Set in the early 60s this focuses on the community that lives on houseboats on a stretch of the Thames. They are a varied bunch, not quite at home in life, they live at the margins of land and water, and seemingly of society as a whole. The mixture of characters is appealing and they're all quite well defined. There's a lot goes on but the brevity of this leaves a lot of questions unanswered and what happens next. ( )

Subtle and engaging story about a liminal society. While very much set in its time, it's not outdated. ( )

Nenna James, una joven canadiense sin medios para alquilar una vivienda en el Londres de principios de los 60, vive con sus dos hijas en una barcaza anclada en el Támesis. Ninguna de las tres pertenece ni al agua ni a la tierra firme, y comparten su existencia con unos vecinos que se encuentran, como ellas, a la deriva: Willis, un artista que intenta vender su decrépita nave a pesar de su pésimo estado; Richard, que vive a bordo de Lord Jim con su mujer, Laura, aunque ella preferiría mudarse a otro sitio; o Maurice, que ni siquiera protesta cuando su barcaza empieza a llenarse de objetos robados. Todos ellos van a contracorriente, en un espacio en el que podrían primar la sencillez y la libertad de la vida excéntrica, pero que se ve salpicado por los pequeños reveses cotidianos de cualquier existencia humana.

absolutely amazing! an extraordinary little book. i expect the way it ends is responsible for the lower ratings than it deserves, but it also is kind of perfect... ( )

“Biologically they could be said, as most tideline creatures are, to be ‘successful’. They were not easily dislodged. But to sell your craft, to leave the Reach, was felt to be a desperate step, like those of the amphibians when, in earlier stages of the world’s history, they took ground. Many of these species perished in the attempt.”

Set on a houseboat docked at Battersea Reach on the Thames, Nenna James lives on the Grace with her two daughters. Her estranged husband does not understand her desire to live on a barge, so he has been living apart from the family.

This is a character-driven novel with little plot. Nenna seems to be trying to organize her life but is not doing a good job of it. She has difficulty making decisions. Her daughters are often left to their own devices. The characters are eccentric. Maurice is storing stolen goods and Richard is an ex-soldier with an unhappy wife. Willis is an aging artist whose boat is sinking.

The title seems to be a metaphor for the lives of the people living at Battersea Reach. They are adrift and their lives are in disorder. This is a short book that won the Booker Prize in 1979. I liked it, especially the writing, but found the ending rather unsatisfying.
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