Where light meets water by Susan Paterson

Inspired by the travels of her great-great-great grandfather, a sailor and artist, Susan Paterson’s novel Where light meets water tells the 19th century tale of Tom Rutherford, a man with a great passion for the sea, and for painting, a self-taught art. A delicate lace glove, that lands near him whilst sketching on shore, a glove strangely smelling of turpentine, leads to an encounter with the young and beautiful Catherine Olgivie, chaperoned by her aunt Cecilia. Catherine is also a painter, in oils, of scenes that capture light and movement, in the style of the newly emerging ‘modern’ impressionists. Tom’s style is more meticulously realistic in his watercolour depictions of ships and the sea; yet the two are drawn together by their shared curiosity and interest in art.

It is a romance, tested by their different backgrounds and the constraints of class, for Catherine comes from a wealthy and privileged family, whilst Tom has had always to forge his own way in a life of hardship and endurance. And then there is also the sea, the first passion that will always pull at Tom’s heart.

Whilst it is fortunate that Catherine’s father is kindly and accepting of her choice of companion, and it seems like they may be able to make a life together, Tom is nevertheless wary for he has seen in his travels how the curled and stilled cobra is capable of rearing up and striking with poison. And he is right!

This is a very beautiful and carefully crafted story, of love between two intelligent and unique individuals, struggling against class conventions, drawn together by their passion for art and for the sea, but whose passions also pull them in different directions.

It is also a heart-warming story, for while there is grief and loss, there is great friendship and love. Even the cobra that Tom fears, the person who disrupts their lives, is not evil, but has his own motivations and weaknesses, and is fallibly human. It is a slow moving story, but beautiful, and rewarding, well worth the read.

Themes: Art, Class divides, Sea, Travel, Love, Loss, Grief, Friendship.

Helen Eddy