Shoal Water

by Kip Robinson Greenthal

Disillusioned by the Vietnam war and troubled by their own past, Kate and Andy leave New York City for a remote Nova Scotia fishing village in search of a simpler life. Living in Andy’s boyhood summer home, they discover the old house is haunted by its original owner, Basil Tannard, who decades earlier was saved by a seal from an accident at sea. Because no one in the village believed Basil and thought he’d gone mad, Basil drowned himself. Yet he remains a ghost in the house, a soothsayer prompting Kate to believe in the unimaginable. As Kate and Andy settle into the barren, Atlantic community and start a bookstore and begin to raise a family, they discover the problems of their own past are mirrored in the unrest of the locals who are grappling with change as modern technology threatens their traditional fishing livelihood. In their shared sense of place, Kate and Andy’s lives become inextricably linked with the fate of Ivan, Will and Lena, and a love triangle, a tragic accident, and alcoholism capsize their future. Shoal water is a treacherous place to be. Not in deep water, and not on land, it is a place in between, full of unexpected hazards, of submerged sandbars, diffracted waves, and counter currents. The story follows Kate’s passage out of dependence into self-possession. It is a compelling story of navigating dangerous waters and gaining the power to redeem loss and find forgiveness and belief in the unimaginable.

Genres: Fiction

342 pages, Paperback

Published October 12, 2021

Reviews

[Left Coast Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars does not mean that this was worse than average books of this type, only that it really failed to live up to my expectations. Indeed, my expectations were perhaps too high, but this book won the Landmark Prize for fiction (awarded to books that can be closely tied to a specific location) and was recommended by some GR friends with very good taste. I expected to be impressed, but what I found was a good story told by -- I'm sorry, but it's true -- a weak storyteller.

The location in question was a small village in Nova Scotia. An opening scene in which a near-drowning is avoided by a plot element that is not, strictly speaking, in accordance with our current understanding of science made me believe this might be a harder-edged version of a twee story about the colorful inhabitants of a frigid fishing village. Later, this aspect was abandoned and we find out what the story is really about, which is a looming domestic disaster, heavy with foreshadowing. Unfortunately, the author cannot seem to make up her mind which story is being told.

Lena invited Kate up to the house for tea. "Let's choose our cups," Lena said, and led her across the room to a glass cabinet full of porcelain cups in different patterns. "Which one would you like?"
"This one," Kate said, pointing to a cup with coral roses on a sapphire background.
Kate watched Lena set the kettle on the stove. She felt her muscles unwind, her damp skin still salty from the ocean. Lena put two teabags into an enamel pot and when steam began to rise, she filled it and covered it with a crocheted cozy. Kate knew she was watching someone who had practiced this ritual most of her life.

Nothing wrong with this, of course, though it does tend to bring tension to a screeching halt. (I actually distilled this excerpt down from four long paragraphs.)

It got better as it went along, with the threat/dread element taking up more and more pages. There were even a couple of moments of quiet beauty sprinked unintrusively into the story:

Andy remembered the lacy fernlike tree that stood out among the spruce. "What kind of tree is that," he'd asked his father years ago. "Hackmatack," his father answered. "Conifers that lose their needles in winter and grow them back in spring. That's why they have such a bright emerald color." Ever since, Andy loved these trees because he could hear his father's voice in them.

Or a scene where a woman goes to a guest house, and finds her deceased mother's signature in the guestbook, dated thirty years earlier.

But the inconsistency of tone finally sunk this one, for me, and man oh man, the unforced errors! People can be fazed, but it's unclear to me how they can be "phased". And at one point Kate is is the kitchen, "pouring over recipes," which brings to mind the unfortunate image of somebody ladling béchamel sauce onto the blameless red checkerboard cover of The Joy of Cooking.

Too bad -- this coulda been a contendah.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank goodness for small, independent presses. These are the places where beautifully-crafted, soul-touching stories rejected by mainstream publishers because they lack the whizbang plot twisties of popular fiction find homes. Years ago Kip Robinson Greenthal received rejection after rejection for Shoal Water and eventually shelved it. But the story, and her belief in it, called out to her, and after ten years of letting it percolate, she took it down, wrote through it again, and went on to win the 2020 Landmark Prize for fiction and a publishing contract with Homebound Publications. She was 74. Now 75, Kip is a testament to the craft of writing and power of fine storytelling.

Readers are graced with a quietly moving, intelligent and lovely novel set in the early 70s in a Nova Scotian fishing village. Young American lovers Andy and Kate, disillusioned by the Vietnam War and haunted by their own family tragedies, retreat to Slate Harbor, where Andy spent time as a child. There is a home still in Andy's family's name, rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a fisherman rescued by a selkie in the 1930s, but who later went to rejoin her in the sea, unable to resist her siren song. Andy and Kate reclaim the home and set about to create an idyll, apart from the world. They marry, quickly have two sons, and Andy opens a bookstore in the tidy, charming village.

But the world finds them, nevertheless. Andy is tormented by his father's murder and the unanswered questions of by who? and why? and his guilt over abandoning his mother in New York while she seeks the answers. Kate has fallen in love with Ivan, her husband's best friend, and realizes she made too many hasty decisions before she understood who she was as a woman and what she wanted from life. Now she is losing her husband to alcohol and her reason to unanswered desire.

