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Skimming Stones
Grace first met her lover, Nate, as a teenager, their bond forged in the corridors and waiting rooms where siblings of cancer patients sit on the sidelines. Now an adult, for Grace, nursing is a comforting world of science and certainty. But the paediatric ward is also a place of miracles and heartbreak and, when faced with a dramatic emergency, Grace is confronted with memories of her sister’s illness. Heading south to Lake Clifton and the haunts of her childhood, Grace discovers that a stone cast across a lake sends out ripples long after the stone has gone.
208 pages, Paperback
First published November 2, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 13, 2021
At the jetty all these years later, something long past seemed to ripple through me in the same way a skimming stone sends waves long after it sinks. (p.143)
Skimming Stones is a beautifully written novel about the childhood experience of a sibling's potentially fatal illness. If you know anyone who's had this experience, you probably know something of the conflicting emotions that siblings feel, long after the event. Maria Papas captures these emotions superbly in a thoughtful, wise and wholly engaging story.
Grace, an oncology nurse in Perth with long suppressed memories of her little sister Emma's leukaemia, finds these memories resurfacing when a child called Zoë has a medical crisis on the ward. Grace takes a rare day off afterwards, to confront her demons and also to make a difficult decision about her current messy relationship. So the narration and the settings alternate with ease between Grace's childhood and her adult life.
She drives south from Perth to Lake Clifton, one of her childhood haunts, near the home where her parents' fragile marriage was tested by Emma's cancer. At the very beginning the family all went to Perth for the initial diagnosis and the harrowing treatment. Later, Grace went home with her father — a selfish, irresponsible, lazy man who put his own needs ahead of his family's. What really struck in my craw was that on her return after months away, the mother has to spend her days cleaning the grubby, neglected house because it was so crucial that the immuno-compromised Emma was not exposed to germs at that time.
What this mother could not restore was Grace's equanimity.
Grace at this time lost all her certainties. During the long absence she lost touch with her mother and missed the daily tenderness that she had always had. She lost her language, the Greek mother-tongue that she heard and spoke only with her mother. She lost the easy intimacy she'd had with Emma, and she lost faith in her father as well. At school, she lost her identity: she was 'the girl whose sister has cancer'.
Grace loves her little sister dearly, but she is frightened, alone and burdened with too much responsibility. She also felt resentful and guilty...
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2021/10/13/s...
Skimming Stones is a beautifully written novel about the childhood experience of a sibling's potentially fatal illness. If you know anyone who's had this experience, you probably know something of the conflicting emotions that siblings feel, long after the event. Maria Papas captures these emotions superbly in a thoughtful, wise and wholly engaging story.
Grace, an oncology nurse in Perth with long suppressed memories of her little sister Emma's leukaemia, finds these memories resurfacing when a child called Zoë has a medical crisis on the ward. Grace takes a rare day off afterwards, to confront her demons and also to make a difficult decision about her current messy relationship. So the narration and the settings alternate with ease between Grace's childhood and her adult life.
She drives south from Perth to Lake Clifton, one of her childhood haunts, near the home where her parents' fragile marriage was tested by Emma's cancer. At the very beginning the family all went to Perth for the initial diagnosis and the harrowing treatment. Later, Grace went home with her father — a selfish, irresponsible, lazy man who put his own needs ahead of his family's. What really struck in my craw was that on her return after months away, the mother has to spend her days cleaning the grubby, neglected house because it was so crucial that the immuno-compromised Emma was not exposed to germs at that time.
What this mother could not restore was Grace's equanimity.
Grace at this time lost all her certainties. During the long absence she lost touch with her mother and missed the daily tenderness that she had always had. She lost her language, the Greek mother-tongue that she heard and spoke only with her mother. She lost the easy intimacy she'd had with Emma, and she lost faith in her father as well. At school, she lost her identity: she was 'the girl whose sister has cancer'.
Grace loves her little sister dearly, but she is frightened, alone and burdened with too much responsibility. She also felt resentful and guilty...
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2021/10/13/s...
August 4, 2023
I expected to find this book a struggle to read, understanding that the subject matter was dark, but I have to say, it was quite the opposite. I found this to be a delicately written story filled with so much love. The writing was beautiful and the story engaging with lovable characters who stole your heart.
