The Weight of Water
by Sarah Crossan
Published by Bloomsbury
Can a book written in verse be deemed a novel? I’m really not sure … but more of that later.
What is certain is that Sarah Crossan’s debut piece is a brilliant, realistic, heart-breaking but ultimately life-affirming tale. It tells the story of Kasienka, a young Polish girl who has joined her mother in England after her father, Tata, leaves the comfortable home in Poland to seek a new life here.
Given an English moniker Cassie (because the teacher Mrs Warren mishears her), our young narrator leads us through the tough, recognisable life of strangers in a strange land. Kasienka is placed in Year 7 even though, as she writes ‘I have budding breasts/And monthly bleeds’ and ‘I don’t read well/In English. That’s all I can’t do.’
But it turns out this is the least of her troubles, as we see the less savoury aspects of British life – happy slapping, racism and bullying. What redeems Kasienka’s miserable life is her swimming and a blossoming love affair. The twist in the tale is that Tata is found – with a new family – and this has a surprising effect on Kasienka.
Crossan, who is a Dublin-born former teacher, uses blank verse throughout in Kasienka’s voice – it is spare yet lyrical in parts. The desperation and heartbreak of Kasienka’s mother is particularly moving.
However I am going to put on my pedant head and say this should not be described as a novel, which, according to Bloomsbury’s own dictionary says a novel is ‘a fictional prose work with a relatively long and often complex plot….’.
It is, on the other hand, novel in the sense of being ‘new, original and particularly interesting’. So away with the nit-picking, Finlay! Crossan has created a character
whose experiences will resonate with its readers.
Give it a go!