Leaning, Leaning Over Water

Marcia Sweet, former editor of the Queen’s Quarterly, is an
information consultant and freelance editor.

Leaning, Leaning Over Water follows a family as they move from Ontario
to Quebec, where the father has found work. Focusing on the female
characters, it takes us through the early childhood and teen years of
the three children. The author deftly chronicles the passionate concerns
of female children (the thrilling details of death, a first giddy
encounter with a blind person, menstruation) and richly evokes the
dynamics of family life. Her book paints a vivid picture of the everyday
circumstances of growing up in a rural area in the 1950s: people had
goitres, rumors and superstitions were rife, onion plasters and
camphorated oil were mainstays in the home pharmacy, a person “born
with a caul” was imbued with mystical powers.

Perhaps because this is a novel of 10 linked stories, it has a
disconnected, jumpy quality. The coolness of the narration contradicts
the intimate family setting. Caveats aside, Leaning, Leaning Over Water
is an engrossing, well-written book by one of Canada’s leading
authors.