May 14, 2024
There were definitely passages in this book that I liked, but some decisions about the narrative structure and moments of overwriting didn’t work in my opinion. I didn’t really care about the characters.
The strongest aspects were descriptions of setting and language.
The strongest aspects were descriptions of setting and language.
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January 8, 2022This review was first published on the Underground Writers website: http://underground-writers.org/review...
Skimming Stones might be the best thing I have read all year. This might be because I read it at a time when I had just started working in a hospital, or maybe the way Papas conveyed the sense of place transported me home even though I was away from it. Regardless, I think this is a novel many readers will enjoy.
Set in Perth, Skimming Stones follows Grace, a nurse working in palliative care in a paediatric cancer ward. The novel immediately drew me in with mention of her sister Emma’s experience with cancer, and the affair Grace has begun with a married man. On the surface these themes may seem dark and depressing, but Papas uses beautifully light prose to inject a wistful and nostalgic familiarity into the story:
“After my sister’s illness, the colours of summer became brighter, and the sunsets grew deep… Our new suburban lives quickly warmed us in the same way sunshine warms sand at the beach.”
The juxtaposition this language creates between light and dark propelled me through this novel and kept me from getting trapped in any sadness caused by the content.
I found Grace as a narrator extremely interesting. After spending my teen years reading fiction like A Fault in Our Stars and My Sister’s Keeper, where the focus is on the child with cancer, Skimming Stones felt special as it adjusts the reader’s lens to focus on the sibling. We find out through flashbacks that Grace’s younger sister, Emma, was diagnosed with cancer at a very young age. And though Grace is nine years older, the two are attached at the hip – their sisterly connection leapt out through the pages.
I also found myself constantly forgetting I was reading a work of fiction. Grace’s voice is so palpable and real that at times I felt I was reading a biography. I was absorbed into her world. Additionally, Papas weaves in parallels of past and present, elements of Greek culture and the complexities of marriage, all contributing to creating a truly visceral experience when reading about Grace’s life. I was deeply moved by her story, and the stories of the characters that surround her.
Sitting at only around 200 pages, Skimming Stones is a relatively quick read. For readers who enjoy slice-of-life contemporary fiction and are in the mood for some more serious themes, I would highly, highly recommend it!
Skimming Stones might be the best thing I have read all year. This might be because I read it at a time when I had just started working in a hospital, or maybe the way Papas conveyed the sense of place transported me home even though I was away from it. Regardless, I think this is a novel many readers will enjoy.
Set in Perth, Skimming Stones follows Grace, a nurse working in palliative care in a paediatric cancer ward. The novel immediately drew me in with mention of her sister Emma’s experience with cancer, and the affair Grace has begun with a married man. On the surface these themes may seem dark and depressing, but Papas uses beautifully light prose to inject a wistful and nostalgic familiarity into the story:
“After my sister’s illness, the colours of summer became brighter, and the sunsets grew deep… Our new suburban lives quickly warmed us in the same way sunshine warms sand at the beach.”
The juxtaposition this language creates between light and dark propelled me through this novel and kept me from getting trapped in any sadness caused by the content.
I found Grace as a narrator extremely interesting. After spending my teen years reading fiction like A Fault in Our Stars and My Sister’s Keeper, where the focus is on the child with cancer, Skimming Stones felt special as it adjusts the reader’s lens to focus on the sibling. We find out through flashbacks that Grace’s younger sister, Emma, was diagnosed with cancer at a very young age. And though Grace is nine years older, the two are attached at the hip – their sisterly connection leapt out through the pages.
I also found myself constantly forgetting I was reading a work of fiction. Grace’s voice is so palpable and real that at times I felt I was reading a biography. I was absorbed into her world. Additionally, Papas weaves in parallels of past and present, elements of Greek culture and the complexities of marriage, all contributing to creating a truly visceral experience when reading about Grace’s life. I was deeply moved by her story, and the stories of the characters that surround her.
Sitting at only around 200 pages, Skimming Stones is a relatively quick read. For readers who enjoy slice-of-life contemporary fiction and are in the mood for some more serious themes, I would highly, highly recommend it!
