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Crossing Waters
200 pages, Paperback
Published October 22, 2024
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8 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 4, 2024
Publisher's description:
"Manuela left Colombia a year ago for a coastal town in the Basque region of Spain with her nine-year-old son, Juan Camilo, who has not said a word since they arrived. She is now working as a housekeeper-companion to Irene, a well-known dress designer left blind as the result of an accident. Gradually, as the two women exchange their stories, cope with the boy’s silence, and forge a strong friendship, the traumatic events that changed all of their lives emerge, with unexpected consequences. Despite the inherent dangers, Irene continues to swim alone in the ocean each day, attached to a harness of her own making, because “there’s more to life than just living.” Meanwhile, Manuela and her son each strive to overcome their fears and past experiences so they can begin their lives afresh in their new home, looking to the future rather than the past.
"Cruzar el agua / Crossing Waters is a powerful reflection on the need to avoid nostalgia, to move forward, to grow and adapt to new situations and environments. Such impetus dredges up critical elements from the past of each of the three main characters that cannot be suppressed. This adds a powerful dimension to the novel. As in other works by Luisa Etxenike, the images are haunting, and the language is poetic, starkly simple, and meticulously chosen to reflect the different voices and registers of her characters. A confrontation between human nature on the one hand and the forces of nature on the other is ever-present, and the relevant issues Etxenike explores in her prose leave her reader with much to consider, and also to relish."
Crossing Waters
By Luisa Etxenike
Although this story is barely the length of a novella, it has the emotional scope of a doorstop saga. Translated from the Basque by Lilit Zekulin Thwaites, it is an exploration of sensorial impediment told from three points of view, a dress designer who has become permanently and totally blinded in an accident, a young emigrée from Colombia who cannot allow touch, and her young son who is so terrified to disturb the status quo with a secret, he refuses to speak.
This poetically written, sparse but highly perceptive narrative reveals sadness and pain, but the lightness of tone and redemptive arc make it a story I would happily press into the hands of any reader, with a modicum of caution for HSPs.
Kudos to the translator for capturing the poetic nuances of the original.
Publication date: 22nd October 2024
Thanks to #netgalley and #columbiauniversitypress for the eGalley
"Manuela left Colombia a year ago for a coastal town in the Basque region of Spain with her nine-year-old son, Juan Camilo, who has not said a word since they arrived. She is now working as a housekeeper-companion to Irene, a well-known dress designer left blind as the result of an accident. Gradually, as the two women exchange their stories, cope with the boy’s silence, and forge a strong friendship, the traumatic events that changed all of their lives emerge, with unexpected consequences. Despite the inherent dangers, Irene continues to swim alone in the ocean each day, attached to a harness of her own making, because “there’s more to life than just living.” Meanwhile, Manuela and her son each strive to overcome their fears and past experiences so they can begin their lives afresh in their new home, looking to the future rather than the past.
"Cruzar el agua / Crossing Waters is a powerful reflection on the need to avoid nostalgia, to move forward, to grow and adapt to new situations and environments. Such impetus dredges up critical elements from the past of each of the three main characters that cannot be suppressed. This adds a powerful dimension to the novel. As in other works by Luisa Etxenike, the images are haunting, and the language is poetic, starkly simple, and meticulously chosen to reflect the different voices and registers of her characters. A confrontation between human nature on the one hand and the forces of nature on the other is ever-present, and the relevant issues Etxenike explores in her prose leave her reader with much to consider, and also to relish."
Crossing Waters
By Luisa Etxenike
Although this story is barely the length of a novella, it has the emotional scope of a doorstop saga. Translated from the Basque by Lilit Zekulin Thwaites, it is an exploration of sensorial impediment told from three points of view, a dress designer who has become permanently and totally blinded in an accident, a young emigrée from Colombia who cannot allow touch, and her young son who is so terrified to disturb the status quo with a secret, he refuses to speak.
This poetically written, sparse but highly perceptive narrative reveals sadness and pain, but the lightness of tone and redemptive arc make it a story I would happily press into the hands of any reader, with a modicum of caution for HSPs.
Kudos to the translator for capturing the poetic nuances of the original.
Publication date: 22nd October 2024
Thanks to #netgalley and #columbiauniversitypress for the eGalley
September 24, 2024
In this short but powerful book, we first meet Irene, who is having her daily dip in the ocean in spite of having been blinded in an accident. She used to be a fashion designer and is now coming to grips with her new reality and contemplating her existence. Manuela works for her, doing work around Irene's house and attending a story-sharing group with other immigrants. She considers perhaps writing her story in fictional form one day. She is building a new life, but there is pain in her past life, too, and she is hoping for healing and a fresh start. Manuela's son, Juan/ Juan Camilo, has stopped speaking since he left Columbia. He communicates in writing, does well at school, and gets along with his classmates, but he dares not speak lest he lie or give away a secret that was cruelly thrust upon him. He feels trapped by this secret. All three have experienced trauma.
