A review by angelayoung
The Water All Around Us by Lynn Michell

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 the water all around us sings with the beauty and poignancy of a lost whale's song 

 

I read this beautiful story in a weekend. The prose sings, it captivated me and I couldn't put it down. The story is full of hope and wisdom and sorrow. Fenn, a nine-year-old, is brilliantly captured in all her determination and fury and wisely sorrowful sympathy for the lost whale. But all the characters live on in my head - the painter and the man who's planting 3,000 trees; the woman who's come to the island to escape, and the sea and the beach and the small island itself, far to the north of these islands: they’re also characters in their own right and they're all living on in my head. 

 

the water all around us is a novel to remember, to cherish and to think about long after the last page has been turned. It's haunting, just the way the lost whale's song and Fenn's own song for him are haunting. I loved it and the echoes it's left me with. I think you'll love it too.