Sea Change

Have you ever read a book that was written in such a way that you thought, "Nobody ever really looks at the world that way"? The books that are hyper-detailed, heavy on description and light on plot? Like, "This book is just trying to be literary." That's what I thought about Jeremy Page's Sea Change, at first, but as I read, the book took a shape that rendered each detail completely convincing and, actually, heartbreaking.

Sea Change is about a man, Guy, who wants to remember things that never happened. He creates a life in his journals so vivid it's more real to him than the life he finds himself unwillingly living.

It's not so depressing as I've managed to make it sound. And as a wife of a sailor and a future-boat-owner-one-day-if-I-ever-have-money, I appreciated the details about Guy's life afloat, although I was saddened by his life adrift. It was a beautiful, melancholy book, and I imagine people who've suffered a major loss could connect with Guy very easily.

Since Noah's been away, I've avoided imagining scenarios that include him. I've avoided thinking things like, "If Noah was here, then..." That kind of thinking isn't productive, especially when you've got a house to run and a kid to raise. Then again, I've always known that my separation from him is temporary.

Perhaps the saddest thing about the story was how very real it managed to be, even though Guy was constantly aware that his inner life was fiction.

To read more perspectives on Sea Change, click here. BlogHer sent me this book to review, but the opinions herein are my own.