Summary of Waterland
Tom Crick, a history teacher at a secondary school in Greenwich, London, is nearing his retirement as the school decides to phase out history lessons. In his final classes, he abandons the syllabus and begins to tell his students the story of The Fens, the marshy region of eastern England where he grew up. His lessons blend local history with personal memory: tales of land reclaimers, lock keepers, brewers, and smugglers, interwoven with his own family’s struggles, including his relationship with his mentally disabled brother. Mr Crick also tells his students about his troubled marriage, recalling the summer of 1943, an unwanted pregnancy, a tragic abortion, and a mysterious drowning that may have been murder…
Reasons to read Waterland
“Waterland” is a modern classic of English literature. It weaves together themes of desire, history, and the cyclical nature of life and time, all set against the backdrop of the English Fenlands, and steeped in a rich bland of historical reflection and philosophy. “Waterland” won the 1983 Guardian Fiction Prize. Its author, Graham Swift, is one of Britain’s most acclaimed contemporary writers. Other notable works by Swift include “Shuttlecock”, “Last Orders”, and “Mothering Sunday”. In 1996, Swift received both the Booker Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for “Last Orders”.
Setting: The Fens & London (England, UK)
“Waterland” is set in The Fens of Cambridgeshire, in eastern England (and in Greenwich, London). The fictional village of Hockwell, where Tom and Mary grew up, lies between Ely and King’s Lynn.
Original title: Waterland
Year of publication: 1983
Nr of pages: 368
