Cassandra Parkin

A gorgeously written story of a woman reconnecting with her memories of a beloved but long-estranged grandmother, and finding the strength to face the truths about the problems in her own present.

Jen, deaf since childhood, spent many summers with her grandmother Lily at her home at the English shore. They were idyllic times, when Jen could feel safe and relaxed after months in the tense home made by her parents. But shortly after Jen's marriage Lily did something which upset Jen so much she show more refused to see her again. Lily has left her estate to Jen, though, so she reluctantly leaves behind her insecure, unemployed musician husband and travels with her 12-year old daughter to settle Lily's affairs. Jen always thought her grandmother was something of a witch, seeming to have a second site into coming events, and she is dreading returning to this place of such happy memories. Given a cool reception by Lily's friends upon her arrival, she struggles to finish her business and get back home, but each day finds her less and less inclined to do so, and she begins having disturbing conversations in her head with her grandmother as well as dreams which point to huge upcoming changes for herself and her family.

The characters are carefully drawn, with the flow of signed, lip-read, and spoken language interwoven effectively to give a sense of the isolation and survival tactics of a deaf person. The language is fresh and evocative:

"Here is the key with the loop of plaited string that surely, surely cannot be the one I made for her, decades ago."

"All I wanted was to try on Lily's things. First the jewelry, which - jackdaw that I am - still calls to me with a siren song."

"Maybe by the time I'm old, I'll reminisce fondly about the days when everyone sat around in couch-potato silence and stared with their mouths open at the 'same program'." (This one made me laugh out loud.)

The plot, filled with Jen's texts to and from her increasingly desperate husband, and alternating chapters filling in the past, pull the reader along to ever more layers of Jen's and Lily's pasts, with a wonderfully unexpected but perfect ending. So highly recommended! show less

Cassandra Parkin is a wonderfully intuitive writer. Her prose is gorgeous and her stories are hauntingly beautiful. I had the pleasure of reading The Winter's Child last year and I loved it, so was really keen to read this, her latest book. In fact, I think Underwater Breathing has much more of an affinity with one of her earlier books, The Beach Hut, which also had a strong brother/sister relationship and a link to the sea.

This time, the brother and sister are Jacob and Ella. When the book show more opens in 2008, Ella is 7 and Jacob is 10 years older. They live with their parents (although Ella's mother is Jacob's stepmother, he does call her mum) in a house 'at the end of the world'. On the east coast of England, the house is huge, with a bathroom in a turret, and is in great danger, sometime in the not too distant future, of falling into the sea. Ella and Jacob have an unusual relationship. She is devoted to him and, despite the age difference, he dotes on her. But their parents have a difficult relationship and so the youngsters' bond is even stronger.

There are very few characters in this story, but the family's neighbour on the clifftop, Mrs Armitage, plays a huge part in it. She's prickly, hostile, unfriendly at times, but I really liked her no-nonsense style, her way of dealing with things. Jacob and Ella come to rely on her in different ways, not least as a way of escaping their home life.

Parkin's writing style is lyrical, I can think of no other way to describe it. I found that it took a little getting into the story again each time I picked it up and I think it's because it's quite intense. But once I was back in the zone I found myself fully absorbed in the lives of the unusual characters.

The turn the story takes was no surprise to me. I can't say much because of spoilers, but the author managed to make it very obvious without saying anything. I think she's very clever in that respect, definitely showing and not telling.

As for the setting, well it's genius really. The sea is a foreboding presence throughout. Ella is scared of it, there's a constant threat of the cliffs falling and taking the houses with it. But it's also about how water can envelop you, and when it does so there's nothing else around but the sound and sight of the water. In a strange way, what is most to be feared is also a saviour.

Underwater Breathing is quite a read. It's about relationships, love, fear, loss. It's a book of layers, there's a need to explore between the lines. I found it totally engrossing. show less

The first thing to say about The Winter's Child is what a gorgeous, evocative cover. It perfectly encapsulates winter and the whole feel of the story.

This book plays on any parent's worst nightmare. Susannah Harper's fifteen year old son went missing five years ago and has never been heard from again. For five years she has lived with not knowing what happened to her precious boy. Her marriage falls apart and of course other relationships, such as that with her sister, have suffered too.

The show more book starts with a visit to Hull fair and a fortune teller. I found the use of psychics in the story absolutely fascinating and I thought the opening to this novel was a perfect way to draw me in.

Susannah is an unreliable narrator. As she starts to fall to pieces I didn't know if I could believe what she was saying and doing and this made it really exciting to read. There was actually a part where it became obvious to me what was going to happen but not to Susannah. So the thrill was waiting for it to dawn on Susannah and wondering when it would happen.

It's a rollercoaster ride of a story. Most of it is set in the current day as Susannah waits to see if the psychic's prediction that Joel will return to her on Christmas Eve will come true, but there are also some sections from throughout Joel's life which set the scene for what happened later on. And then there are the blog posts from the blog that Susannah set up to talk about her missing child. All these fragments of the story came together to make a superb whole.

The Winter's Child is a book that absorbed me, moved me, thrilled me, gripped me and shocked me. It's a superb read, full of myriad twists and turns. I thought it was brilliant. show less

How do you watch a person going mad, page by page, ever so slowly, ripping you apart, page by page, ever so slowly? A child goes missing, sanity is bright, shiny and not real. Psychological torture on each page, in so many words, sentences, paragraphs.

Susannah and John want their perfect family but there are problems and they are unable to conceive. One perfect winter’s day they are matched to a foundling and with the adoption of Joel they are a family. Now they are three and everything show more they hoped for is not bliss. John is too demanding, Susannah is too forgiving, and Joel is manipulative. It is a wearisome story and would be easily dismissed except the reader becomes a party to the conflict by contemplating a question constantly asked; Is it normal for a parent to love a child more than their spouse?

Susannah expects us to forgive and give her a pass when she can’t afford herself that forgiveness. But the ability to acknowledge a failing and the ability to right a wrong never come together. She blogs and warns never to trust a psychic and yet she runs from one to another seeking any reassurance. Sanity is a pretend thing, the mud keeps pulling her down, slowly, ever so slowly.

Cassandra Parkin has written the most agonizing story about the devastation left behind when a child goes missing. Well written if a bit repetitive. Just shy of four stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Legend Press for a copy. show less