March 1, 2022
I sometimes enjoy picking up a book based entirely on the cover and that’s what I did with this one. It’s such an eye-catching, stunning combination of colours and it really made me want to read it.
Grace is a nurse on a paediatric ward, predominantly dealing with children who have some form of cancer. This is something she has extensive experience with as when Grace was 13 and her younger sister Emma was 4, Emma was diagnosed with leukaemia. Grace’s whole life changed in so many ways – not only was her younger sister, her “twin but a different age” facing an horrific illness that could end in her death, everything Grace knew changed. Her parents’ already struggling marriage collapsed under the weight of also having a chronically ill child. Grace’s mother and Emma moved to Perth for Emma’s treatment, leaving Grace in the care of her lazy, potentially-alcoholic and moody father. Grace sought comfort elsewhere with Harriet, an older woman who lived nearby and provided her with the mothering and support she so desperately needed.
It was at the hospital visiting Emma where Grace first encountered Nate, who was also there because of a sibling. His older brother David was the ill one and when the two meet up again many years later, their shared experience draws them back together. Now Grace has to make some decisions about where she’s going in her life and confront the buried memories of Emma’s illness, which have resurfaced when caring for a young patient.
I enjoyed reading this. It’s told in a very non-linear way, flashing back and forth as things Grace experiences at work leads her to flash back to the time of Emma’s illness and the various things that happened during that time. At 13, she was quite a bit older than Emma but still at an age where essentially losing her mother and sister to treatment has quite an impact on her. Grace suffers from the same thing that probably every well sibling of a sick child suffers from – her wants and needs take a backseat to Emma’s, who are so much more crucial at that time. Emma needs lifesaving treatment and during this and after, she has very specific needs around things being kept clean, her being kept free of potential life-threatening infections. Everything that happens after Emma’s diagnosis revolves around her of course but there are definitely some repercussions in that for Grace. It might not have been quite so marked an impact if she had one capable parent but Grace’s father, although he attempts to do his best at times is not the sort of take-charge, look after Grace’s welfare, keep the household running in her mother’s absence, type of person. There are also many other times where he definitely doesn’t do anything even remotely resembling his best. It’s reiterated in Grace’s adult life when supporting parents of sick children that they have support around them. That the parents themselves have support and that siblings who are not unwell, also have attention and support too. It would not be uncommon I think, for siblings who are not sick, to end up with resentment for their lost childhoods as well, even though these are circumstances where everyone cannot really change the course of events.
I thought the book did an excellent job of portraying what it can be like as the healthy sibling of a child who has been diagnosed with an illness that is potentially terminal. It’s also something that probably only other people in the same position can truly understand, which is why Grace and Nate have a connection, something that reestablishes itself when they run into each other in the present day after many years of not seeing each other. Even though their connection is now…..complicated by Nate’s personal life. I usually don’t love this sort of story but in this case, I could actually understand how it would happen which is rare for me. Sometimes you crave understanding and for Nate and Grace, few people can give them that. Does it make it right? No. But I ‘got’ it. Also, it did a great job showcasing the bonds that the parents (usually the mothers) develop who are staying with their young children whilst they are sick. Like the siblings of sick children, the mothers on the ward are in a situation that can only be truly understood by the other mothers. They celebrate each other’s small successes, provide support in bad times and exchange information and tips and tricks.
Woven into Grace’s story is the story of Harriet and her husband Samuel, a couple who come to live in the same are as Grace and her family. Harriet provides love and support for Grace when she is lacking female influence, with her mother away with Emma focusing all there attention on getting Emma through her gruelling treatment. Grace gives the reader an introduction to Harriet and Samuel with what other people in the area said about them when they arrived and then later, goes back and fills in their story. This was a rather lovely part of the book and showcased how people could judge without knowing a person or a couple’s story.
A slim book that I felt packed a lot into it, showcasing the emotions and insecurities of what it was like for Grace during Emma’s illness and how that led to her career and also, how the same issues recurred in her adult life. The memories she had tried to bury away resurfaced when confronted with similar situations in her every day life. I could get why Grace chose the career she did: the structure and rigidity of it, the desire to help, to make the people going through these horrible situations have a better time, to help them in the smallest of ways. But also, it seemed a choice that would continue to feed her trauma over her own past and she has to confront that.
