Cool Water by Dianne Warren
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada, Feb 2010
Winner: Governor General Literary Award 2010
A day in the life of Juliet, Saskatchewan. The lives of several families examined. Struggles, minor succeses, a death, an epiphany. Secrets kept, secrets unleashed. Love requited. Hopes renewed. A 100 year old horse race, 100 miles in length, rerun 100 years later. And thereby hangs a tail or two. And a tale or three.
I wondered if I read the same book the jurors of the GG prize read. They wrote: "The place is a small Saskatchewan town, the time spans barely more than a day. In this exquisitely constructed novel, Dianne Warren makes each moment shine; her narrative flows seamlessly from character to character, all stunningly depicted. The implied silences of her elegant minimalism amplify the lush prose. Cool Water immerses readers in the difficulties and joys of everyday life."
Already a quarter the way through, I was restless; the prose is present tense with the inner voice of the character on screen pondering each moment as it ticks by. The characters are unremarkable, sometimes petty, mainly colourless and hard to connect with. Instead of a novel, there are several short stories that have been forced together, the sum being less than the parts. And yet ... there was some charm, there were characters drawn more deeply, the opening historic race did help set the stage in a cagier way than is first apparent.
Easy to put down, harder to complete, this relatively slender novel has relatively slender rewards. But there are some.
A review appeared in
The Globe and Mail,
National Post,
Quill & Quire and other Canadian publications.
Available from
Kobo for under $10; also in paper from Chapters/Indigo, Amazon and others for $14 to $20.