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The Nature of Water and Air

3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 · rating details · 315 ratings · 75 reviews

"My mother was never easy in the world of houses. She was a tinker, a traveler girl who had married a wealthy man. Her name was Agatha Sheehy....There are silences all around my mother's story." So begins The Nature of Water and Air, set on a patch of Irish coast where, amid a flurry of whispers, we meet Agatha's only surviving daughter, Clodagh. Determined to secure her m...more

Paperback, 320 pages

Published May 2nd 2001 by Touchstone (first published 2000)

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Sep 12, 2012 Sarah marked it as unfinished

Shelves: things-you-can-t-unsee, prose-poetry

Regina McBride is a poet and this, her first novel, feels very much like poetry. The prose has a sweet, lilting quality. It's steeped in sensation and emotional resonance. It's lovely. But, for me, it was a little too immediate. Too much water and air. Not enough thoughtful analysis. WAY too much horrifying sex. --I don't mean "graphic." I definitely mean "horrifying."

McBride achieved what she set out to do. (Or I'll assume she did.) It just isn't for me.

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Feb 02, 2011 Christie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Emily White of the New York Times Book Review says “Regina McBride writes in a shimmering and often hypnotic prose style, one that’s full of incantatory repetition…The Nature of Water and Air has an urgent melancholy about it — it casts an undeniable spell.”

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I thought McBride managed to capture a particular time and place (1970s Ireland) extremely well. I was intrigued by the book’s opening lines: “There are silences all around my mother’s s...more

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Apr 17, 2010 Noelle rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is not my review. It is a review from Luan Gaines but much better than I could write:
Indeed, the young Clodagh lives in thrall of her beautiful if distant mother, Agatha Sheehy, one come from the world of itinerant tinkers, who listens carefully to the call of the wild land where they live, at the edge of the sea. Agatha's actions are shrouded with secrecy and sexual intimation, and she drifts just beyond her daughter's knowing, unwilling to be caught by time or place.

Clodagh's fragile twin...more This is not my review. It is a review from Luan Gaines but much better than I could write:
Indeed, the young Clodagh lives in thrall of her beautiful if distant mother, Agatha Sheehy, one come from the world of itinerant tinkers, who listens carefully to the call of the wild land where they live, at the edge of the sea. Agatha's actions are shrouded with secrecy and sexual intimation, and she drifts just beyond her daughter's knowing, unwilling to be caught by time or place.

Clodagh's fragile twin sister, Mare, has died, and the girl wills Mare to remain, if only as her other half, the opposite coin of her identity. She plays the piano one-handed, leaving the other part, the other hand, for Mare, and shares her innermost fears, sometimes staring into the cloudy mirror, hoping for a glimpse of her "other" self. Their father, Frank Sheehy, dies before the twin's birth, and Clodagh desperately clings to the only person left alive: her mother. But, like the mythological selkie, half-seal, half-woman, Agatha returns to the depths of the sea, unwilling to remain in this world, unable to meet the needs of her surviving daughter. Cut adrift and friendless but for a loving housekeeper, Clodagh begins a journey toward self-discovery, often tangled between the worlds of reality and superstition. In reaching out to identify the face of her mother, Clodagh discovers the truth of herself. Her adolescence is often painful and life changing, her passion for music frequently the only solace. Away at convent school or living with her paternal aunts, this is a world where Clodagh cannot find a place. Clodagh's dead father Frank, her possibly real father, a tinker, and her own early foray into sexuality are without meaning until she allows the woman inside to break free and claim own identity.