Grace is a nurse on a paediatric ward, predominantly dealing with children who have some form of cancer. This is something she has extensive experience with as when Grace was 13 and her younger sister Emma was 4, Emma was diagnosed with leukaemia. Grace’s whole life changed in so many ways – not only was her younger sister, her “twin but a different age” facing an horrific illness that could end in her death, everything Grace knew changed. Her parents’ already struggling marriage collapsed under the weight of also having a chronically ill child. Grace’s mother and Emma moved to Perth for Emma’s treatment, leaving Grace in the care of her lazy, potentially-alcoholic and moody father. Grace sought comfort elsewhere with Harriet, an older woman who lived nearby and provided her with the mothering and support she so desperately needed.
It was at the hospital visiting Emma where Grace first encountered Nate, who was also there because of a sibling. His older brother David was the ill one and when the two meet up again many years later, their shared experience draws them back together. Now Grace has to make some decisions about where she’s going in her life and confront the buried memories of Emma’s illness, which have resurfaced when caring for a young patient.
I enjoyed reading this. It’s told in a very non-linear way, flashing back and forth as things Grace experiences at work leads her to flash back to the time of Emma’s illness and the various things that happened during that time. At 13, she was quite a bit older than Emma but still at an age where essentially losing her mother and sister to treatment has quite an impact on her. Grace suffers from the same thing that probably every well sibling of a sick child suffers from – her wants and needs take a backseat to Emma’s, who are so much more crucial at that time. Emma needs lifesaving treatment and during this and after, she has very specific needs around things being kept clean, her being kept free of potential life-threatening infections. Everything that happens after Emma’s diagnosis revolves around her of course but there are definitely some repercussions in that for Grace. It might not have been quite so marked an impact if she had one capable parent but Grace’s father, although he attempts to do his best at times is not the sort of take-charge, look after Grace’s welfare, keep the household running in her mother’s absence, type of person. There are also many other times where he definitely doesn’t do anything even remotely resembling his best. It’s reiterated in Grace’s adult life when supporting parents of sick children that they have support around them. That the parents themselves have support and that siblings who are not unwell, also have attention and support too. It would not be uncommon I think, for siblings who are not sick, to end up with resentment for their lost childhoods as well, even though these are circumstances where everyone cannot really change the course of events.
I thought the book did an excellent job of portraying what it can be like as the healthy sibling of a child who has been diagnosed with an illness that is potentially terminal. It’s also something that probably only other people in the same position can truly understand, which is why Grace and Nate have a connection, something that reestablishes itself when they run into each other in the present day after many years of not seeing each other. Even though their connection is now…..complicated by Nate’s personal life. I usually don’t love this sort of story but in this case, I could actually understand how it would happen which is rare for me. Sometimes you crave understanding and for Nate and Grace, few people can give them that. Does it make it right? No. But I ‘got’ it. Also, it did a great job showcasing the bonds that the parents (usually the mothers) develop who are staying with their young children whilst they are sick. Like the siblings of sick children, the mothers on the ward are in a situation that can only be truly understood by the other mothers. They celebrate each other’s small successes, provide support in bad times and exchange information and tips and tricks.
Woven into Grace’s story is the story of Harriet and her husband Samuel, a couple who come to live in the same are as Grace and her family. Harriet provides love and support for Grace when she is lacking female influence, with her mother away with Emma focusing all there attention on getting Emma through her gruelling treatment. Grace gives the reader an introduction to Harriet and Samuel with what other people in the area said about them when they arrived and then later, goes back and fills in their story. This was a rather lovely part of the book and showcased how people could judge without knowing a person or a couple’s story.
A slim book that I felt packed a lot into it, showcasing the emotions and insecurities of what it was like for Grace during Emma’s illness and how that led to her career and also, how the same issues recurred in her adult life. The memories she had tried to bury away resurfaced when confronted with similar situations in her every day life. I could get why Grace chose the career she did: the structure and rigidity of it, the desire to help, to make the people going through these horrible situations have a better time, to help them in the smallest of ways. But also, it seemed a choice that would continue to feed her trauma over her own past and she has to confront that.
