Sea Change

Page (Salt) provides a fresh perspective on parallel lives in his latest novel about life after the death of a child in a seaside English town. Five years after the loss of his young daughter, Guy is living alone on a boat drifting aimlessly about the North Sea. His world is far from uninhabited, however, as the characters of his diary swirl about his mind. He writes about what could have been, imagining a life where his daughter is still alive and accompanying her still-married mother and father on a road trip through America. Interestingly, domestic bliss doesn't permeate the fantasy; the tale is wracked with drama and familial discord. As Guy teeters between two lives, the thin line of reality becomes very hard for him to discern. He struggles to find answers in both the endless sea and vast imagined stretches of America, and eventually comes into contact with another family, also reeling from loss, which gives rise to the possibility of stability and comfort. With lyricism and poise, Page renders a doubly engaging story, with one narrative as intricate and essential as the other. (Dec.)