McBride's novel is flooded with images, page after page, opening windows that may only exist in this magic land, Ireland. The vast canvas of such rugged, gorgeous geography serves as the background for dreams and emotions as tumultuous and changeable as the storm-tossed waves that beat along the coast. This author has accomplished more than storytelling; she has opened my imagination to the true nature of Ireland, the very nature of water and air.(less)

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Aug 15, 2010 Keri rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: irish-myth, must-read, favorite-author

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The sea that surrounds the Irish lands is a place rich with mystery and mythology. Regina McBride interweaves the celtic culture with the hopelessly beautiful myth of the selkie in her book The Nature of Water and Air. According to Irish lore, Selkies are magical seals who, when on land, shed their skins and become human. A person that captures the shed skin can force the transformed seal to stay with him. However, on land, the seal becomes restless, and if her seal skin is found, will descend o...more The sea that surrounds the Irish lands is a place rich with mystery and mythology. Regina McBride interweaves the celtic culture with the hopelessly beautiful myth of the selkie in her book The Nature of Water and Air. According to Irish lore, Selkies are magical seals who, when on land, shed their skins and become human. A person that captures the shed skin can force the transformed seal to stay with him. However, on land, the seal becomes restless, and if her seal skin is found, will descend once again into the depths of the sea.
In this emotionally hypnotic book the worlds of reality and mythology converge as one. Although the story is born of the Irish lore of the selkie, it evolves into a story of loss for the young narrator, Clodagh. For Clodagh it is the loss of a mother and father, and the loss of a twin sister who had completed her, that left her searching ultimately for herself. “The whole right side of me, the side of me that was partly her, felt bereft” (McBride 47). The losses that pronounced Clodagh’s childhood left her as emotionally unstable as the sea that commands the selkie. As Clodagh tries desperately to find the intimacy that has eluded her, and to make sense of the inconsistencies and silences that shrouds her family history, her life begins to mirror that of her aloof mother’s, Agatha; walking between the worlds of reality and mythology--of the living and the dead.
“But my mother seemed to have come from nowhere” (14), so begins the half-truths and deception that seeps Clodagh’s family roots deep in tragedy. A tragedy of the loss of a father and twin sister leaving Clodagh, the only surviving daughter, struggling to attain affection from Agatha, whose love is as transient as the tinkers whose campfires dot the Ireland shores. A former tinker, or traveler, before her marriage to Clodagh’s father, it is in Agatha’s nature to be drawn to the restless lifestyle. And it is with a tinker man, as Clodagh watches, that Agatha gives her love. The trysts, cloaked in misery, causes a greater divide in the unresolved relationship between mother and daughter leaving Clodagh with more questions regarding her identity. It is this malignant secrecy that fosters Clodagh’s unfettering anguish and contempt toward her mother as Agatha falls deeper into sorrow’s depression. It is this tidal wave of emotion that encourages Clodagh to chant “go, go” as she watches the sea call her mother home, like that of a selkie. It is in this moment that Clodagh fully realizes the nature of water and air. “I felt afraid that the curtain between worlds was not sufficient. Air blew things in and away and water exiled its creatures onto dry land and rushed away from them. It seemed to be the nature of water and air, to be random, heartless” (113).
The reader follows Clodagh as she grows into a young woman refuting the rumors linking her mother with the myth of the selkie. In Clodagh’s quest to uncover the secrets within her family and discover her identity, she follows in her mother’s footsteps and is lured into the tinker lifestyle. Living as a tinker offered Clodagh not only a sense of freedom that she had never felt before, but it also opened doors to her past. It is in Clodagh’s search for answers where she first finds a sense of belonging, a release from the abandonment that had plagued her childhood. On her exploration of self-identity Clodagh becomes enamored with a copper-haired man, Angus. Angus provides Clodagh with the love that she had been deprived of her entire life. However, in chasing down her mother’s secrets Clodagh gets more than she bargains for. Angus not only provides Clodagh with her ideal love, but also offers the missing link in her family tree. After all the secrets are out, Clodagh learns that this copper-haired man is not only the man that she had watched as a child who was with her mother, but he is also her biological father. In the end, Clodagh returns to the home of her distant aunts and delivered a son, Finvarra, otherwise known in celtic legends as the king of the dead.
The Nature of Water and Air is wrote with such lyrical prose it is hard not to become enchanted by their mysticism. McBride’s ethereal language brandishes a melancholic pain that resonates the length of the book. The Nature of Water and Air is very dramatic and incredibly unpredictable. Although it is a lovely read, I actually had to read this book a second time through to understand the reasoning as to why McBride could not have ended the story with a more fulfilling end. However, after rereading it, I am not sure if she could have ended it any differently. For it is in the end, that the book comes full circle to where water and air eventually converge.
(less)