February 8, 2022
Beautifully written, but bleak. The narrator's sister had leukemia. She now works as a paediatric oncology nurse. The married bloke she has an affair with's brother had leukemia. The neighbor who helped her through her sister's illness had major kidney issues. Her father is an awful person who leaves. While there are small joys here & there, this is quite melancholic. Nevertheless, worth reading for its thoughtful consideration of illness, death & even migration. And so well crafted as it dips between todays issues & those of 15 years ago.
April 23, 2022
This really got to me . One book I know won’t have such a tug to the heartstrings for all but I just loved this. I savoured and re-read bits and don’t want to rush this even though it’s a short book and could be a quick read.
August 7, 2022
A touching book that is worth reading slowly and savouring. The writing is pared back and exceptional; the author lets the subject matter speak for itself without embellishment or adornment. I'll definitely be checking out more from this author.
August 28, 2022
This had too much waffle and the jumping between time-frames was distracting. I would put it down a few times, pick it up again and then put it down again after just another few pages. I found it just too much of a bother to keep track, and ended up giving up on the book.
March 4, 2022
Beautifully written and haunting - a powerful debut.
March 16, 2023
Book club book.
I found I had to read this very slowly. To me it was quite a sad story and I felt a bit flat when I finished it.
I found I had to read this very slowly. To me it was quite a sad story and I felt a bit flat when I finished it.
July 3, 2025
4.5 stars
March 11, 2022
A beautiful read, giving an insight into the after effects of childhood cancer and trauma on family through the passing of time. The book is written in alternating periods of past and present. The writing is almost poetic at times, with descriptive passages full of imagery, leaving you to quietly absorb and contemplate the whole experience that slowly enfolds and lingers on. We loved the setting of the book, Lake Clifton, and the thrombolites and found ourselves picturing the characters in our minds over there. The group has rated this book between 4 and 5 stars. Highly Recommended! We are also grateful to the author for taking the time out to answer our questions and in such detail too.
November 8, 2022
Couldn’t put this down.
This book magically turns the most gut wrenching experiences into tales of resilience, hope, connection & appreciation, in the most beautiful way possible. I loved every word of this book, I wish could read it again for the first time.
This book magically turns the most gut wrenching experiences into tales of resilience, hope, connection & appreciation, in the most beautiful way possible. I loved every word of this book, I wish could read it again for the first time.
June 21, 2022
“In the same way as my mother sometimes slotted Greek words into the structures of her sentences, we slotted our untranslatable experiences into the rhythms of our lives.”
Skimming Stones is a beautiful novel detailing the narrator’s various experiences with cancer - from her childhood growing up with her sister’s leukemia, to her adult job as a nurse - and explores the trauma associated with it.
If I had to describe this novel in one word, it would be ‘reflective’. The timeline switches back and forth between her adult life and childhood, and as the narrator frequently remembered her past, this gave me a wondrous experience where it felt like the narrator’s memories were my own.
The language and imagery used was beautiful, and definitely added to the reflective nature of the novel. In particular, the setting was a highlight, with the scenery of the lake and thrombolites weaved into the novel and a constant presence felt throughout. It is not plot-heavy and quite slow-paced, but it never felt like a slog to get through, despite the heavy subject matter. I would definitely recommend if you are in the mood for a meditative, melancholy read.
Skimming Stones is a beautiful novel detailing the narrator’s various experiences with cancer - from her childhood growing up with her sister’s leukemia, to her adult job as a nurse - and explores the trauma associated with it.
If I had to describe this novel in one word, it would be ‘reflective’. The timeline switches back and forth between her adult life and childhood, and as the narrator frequently remembered her past, this gave me a wondrous experience where it felt like the narrator’s memories were my own.
The language and imagery used was beautiful, and definitely added to the reflective nature of the novel. In particular, the setting was a highlight, with the scenery of the lake and thrombolites weaved into the novel and a constant presence felt throughout. It is not plot-heavy and quite slow-paced, but it never felt like a slog to get through, despite the heavy subject matter. I would definitely recommend if you are in the mood for a meditative, melancholy read.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews