Review: The Weight Of Water by Sarah Crossan

 

The Weight Of Water is a book by Sarah Crossan, first published in 2012 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

Kasienka, or Cassie, is moving to England with her mother, and leaving all she has ever known behind her to follow her father. Life is lonely here, in this strange place, lonely for her and Mama too. At school, Cassie is even more lonely. Alone. But suddenly, then, someone swims into her life to save her from drowning. 

♥

Cracked

I cannot make Mama whole again. 

Tata stole

pieces

of

her

and now she is

Jagged at the edges

Cracked. 

When I get home I take off my shoes

To keep the carpet clean

And do my homework 

Without asking questions.

I tiptoe.

I am silent.

She does not look at me

Any more.

She lies in bed

With a book and a

Glass of wine

Held to her heart.

Sometimes she drinks

Half a bottle

And maybe she drinks

Even more.

And then she goes to sleep

Without saying

goodnight,

Without turning off the light,

Without checking I'm all right.

 ♥

I have to say, this was a strange book. I opened it to reveal poems, one after another, instead of a wall of text.

Now, don't get me wrong, that's not necessarily a bad thing, and I carried on reading nonetheless. In some ways, it's actually nice to have something different, and you can pause or stop reading at any point, as there are no chapters.

But, there's one more thing. It doesn't really have any proper ending. This means you are left with pages of questions. What happens after?

Obviously I realize, some books are just like that. But, there is always an ending, or a cliffhanger. Am I right? Here there is neither...it just sort of...trails off into nothingness. 

Alas, that might be just my personal opinion. To me it appears as a shorter, less detailed version of Angel Cake by Cathy Cassidy, but I can see the ways in which it is different. 

If you want to read something different (but still enjoyable), and like poetry, I recommend The Weight Of Water.