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Jan 26, 2010 Diana rated it 4 of 5 stars

I thought this book was beautifully written. I think that people are getting too distracted with what was admittedly a very disturbing and taboo twist. I did not love the twist, but I do not think the author's intent was to disgust the reader, but more to fully relay to you the core of the story. This is about Clodagh trying to figure out herself and even more than that, her mother. She is essentially so fascinated by her mother and the story that she does not know, that she is brought to a dark...more

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Dec 01, 2008 Grace rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book is an example of how a well-written book can go awry. From the first page, I was hooked on the writing style. The author seemed to be a pro at beautiful prose poetry style writing. And although the first segment of the plot, with the protagonist, her sister, their mother, and a housekeeper all living in a house by the sea, seemed to go on far too long, the book later picked up pace and began being quite good.

But then came the ending.

I had heard that this book had a strange ending, and...more

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Sep 16, 2010 chris rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 25, 2008 Angela rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Jenn Gregg:>)

Recommended to Angela by: Melissa Dalbert

This is a sordid tale of love, passion and destiny. I am not one for sordid twisted plots, but her style of writing is remarkable. It was a riveting read. If not for the twisted end I would have rated the book a five star.

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Jul 23, 2007 Carrie Thomas rated it 5 of 5 stars

Set on the Irish coastline, this book is hauntingly beautiful, sad, sensitive, and thought-provoking. I love books with an ironic (even if it's heart-breaking) twist and surprise. She is a beautiful storyteller.

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Jan 30, 2009 Diane rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is beautifully written, almost poetic. Regina McBride tells a gripping story that revolves around love, folklore, and the ability to find yourself.
Clodagh is on a journey to discover herself and the secrets of her family. She wants only to find some acceptance and love. She does find it but only to realize that other darker things are at work here.

The atmosphere in this story is what helps to make it so compelling. We can almost see the buildings, the water and the fires that burn. W...more

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Jan 22, 2012 Emilia Kandl rated it 4 of 5 stars

As disturbing as this book was, I still really liked it. Readers might feel that it moves slowly, since the author spends a lot of time establishing the setting and characters who exit the story less than halfway through. Personally, I was mesmerized enough by the gorgeous language and descriptions to never be bored. I also felt the different phases of the story were meant to blur together, with dead characters playing as solid (or more solid) a role as living ones. The setting is an especially...more

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Jan 24, 2008 Robert Beveridge rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: finished, owned-and-gave-away

Regina McBride, The Nature of Water and Air (Simon and Schuster, 2001)

Wow.

Okay, now that my first impressions are out of the way, this is one hell of a ride. All the more so because most books that have that effect on me are your typical big budget thrillers that, were they to go to the big screen, would be directed by John McTiernan or someone along those lines who uses a lot of pyrotechnics. The Nature of Water and Air is anything but; stuff doesn't blow up here at all. In fact, it tends to do...more Regina McBride, The Nature of Water and Air (Simon and Schuster, 2001)

Wow.

Okay, now that my first impressions are out of the way, this is one hell of a ride. All the more so because most books that have that effect on me are your typical big budget thrillers that, were they to go to the big screen, would be directed by John McTiernan or someone along those lines who uses a lot of pyrotechnics. The Nature of Water and Air is anything but; stuff doesn't blow up here at all. In fact, it tends to do quite the opposite; characters implode on a fairly regular basis, but they do so within the context of a pervasive atmosphere that this is the way things are supposed to be. It's hard to explain why something that's so low-key can have such an effect, but I'll give it a go.

