Treading Water

The relationship with siblings can be tenuous to say the least. We so often take for granted that we understand each other, but when we really need each other, do we really know the other? Can we 
restore bonds broken or frayed by time and distance? Does being a blood relation tie you together? 
Can we heal from the wounds of the past? Can we accept that we do things differently?

Kay Brown, in her debut novel ‘Treading Water’, has written a strong, very readable, empathetic story 
exploring all these themes though the eyes of half-sisters Alison and Bridget. Now adults with their own 
families, the chasm between their lives has widened almost as much as the distance between Bridget’s 
South Africa and Alison’s Dallas, Texas. As children the two girls had strong bonds, their mutual father 
ensuring that his three children should spend quality time together. Alison, the child of their father’s 
second marriage - more indulged; Bridget and Justin coping with their increasingly chaotic and 
depressed mother. Alison’s talent for diving sending her from South Africa on scholarship to Dallas, 
where she eventually settles, marries and now has two small children. Bridget has her own teenage 
daughter and loving husband. But when Alison has a freak accident, is wheelchair bound, has thrown 
husband Tom out because of infidelity, the only person she wants to help her is Bridget. Sacrificing her 
own family holiday to fly across the world, the practical Bridget arrives to confront a taut situation. Does 
Alison really want the help or to settle some of the resentments built up over the intervening years?  

Water is the element that is Alison’s safe haven. ‘Timing and focus’ her coach’s mantra, which seem to 
be an undercurrent of the story. Because everything we do is about timing; and that focus of listening 
carefully, hearing the meaning. Brown creates the two characters using different tenses which works 
well. She constructs their formative years to give the reader a strong foundation of the past influencing 
the present. Exploring the wave of emotions that threaten to engulf the half-sisters, she draws you in, 
surprises you. 

Fear, control, respect, learning to understand yourself before others. Healing. Brown has created an authentic story many will recognize. A good read, she delves deep into the ties that bind to bring a satisfying conclusion.