The Last Wave

Ten years ago I wrote a post in this blog about water, especially the sea, being an important setting in many Australian novels. In this novel by Gillian Best the relationship between the sea and Martha is a major theme.

This is a book about relationships covering four generations. The major character is Martha Roberts who lives by the sea in Dover with her husband John. Martha loves swimming in the sea and swimming the English Channel is a major goal from a young age. It is only in the sea that Martha feels really complete.

Martha and John have two children, Harriet and Iain, and one grand-daughter, Myrtle. However, for various reasons, the relationships with their children are strained and it is only when Martha and John face health issues that attempts are made to improve family relationships.

Topics such as cancer, dementia and same sex marriage are covered in this book presenting challenges to relationships which need to be eventually faced. The time span of the book covers from the late 1940s to the present day and each chapter is narrated by different characters revealing different time frames of the narrative. However it is Martha's love of and desire to be in the sea that is the encompassing theme of this readable and thought provoking novel.