Everything that makes this book work is atmosphere-- big old houses that are falling apart, characters for whom clinical depression means things are looking up, Catholic schools harboring reclusive nuns, it all adds up to an unshakable feeling that not only is something bad bound to happen, but that everything that's bound to happen is bad. It's the revival of classic tragedy--bad things happen not because of the flaws in the characters (and there are certainly character flaws aplenty), but because the gods have deemed that, for these folks, the dice came up snake eyes again and again, no matter how many chances they got. And yet still, when bad things happen to these people (be they good or not so good), every once in a while the way in which the bad things happen, or the scope of the bad things that do happen, is carried off so brilliantly that it might as well be the roof of the Nakatomi Plaza being blown to bits in Die Hard. Enchanting.

The story centers around Clodagh Sheehy and her mother, Agatha. Clodagh's father has been dead for most of her life, and she has no memory of him. She has a twin sister, Margaret Mary, who's too frail to do much other than play the piano once in a while. To top it all off, she's convinced that her mother is a selkie, a seal taken human form who is destined to return to the sea at some point. Agatha married into the Sheehy family, and is not beloved of the rest of her husband's family, so they send her to the other side of Ireland to live in a decrepit mansion the family still owns over there. Mrs. O'Dare, one of the housekeepers, comes along for the ride, and it is there our story opens. Most of the action goes forward through the reader finding out more and more about Clodagh's family (the unraveling of her mother's mysterious origins, the relationships between Agatha's husband and his sisters, etc.), but there is also Clodagh's growing up; the book takes place over the span ow twenty years. from Clodagh's girlhood until just after her twenty-first birthday.

It is an uncompromisingly dark novel, one for which the word "bleak" is too light and airy. And yet it never fails to be beautiful. **** (less)

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Aug 15, 2012 Laura rated it 1 of 5 stars

This book was extremely well written but the only reason I finished it was that a college course compelled me to. There is some hocus pocus about twins having a mystical and vaguely parasitic relationship and the "magical" connection between father and daughter who unknowingly commit incest. This book was page after page of non-believable drivel better suited to a daytime soap opera plot line than a novel worth reading.

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Mar 09, 2010 Dana rated it 1 of 5 stars

This book made me ANGRY! I give it one star, because I was so disappointed with the disgusting ending. The writing style was beautiful - the premise was intriguing - and then the author had to go and ruin it with the ending. She could have taken the storyline in a less hideous direction and she would have written an amazing book....yucko!! I may never read another unrecommended work of fiction again...

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Aug 31, 2010 Pinpin rated it 1 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 27, 2010 January rated it 3 of 5 stars

i was caught by the book cover and was able to read a few lines before i bought it, i fell in love with her prose. i'm always drawn to beautiful stories about ireland and the lyrical way the place was described here would just draw you deeper into the story. in the end, i was wishing that the truth wasn't so. heart-rending, really. the love story was almost beautiful...

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Jul 12, 2009 Megan rated it 3 of 5 stars

I was really hooked on the eerie, lyrical atmosphere the author created with her characters. You knew, likely, from the beginning that nothing good would come from these characters and I wasn't all surprised by the morbid twist at the end of the story, but still a tad shocked by it. It was an easy read and, in spite of the dark material, I enjoyed it.

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Jul 28, 2009 Mum rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: wonderfully-written, fiction

It's dark, and hovers on the myths of Ireland. I'm not sure it's truly magical realism, but it dances nearby, particularly in the beginning. The novel seeks to weave a cloth between combining forces that must be torn apart. In the pages you hear the desperation to bind the threads into cloth, and the heart-wrenching agony of the cloth unraveling and returning to its separateness.

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Apr 02, 2013 Haworth Library rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction

A beautiful story about a young girl, the loss of her family, and her grips with finding her own identity. Told in Ireland, Clodagh is born to a mother whom everyone believes is a Selkie. After the death of Clodagh's wealthy father, Clodagh's mother becomes more attached to Clodagh's twin sister Mare. After Mare's early death, Cloddagh's mother seems to abandon her altogether and reclaim her old life as a tinker.

