A full-bodied historical tale merging land and sea.
London, 1847, Thomas Rutherford is on extended shore leave from his maritime service and has the chance to indulge in his second love, painting. Watercolours, charcoal sketches and a mind full of ideas he has stored as he observed the vivid colours and light of the ocean in his sea-faring travels.
A chance meeting with fellow artist Catherine Ogilvie sets his life on a different course.
Catherine Ogilvie is a woman far beyond Thomas’ class that transforms his life. Linked via their paints, oils and canvases, but more importantly, a fusion of their minds and ideas alas this is a time when they are out of step with society’s rigid expectations.
Expect the unexpected and be drawn into the world of Thomas and Catherine. Love, impossibilities, loss and resolve, meticulous art detail and the wilds of maritime service, Susan gifts us a perfectly formed debut. A delight to read, her story builds like the careful paint applications on the canvas she so vividly describes and transports you to the ocean and era alike. Like salt from the ocean, Where Light Meets Water will take a while to shake from my mind.
Author Susan’s imagination brings to life her great-great-great grandfather Captain Thomas Robertson’s story, a significant maritime artist and master mariner. From London to far-flung continents, Melbourne, Port Chalmers in New Zealand, Susan Paterson provides a literary feast.
Simon Schuster Australia
ISBN 9781761102240