Then a tragic accident forces Kate and Andy to face their demons, past and present.

Despite the intensity of the plot, this is a delicate and precise novel. Characters are fully-realized and complex, as real in their contradictions as the harsh and gorgeous landscapes they inhabit. An outstanding read that will reverberate in the heart long after turning the last page. Highly Recommended.

[Iris Graville · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was swept away by this novel. Greenthal describes the setting in Nova Scotia with rich, sensory detail, and the plot is compelling. The characters are fully drawn; it's impossible to not care about each of them. This is a book to curl up with on a cold, winter night or to tuck into your carry-on before a long flight. You'll have good companions who will stay with you long after you turn the final page.

[Peg - The History Shelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can read my review at Shelf Awareness:

https://www.shelf-awareness.com/reade...

[Ringo Djanghard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Kip Robinson Greenthal's novel, Shoal Water, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being immersed in her story, set in a small inshore fishing community in Nova Scotia in the 1970's. Beginning with a rogue wave that breaks over a fisherman in his boat who is then saved from drowning by a mysterious seal/selkie figure (a stunning contemporary twist to the many ancient traditional Scottish selkie legends), the story of two young "come from awayers" who move to Slate Harbour to begin a new life together, unfolds with building tension. As one fellow reader has said-"Greenthal portrays tragedy and addiction in shades of grey, with no judgement, but rather with empathy for these people who have gone to the end of the earth to escape, yet instead, that's where they find themselves. Though sensual, the language is also spare and windswept."

In closing, I could not help but notice a previous reviewer of Shoal Water gave the book a 2-star rating, which is fair enough, and the reviewer is entitled to his opinion. But then this same reviewer subsequently posted a review of another book, and gives an additional parting slap to Greenthal in his new review of "a white trash zombie book":

"So, what gives? Within a two-week span I award two stars to a Landmark Prize-winning novel oozing with Maritime Canada atmosphere, seals, heartfelt tragedy and tea cozies, and then turn around and award four stars to a white trash zombie book?

No accounting for taste, my friends."

Perhaps this particular reviewer has a problem with magical realism, and cannot go beyond touting "science" as an arbiter of his own brand of limited taste.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like so many others, I LOVED this book! It is gorgeously written: prose that reads like poetry. We come to know Kate, Andy and Ivan as they work through difficult life choices. Nova Scotia is evocative and mysterious. A touch of magical realism creates even more mystery, and hope.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shoal Water is a beautifully written story with a gripping setting. We follow these characters as they experience life the way we all do: by being indecisive, loving, fearful, and accepting. A delight to enter their world. These people - and this place - will haunt you.

[Alissa Elderkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read to be sure. I love to read novels by local authors and I especially love anything related to seals or selkies. The opening had my hopes up for this to be a dramatic tale on the shores of Nova Scotia where past and present, as well as a touch of selkie magic, we’re all woven together. While this novel did keep my interest the entire time , I think that is partially due to waiting for the convergence and meaning of all of the stories to be brought together. Overall, I thought there were intriguing ideas throughout that could have been explored more to create a more robust story.

[Peg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent story set in Nova Scotia about a young couple leaving the States at the height of the Vietnam War to start a new life. They end up at his families summer home that is still in the family and the people he grew up with during summers. Rosy start but soon enough angst sets in against the Atlantic Ocean. Beautiful writing.Shoal Water

[Heather Durham · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engaging, heartfelt story of relationships — among people, a forgotten fishing village, and the untamable ocean, with narratives cresting, calming, and jostling together like waves. Bring this book to the salty shore on a foggy day, or just get lost among its pages and feel the sea working on you anyway, as our landscapes work on us all. Romance, belonging, rich sensory detail, and a touch of selkie magic make this novel a journey to savor.

[Gin Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book felt like being dropped into a foggy Nova Scotia fishing village where I could watch the characters - Kate, Andy, Ivan and others – navigate the challenges of life in Slate Harbour. Conflicts in love, heartbreaking loss, and simple awakenings as human beings pose threats to Kit Greenthal’s memorable characters as dangerous as the shoals just off shore. Plus, there were selkies! What a beautifully written, memorable book.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shoal waters can be dangerous. A young couple move from New York City to a small fishing village in Novia Scotia, grappling with loss, confusion, and alcohol. All believable and likable characters. I enjoyed this book.

[Talia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started off very slow, but the second half of the book I couldn't put it down.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Challenge: Orilium Magical Readathon/August Career Finals - Herbalist/Object Restoration (single object on cover). A debut novel. New Yorkers escape the turmoil of the Vietnam War in the 1970s to a place of comforting memory. A story of what happens as we make our way in the world when young; as we follow the dreams of others; how the baggage of our previous experiences follows us wherever we go; how we find ourselves in the midst of bad happenings and self-inflicted wounds and the effect we have on others and they on us; how the support of community can help us survive. A story also of parenthood and soul attractions. The setting of Nova Scotia, the angelic guardian seals, an apocalyptic rogue wave in shallow shoal water, and a house in which many lives are changed forever and the energy that remains. A haunting, soul-searching book with one of the most beautiful covers ever designed - the single object of a seal in shoal water, its knowing eyes, its ancient understanding. A 2022 favorite. And for booklovers, a bookstore is an element in the story with a short list of books referenced within this book.