and annotated in school for it's style. It's beautifully written--like one long poem. I wouldn't want all my novels written this way, because I missed having more dialogue and action, but it was still a cool reading experience for me. Filled with introspection. Broken grammatical rules. Coming-of-age girlhood. Sisterhood and friendship, or the lack of. Family, fidelity, guilt, grief, insecurity, life--powerful themes. I love the way the author highlights ordinary moments and details in life.
Also, Moira is a dark, complex, and unlikable protagonist. I was so intrigued by her, even if I didn’t see what Ray saw in her. Also, I’m amazed by how well Susan Fletcher pieced this whole novel together, with all the time jumps and side stories. Also, this book confirms my belief that the ocean is scary.
July 26, 2007
It's haunting to read a book that literally sounds as if it's talking about me; watching Moira's life unravel in a metaphoric way to my own, and watching her take notices of things I would, and do alike things. One of the names even lines up. Reading about someone that seems like me makes me feel like my own life is more important, and less spiteful of who I am, because really, this woman talking of her life is finally forgiving herself for who she is.
The whole book is written in a cold, deadly tone that's familiar - one that everyone else would interpret as heavily depressing. Moira narrates her life to her sister, who's in a comma, to apologize to her for being a terrible person. She talks of being at a cold boarding school, and all the sea's she's seen, while being separated from her family mentally because of her younger sister. She talks of how she met her husband, and the story becomes happy and anti-climatic until something terrible happens. (I won't spoil that.) This made me think, What a bitch, and feel guilt as I am so closely similar to this character. To me, this is the worst thing she could possibly do. It, in fact, reminds me of my mother's schizophrenic behaviour, as the sound the same leading up to the event.
Overall, what I didn't like about this story is that it seemed too balanced out: there were very little uncertainties. I suppose this would be the way a person remembers their life, but I still think there should be more stammering and uneasiness. Everything shouldn't chug so nicely forward, and Moira shouldn't seem like she's all knowing, or totally naive of somethings. There was also an untied knot on the end.
I like the range of British vocabulary; it made it sound like the person is really talking in their own words. And I liked the strong poetic imagery.
The whole book is written in a cold, deadly tone that's familiar - one that everyone else would interpret as heavily depressing. Moira narrates her life to her sister, who's in a comma, to apologize to her for being a terrible person. She talks of being at a cold boarding school, and all the sea's she's seen, while being separated from her family mentally because of her younger sister. She talks of how she met her husband, and the story becomes happy and anti-climatic until something terrible happens. (I won't spoil that.) This made me think, What a bitch, and feel guilt as I am so closely similar to this character. To me, this is the worst thing she could possibly do. It, in fact, reminds me of my mother's schizophrenic behaviour, as the sound the same leading up to the event.
Overall, what I didn't like about this story is that it seemed too balanced out: there were very little uncertainties. I suppose this would be the way a person remembers their life, but I still think there should be more stammering and uneasiness. Everything shouldn't chug so nicely forward, and Moira shouldn't seem like she's all knowing, or totally naive of somethings. There was also an untied knot on the end.
I like the range of British vocabulary; it made it sound like the person is really talking in their own words. And I liked the strong poetic imagery.
September 30, 2012
I found this a compelling read but did not enjoy it quite as much as I liked the author's first book, Eve Green. Again, the novel is firmly routed in the landscape...both the rocky coast of Pembrokeshire, and the flatter countryside in Norfolk. The narrative voice is Moira, a medical student who visits the hospital where her younger sister has lain in a coma for 4 years after falling from a rock. Moira has not been kind to her sister, and her account of her life is somehow an apology for her actions since her sibling was born. Recognising that this is too little, too late, Moira nevertheless now demonstrates the love she has for her and her life story is a confession of how she allowed her bitterness to control her actions.
November 2, 2012
Would have given this 4.5 if I could. Anyway, you've seen the synopsis - elder daughter distraught at birth of baby sister at a time when she won a scholarship to a public school and left to go, aged 11, to the other side of the country.
She never warmed to the 'cuckoo' and never forgave her for taking her place in the family home in wild West Wales. The years spent apart while she was in Norfolk didn't help either, nor did her strange, introverted personality. We hear early on that her young sister ends up on life support in a hospital and I was full of dread to hear how the accident had come about.
This book was beautifully written in a dream like narrative. I finished it on the train today and will admit that even though the train was crowded, it made me shed a tear or two. Always the sign of a good book. I'll be looking for more by this very talented writer.
She never warmed to the 'cuckoo' and never forgave her for taking her place in the family home in wild West Wales. The years spent apart while she was in Norfolk didn't help either, nor did her strange, introverted personality. We hear early on that her young sister ends up on life support in a hospital and I was full of dread to hear how the accident had come about.
This book was beautifully written in a dream like narrative. I finished it on the train today and will admit that even though the train was crowded, it made me shed a tear or two. Always the sign of a good book. I'll be looking for more by this very talented writer.
