"A Beautifully Crafted Powerhouse of a Novel"
So says Christopher Birch, founder of Birch Marine, Inc on Long Wharf, Boston in his review of Wendy Mitman Clarke’s Still Water Bending in the June issue of Points East Magazine.
“There’s been a lot of rumbling lately about work/life balance,” Birch, a serious sailor himself, begins. “For Jines Early Evans, that issue is not a concern. The boat is his work and his work is his life and therein lies the balance. Evans plows through his days with an Ahab-like singularity of purpose, with family heritage driving him forward and tragic loss his constant companion. The true nature of boats and the people who run them shine through best when such dedication is achieved. But an obsession with fish isn’t always easy on a fisherman’s family. (Just ask Ahab’s wife).
“Wendy Mitman Clarke’s 2017 novel, Still Water Bending tells the story of Evans, the serious fisherman, and Lily his estranged daughter. Boats are central in the lives of both characters, and a boat is ultimately what forms the bond that reconnects them.” Read the Review
Clarke, Editor in Chief of Sail Magazine, a lifelong sailor and award-winning writer and editor, writes with a combination of gut-deep knowledge and heartfelt kinship.