"Summerwater" by Sarah Moss

I love tiny little books like this. They fit so nicely in my hand, which makes it so easy to cozy up with them. Of course what's inside them has to measure up, or what's the point? The only problem is that they go by too fast. 

This one more than measured up (and certainly went by too fast). I read this author's Ghost Wall a few months back and it was really great; it's always nice to "discover" an author who has already published several books, because I can make my way through their back catalog as quickly or slowly as I'd like instead of having to wait to see if and when they come out with something new. It's even nicer when books from their back catalog meet the expectations made high by my initial experience with the author's writing. 

Summerwater takes place in a "holiday park" of rented cabins in Scotland, and despite the fact that it is summertime, this book is as waterlogged and chilly as Ghost Wall was scorching and parched. The story takes place over just one day, as described by a dozen different narrators sharing their string of thoughts which is sometimes woven together with those of the other characters. The whole thing is imbued with a nameless dread: You know something bad is going to happen, just not to whom or when. But at the same time it is darkly funny. I mean, who wouldn't laugh knowing that Josh is so studiously intent on a simultaneous orgasm with Milly when Milly's mind is clearly not quite so focused? 

I love how clear a sense of each person we get from just one chapter of narration each. It is truly a pleasure to read a book that has such fully-realized characters.