March 5, 2010
I read to page 127 but decided to quit at that point. I have been reading books like Portrait of a Lady (Henry James), The Children's Book (A.S. Byatt), Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Anne Bronte) and other things in which the people write in an entirely different style than Fletcher. I just tired of the modern style. E.G. "She wrote them down, in pencil." "A felt-tipped monkey, on a light bulb." "How they were white, and died." So choppy. And, the very unhappy, depressing narrator is describing her life as a child and teenager to her younger sister who is in a coma because she fell off a cliff by the sea. The narrator intimates that she not only wished for this accident but may have helped it along - not sure, quit reading.
May 28, 2012
This is a beautifully-written book with some achingly lovely descriptions. It's easy to lose oneself in the way the author puts words together. The main character, Moira, is difficult to like, but not difficult to understand. At times I wanted to shake some sense into her. A bright but socially awkward, troubled, and lonely girl, she is granted a scholarship to a girls' boarding school at age 11, and arrives there just a few months before the birth of her younger sister, Amy. Eleven years old is not too old for sibling rivalry, and Moira is unhappy and jealous of this tiny rival for her parents' love. The two sisters never seem to connect, and then tragedy strikes and Amy lies in a coma. Moira sits at her side day after day, year after year, and tells the story of her own life.
January 7, 2009
A great start to the year.
I loved Fletcher's first book, and had high hopes for this - they weren't disappointed.
It was long and meandering, but felt like a sea walk (appropriately, as the sea is a main recurrent theme throughout)leaving me exhausted but enriched, full of little observations and big thoughts.
I felt I could have read this forever - and was genuinely sad to reach the end, no really because the plot was concluded, but because I won't spend any more time with these people and places.
I loved Fletcher's first book, and had high hopes for this - they weren't disappointed.
It was long and meandering, but felt like a sea walk (appropriately, as the sea is a main recurrent theme throughout)leaving me exhausted but enriched, full of little observations and big thoughts.
I felt I could have read this forever - and was genuinely sad to reach the end, no really because the plot was concluded, but because I won't spend any more time with these people and places.
February 5, 2018
I bought this book because of the name- oystercatchers are really cool birds. But I just couldn’t get into this. It jumped around too much, it wasn’t as cohesive as I wouldn’t liked. And I think because of that it was hard for me to connect with the characters, they all felt bland and underdeveloped. And I didn’t quite understand the reasoning behind why Moira was telling her whole life story to her sister who’s in a coma. It seemed like the author was trying to do a lot and it just didn’t work for me.
March 21, 2010
Absolutely loved this book. The lyrical writing was just beautiful, really spot on. Interestingly shifts from first to third person. Not only that but the British seascape settings made me want to move by the sea, I felt bereft when it was over. The characters are also spot on. Moira is that dark, flawed, struggling, lost soul in all of us,desperately wanting love but rejecting it to protect her vulnerability. A story of love then, jealousy and betrayal,but redemptive.
May 19, 2013
Beautiful, lyrical prose as with her other novels I have read and loved. I love her writing so much I feel like I am feasting on her words which are mouthwatering and filling and leave me fully satisfied. Loved the character of Moira who I could identify with totally. Loved the storyline and the Welsh and Norfolk settings - Fletcher has the power to draw me into different worlds - long may she write!
February 19, 2021
I believe Susan Fletcher is an extraordinary writer but unfortunately, I am not a lover of her style. It was difficult for me to get into the rhythm of the book and I actually thought about abandoning it midway, but decided to trudge on. I'm glad I challenged myself to do so because there were some very brilliant and beautiful passages and the story wrapped up nicely. I probably would have given it 4 stars if it hadn't made me so darn sad.
April 27, 2014
I started this book and thought it wasn't for me and was close to giving up however something wouldn't let me. It has a strange style, the writing flowed as the story progressed. A story of love, sibling rivalry, inability to form friendships and before I knew it it was finished. Although I only gave it 3 stars I would recommend that people try it for themselves.
November 9, 2012
Beautiful, lyrical prose was one of the reasons I fell in love with this book. Our main character Moira is strange, troubled, and incredibly intriguing which made this a complete page-turner. Can't wait to see what Susan Fletcher has in store for us next!
November 29, 2010
Sounded like a good premise - one sister is in a coma, the other sister sits by her bedside and tells her/recounts their life together. It lost me, though. Couldn't sustain interest.
April 7, 2024
Complicatedly beautiful, haunting. I simultaneously related to, pitied, and disliked the main character/narrator. Beautifully written so I held on, but I found the choice to frequently jump between narrator voices within a chapter (or a page even) to be confusing and at the same time commendably brave and artistic. This book is a jumble of emotion and perspective; the timeline is fluid giving everything a gauzy effect. Perhaps this is all exactly what the author is going for…I would bet on it.
August 20, 2024
I was utterly transported into the dusty lonely school rooms, dreamt of the surreal bird-studded coasts, painfully remembered teenage girlhood, felt Moira's cautious love for Ray like a beam of light.
For such a melancholy and slow book, full of regret and guilt, I'm so happy to have read this and didn't want it to end. Susan captures the complexity and beautiful-oddity of life like no other author.
For such a melancholy and slow book, full of regret and guilt, I'm so happy to have read this and didn't want it to end. Susan captures the complexity and beautiful-oddity of life like no other author.
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