Once I started reading this book I could not put it down. I was eager to discover if/how each of these characters would move forward in their lives and find healing. I wanted to know what the secrets were and how/if they would be revealed. I wanted them all to be OK.
The book is beautifully written in short chapters, each from the point of view of one of these three. This is more a character-driven book than one that is plot-driven. Even so, it never lagged or got boring. No words were wasted. The bond that formed between the three characters was lovely to read as the book progressed. This is an excellent book and I'm so glad I read it.
I thank NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a digital review copy.
Once I started reading this book I could not put it down. I was eager to discover if/how each of these characters would move forward in their lives and find healing. I wanted to know what the secrets were and how/if they would be revealed. I wanted them all to be OK.
The book is beautifully written in short chapters, each from the point of view of one of these three. This is more a character-driven book than one that is plot-driven. Even so, it never lagged or got boring. No words were wasted. The bond that formed between the three characters was lovely to read as the book progressed. This is an excellent book and I'm so glad I read it.
I thank NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a digital review copy.
November 21, 2025
An accident has left Irene, a former dress designer, blind.
“Today, yet again, she hasn’t untied herself to head out to sea. She doesn’t understand why, she doesn’t know what pulls her out of the water. But it has to be rage, an arrogant emotion that propels her and won’t die.”
Juan Camilo has stopped talking ever since emigrating from Colombia and settling on the coast of Spain.
“It’s better not to talk. That way people don’t ask him questions. Before, when they didn’t know him, they did ask, but not anymore. Little by little, almost everyone has stopped speaking to him. That’s better. That way, he doesn’t have to prepare himself to lie. Lying is bad; that’s what he’s been taught. Even Elías told him many times that lying is bad. So, he has to believe that that man never lied to him, that what he was telling him was always the truth.”
Juan Camilo communicates just fine, he has a tablet to write on. He just needs to keep from talking. His voice will give him away. He can’t let that happen. He can’t let his mother know.
Manuela left Columbia with her son Juan Camilo to start anew in Spain.
“You see, Irene, there are those who emigrate out of economic necessity, or because of persecution, or fear, or the horror they feel from living in a country where certain things are allowed to happen. Before I met Elías, I could have emigrated for several of those reasons, but not after meeting him. He gave me and my son all that was necessary to live decently, as well as tranquility and security. But something was lacking.”
In this delicate novel all three main characters have suffered a stifling trauma. In short chapters and simple prose Luisa Etxenike masterfully tells their story. Not a wasted scene. Not a wasted word.
“Today, yet again, she hasn’t untied herself to head out to sea. She doesn’t understand why, she doesn’t know what pulls her out of the water. But it has to be rage, an arrogant emotion that propels her and won’t die.”
Juan Camilo has stopped talking ever since emigrating from Colombia and settling on the coast of Spain.
“It’s better not to talk. That way people don’t ask him questions. Before, when they didn’t know him, they did ask, but not anymore. Little by little, almost everyone has stopped speaking to him. That’s better. That way, he doesn’t have to prepare himself to lie. Lying is bad; that’s what he’s been taught. Even Elías told him many times that lying is bad. So, he has to believe that that man never lied to him, that what he was telling him was always the truth.”
Juan Camilo communicates just fine, he has a tablet to write on. He just needs to keep from talking. His voice will give him away. He can’t let that happen. He can’t let his mother know.
Manuela left Columbia with her son Juan Camilo to start anew in Spain.
“You see, Irene, there are those who emigrate out of economic necessity, or because of persecution, or fear, or the horror they feel from living in a country where certain things are allowed to happen. Before I met Elías, I could have emigrated for several of those reasons, but not after meeting him. He gave me and my son all that was necessary to live decently, as well as tranquility and security. But something was lacking.”
In this delicate novel all three main characters have suffered a stifling trauma. In short chapters and simple prose Luisa Etxenike masterfully tells their story. Not a wasted scene. Not a wasted word.
December 9, 2024
A short but powerful and deeply affecting book, beautifully written in spare atmospheric prose, with not a wasted word. It tells the story of Manuela who has emigrated from her native Colombia to the Basque region of Spain with her nine-year-old son Juan. Since arriving, Juan has not spoken, and it is only gradually that we discover what prevents him. Manuela herself has found work as a companion-housekeeper to Irene, a renowned dress designer who has become blind. The two do have the words to express themselves and as time goes by find some resolution to their pasts and their current situation, as eventually Juan does too. I loved this book, such a gentle compassionate story narrated with empathy and insight, poignant and relatable.
November 25, 2024
A formerly famous woman has to come to terms with her sudden onset blindness, a boy needs to reconcile new information about his parentage, while his immigrant mother is working out how to accept her past in Colombia without letting it hold her back from being happy in her new life. As these three people deal with their respective flavor of foreignness they also need to learn how to accept friendship and support from the good people around them.
This was and excellent novel and I really enjoyed it.
This was and excellent novel and I really enjoyed it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews