The Shimmer on the Water by Marina McCarron

Book Blurb
Three women. Two generations apart. One secret they share.

Maine, 1997. As the people of Fort Meadow Beach celebrate the Fourth of July, four-year-old Daisy Wright disappears and is never seen again.

Maine, Present Day. Fired from her job and heart-broken, Peyton Winchester moves back home for the summer. Bored and aimless, she finds a renewed sense of purpose when an ad for a journalism course reminds her of a path not taken. Returning to life in her hometown brings back all kinds of memories – including Daisy’s vanishing when she was a young girl herself.

As Peyton begins her search for the truth, new discoveries begin to intertwine Daisy’s past and her present with irreversible consequences.

My Review
Before I begin my review I would like to thank Marina McCarron for her patience in waiting for my review. So, The Shimmer on the Water is a beautiful book about two women Peyton and Eualla, a the disapperance of a young girl, Daisy in 1997. In the present Peyton has left her life in Seattle and come to the family home in Maine for the summer. She has never forgotton about Daisy, a young girl who disappeared on the fourth of July when she was younger. In Tennessee 1965 Euella leads a very different childhood to the one Peyton led. With little money, she and her sister are left to live in difficult conditions, that will shape them both, but especially Euella. This is a story of secrets, love, loss, family and hope.

I do love a split timeline plot, following two different plot lines and waiting to see how their different threads weave together by the end of the book. Peyton was a character I felt I could relate to on a few levels. She is at a crossroads in her life, she had lost her job, her boyfriend has left and she doesn’t know what to do next. Going back to Maine is not an easy decision for Peyton, her family dynamics are strained especially with her mother who doesn’t agree with her investigation into Daisy’s disappearance, or anything Peyton does. I felt empathy for Peyton with this situation and was intrigued to follow her investigation into Daisy and into her mother’s family and the secrets she is keeping.

Of both women it was Euella’s story that I found the most intriguing. Eualla had a difficult childhood, with not much money, food or love. She had to grow up quickly, look after her sister whilst studying hard knowing that a good education was her way of Tennessee and to have a better life. Her childhood was the impetus to have a better life, to put her past behind her and forge forward with her career. I loved her determination, her confidence and her work ethic, but there was also the vulnerability lying inside.

The Shimmer on the Water is a multi faceted read, weaving different stories, characters and many secrets together that made it such a compelling and addictive read. Peyton’s investigation into Daisy’s disappearance when she was also a child was intriguing, especially as there were never any suspects and after twenty years was still a mystery. It is through this investigation that Marina McCarron looks at how memories can be distorted over time, how recollections vary and can be influenced by what we want to remember. Marina McCarron’s writing is beautiful, slowly leading the reader through the different threads of the plot, keeping the reader guessing as to how it would play out.

I am so glad I read The Shimmer on the Water, it is a fascinating read that had me gripped from start to finish. Both the leading characters of Peyton and Euella were beautifully imagined, and both their stories touched me in different ways. The plot was engaging and full of emotion and drama that kept me turning the page late into the night. This is a stunning read, and one i highly recommended.