When Water Became Blue
A half-submerged island is the setting of a love story “not meant for land” in When Water Became Blue, Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette’s sweetly wanton novel about women’s desire.
Brought to shore by her partner and child, Anaïs, a writer on retreat, slips into island life among other visitors and a few longtime residents. Her momentary neighbors include a “biologist studying underwater forests” who waits for an iceberg wrangler’s return, an archaeologist who grabs urchins bare-handed, two lighthouse keepers, and an artist with “the soul of a satellite.” The latter ignites primal need in Anaïs; they orbit each other, electric, yearning.
The artist is not named; his connection to Anaïs is destined to be fleeting, and she does not allow herself to define it in the same way that she does her relationships with her family. Sacha and Ama (“a seasoned degloomifier, a professional of joy”) are her true centers; still, she revels in her connection to the painter. Knowing that women’s desires have too long been shadowed and derided, she celebrates the tactility of their connection and anticipates their eventual end without pausing to protect herself: “this is going to hurt.”
Its lyricism both primordial and learned, the prose sifts through memories, cultural references, and moments of island life with earthy curiosity and a sense of deep human continuity. In an abandoned house, the couple listens to the “distant, muted” peal of underwater bells; elsewhere, seaweed becomes a rosary. The artist’s mouth is like “peonies in August; impetuous, insolent, festive”; Anaïs muses “you make my flesh royal.” Time ticks away toward their certain separation.
About an ephemeral maritime love as rare and precious, and somehow still as reflective of ubiquitous potentiality, as the color blue once was, When the Water Became Blue is a lush, intoxicating novel.
Reviewed by
Michelle Anne Schingler
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
