Book Review: Water Under the Bridge by Lily Malone
Lily Malone’s new offering is the first in a trilogy of books which will feature characters from the Western Australian town of Chalk Hill. Chalk Hill, although fictional, is pretty much the typical small Aussie town. The one thing that they all have and it’s missing, however, is a public swimming pool, which is the exact reason our heroine, Ella Davenport, moves there from Perth.
Ella is an ex-champion swimmer. She won national titles and only missed out on going to the Olympics because she was pregnant. Her son, Sam, is now 10 and she’s decided it’s time to pull on her big girl’s panties and become a strong independent woman — as long as she can do this without a pool or swimming, that is.
Her move to the country also includes a change of career (to real estate) and separating from her husband, Erik, who is also her former coach and remains a father/older brother figure. In Chalk Hill she meets Jake, a local farmer and hardware store owner and the man who will, of course, try and win her heart.
As leading couples go, Ella and Jake were okay although they seemed to have very little conflict. They talk business (Ella is attempting to sell Jake’s grandmother’s house), the town (everyone who is everyone hangs out at the bowls club), and Sam. Other than that they just think lustful thoughts. (I must stress this isn’t in the league of 50 Shades but it does feel like Jack and Ella spend more time thinking about secksy times with each other than thinking about the stimulating conversation they share.)
Ella is traumatised by her memories of swimming. To her, she relates the water with her pushy parents, school bullies, jealous teammates, and missed medal opportunities. I did like that there was a point of her conflict but I think Malone should have had Ella face those real reasons instead of simply having Ella sort things out by (literally) jumping back in at the deep end. Some scenes with her parents reaching closure would have been good.
I didn’t like the way Malone included Ella’s swimming hang-up into Sam’s problems, however. Even if I could imagine a small Aussie town without a swimming pool, I could never imagine any 10 year old Aussie kid having such limited time in a swimming pool. Every school has compulsory swim lessons, for starters, and did he never get invited to a party at a pool or beach? I’m sorry, I just don’t think it would be that easy to avoid swimming in one of the hotter states of Australia.
Sam’s characterisation when it came to his age annoyed me too. I have an almost 12 year old and in the beginning of the book Sam was doing things I could never imagine my son doing even today, let alone two years ago. Then, later in the book, Sam was acting like a kid half his age. It unnerved me a little.
I also found Ella’s relationship with Erik a little unnerving. For a time I was confused as to whether or not they’d ever consummated their marriage. One assumes they must have or else Ella would have been much more ignorant during the intimate scenes she shares with Jake. This just seemed to highlight the only interest Ella has in Jake is lust because she claims Erik is her best friend and yet wants to divorce him.
Actually Erik was my favourite character of the book. I want to know more about his background in Germany, how he lost his arm and I especially want to know if he finally finds a woman who will love him like he should be loved. Please, please, please write this one Lily!
Alas, I assume the two other books in the series will instead be about Jake’s brothers, Abe and Brix, and I’ll be destined to write Erik’s story in my own head.
Look, I know I complained a little about this book but I must stress that my patience really runs thin with contemporary rural romance. I keep giving the genre another go and thinking I’ll eventually be won over. Maybe one day… Lots of people adore chook lit, however, and if you’re one of them I would recommend this book. There’s nothing wrong with Malone’s writing and I’m sure most readers would give Water Under the Bridge a higher rating.
For me, though it wasn’t exactly the right book at the right time and I’ll go for a 3 out of 5
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