Watershed - Susan Day

As deaths mount during the coronavirus pandemic a retired history teacher reflects on the much greater personal impact of the death of her sister death 12 years before. Looking through the lens of the lockdown, Pam Dearly looks back on her and her sister Pauline’s childhood, and how their family was affected by the Canvey Island flood of 1953. When they both settle in Sheffield they begin to lead very different lives, Pauline outgoing and sociable, Pam reserved and insular.

After Pauline’s death Pam finds herself more involved with her sister’s daughter and grandchildren than she had planned. The Great Sheffield Flood of 1864 resonates with her and she uses it for a local history project for her students, but she is not expecting to find herself and her new family affected by floods themselves, or to be the one who has to find a solution to their problems.

‘Watershed’ is about loneliness and families, and unlooked for deaths. It speaks of how events can change the course of lives, and how, in the end, the smallest of human interactions can make a difference. Susan Day skilfully conveys the many and complex manifestations of grief; how it affects people so differently, how pervasive and long-lasting its reach really is.  There are no tidy endings here, no happy ever-afters  – just an acceptance that life does and must go on.