A beautiful story that capture's the essence of Ireland and the life of Tinkers.

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Sep 18, 2011 Cindy rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

What a waste of time. Seemed promising. Tinkers and selkies in Ireland. Begins sliding downhill with the mother's suicide and ends up with incest. The back of the book says "delightful, lyrical and beautifully sad." Pleeese! The author did not have to sink this low to write a meaningful story.

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Mar 02, 2010 Chrissie marked it as to-read

Recommended to Chrissie by: Heather

Shelves: fiction, ireland, text-checked, life-stages

If I read this it is b/c I am attracted to the writing style. Many people don't like the "gross" ending, whatever that means! About a girl trying to understand who her mother, a tinker's daughter, really was. Also about the girl's choice to abandon her promising musical talent.

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Jul 08, 2008 Mary-Beth rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, historicalfiction, romance

The characters in this book infuriated me constantly. I think that's a biased and fairly unhelpful opinion, but there it is. The characters lie to one another constantly and as a result end up in a morally questionable situation. I'm not going to explain any further than that because it would ruin the story, such as it is, but this tale isn't for the squeamish. As a result of these constant lies the worst always happens to the characters, to the extent that I basically said, "oh come on," and go...more

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Oct 08, 2012 Bobonel rated it 4 of 5 stars

I couldn't put this book down. well written. a bit slow in some parts but overall was a fast very interesting book. very crazy, and i mean crazy, twist. the ending was too abrupt with too many unanswered questions for me so i'm left to assume what happened. my sister suggested that i read this book and she warned me, "it has an odd twist so you'll like it". glad she did.

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Aug 08, 2010 Alyssa rated it 4 of 5 stars

One of the more intriguing books I've ever read. Touchy subject matter, but what I rally liked about it was that I never could guess ahead of time where the author was going with something and something always surprised me. Definitely not predictable.

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Jul 28, 2010 Jamie Bryson rated it 1 of 5 stars

Absolutely repulsive. The author has skills, it's just too bad she took such a dark road...she could have taken this story a million different ways...I really enjoyed her writing skills just not the story~ if that makes any sense.

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Jul 28, 2009 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

I wholeheartedly agree with everything Sidhe said in her review. I was hooked from the start - it especially helped that I was traveling through Ireland at the time - and then the ending was such a disappointment.

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Jul 24, 2011 Debra Dannheisser rated it 4 of 5 stars

I loved this book. I have never read a book like this. Beautifully written and magical. Bogs, gypsies, Ireland, cold and rigid aunts, boarding schools, it has it all. Loved it. Great language and storytelling.

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May 08, 2009 Joanne added it

This is a very haunting novel, full of ancient Irish mysticism, Catholic symbolism, beautiful descriptions of the weather, the sea, and the countryside, and the story of a girl in search of love.

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Apr 30, 2013 Victoria rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: family, ireland, lit-fic, twins

Wow. I did enjoy this book, but it was QUITE unsettling... truly crossing the line into disturbing territory, even. The plot really took me by surprise. It was hard to see what was coming, and even in the moments that took more predictable turns, it wasn’t something that a reader wanted to correctly guess. While not an uplifting book (at all), its harshness was really balanced about by the moments of beauty and the strength of the writing itself. The shock of the end really overshadowed the majo...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Crystal rated it 5 of 5 stars

One of my favorite books. I have the audio version, and the reading, as well as the writing, is beautiful and full-bodied. This story is deeply sad, but so beautiful.

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About Regina McBride

Regina McBride is the author of The Nature of Water and Air, The Land of Women, and The Marriage Bed. She is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts. Her poems have been widely published in literary journals and magazines, and her book of poetry, Yarrow Field, won an American Book Series Award.

She grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexi...more

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