Ferry Findings by Sue McDonough-Watchman | Review
Ferry Findings is the second book of Susan McDonough-Watchman’s I’ve had the pleasure of reading. (The first is Lizzy in the Land Beyond. If you enjoy sci-fi with a twist, do yourself a favor and check it out.) This collection of short stories starts out strong and stays the distance, visiting themes of family, aging, loneliness, regret, and love. As always, with any of Susan’s stories, her female characters are strong and well-written. Not that her male characters are lacking. Quite the contrary. I find it noteworthy when an author takes the time to develop remarkable women in their writings. It’s refreshing to see and something we need more of in literature.
I first ran across Susan on Wattpad when she approached me during a contest we’d both entered (on second thought, I guess she ran across me). We got to chatting and reading each other’s work and blogs and started up an online friendship. You can imagine my glee at having a seasoned writer approach me, especially while still donning my writing water wings.
Ferry Findings is peppered throughout with beautiful images captured by Susan’s husband, Glenn Watchman. These images add to Susan’s narratives, providing a literal picture of the Pacific Northwest in all its watery glory.
Of the seven stories, my favorite, by far, is “Crabby Converse”. Here we find Beverly, a firecracker of an old woman whose prime is behind her. Beverly is a widow, and while her daughter and grandson visit often, she longs for the days she could do more on her own. Throwing caution to the wind, along with sound advice, she ventures off to take a walk on the pier alone, only to run into trouble.
The themes of growing older and fear of change are ideas most of us can relate to, and that’s what makes “Crabby Converse” such a wonderful story. I may not be in my 80s, but I can relate to the situation Beverly finds herself in. Susan made me experience genuine fear as a worried Beverly may not make it home safely.
The second story and namesake of the collection examine what’s truly important in life. Carla and her mother are taking the ferry to the mainland so Carla’s mother can attend college classes. While in class, Carla attends daycare. At only four, Carla understands why the classes are important to her mother, but she can’t shake the desire to spend more time with her mom.
“Carson the Heron”, and “Seal Story” are the third and fourth installments. Both revisit Beverly and her grandson, James, as they take walks along the water. These walks hold important life lessons for James. In “Carson the Heron”, he learns that waiting can become an opportunity. In “Seal Story”, James learns that sometimes who we are isn’t all that simple, and we may have to stand up to others who don’t agree.
“Huckleberry Horizon” transports the reader into the mind of a young mom who longs for the freedom of childhood and the energy and vitality she had back then. She wishes she had paid more attention to everything back then, only to realize that in her nostalgia, she is missing what’s important now; her toddling son.
In “New Heading”, we met Ramona, a seventeen-year-old girl unhappy with her home life. She feels enormous pressure from her successful mother, and the distance between them grows wider by the day. She turns to her friends for advice, but no one seems to understand what she’s going through. If you have everything money can buy, who more do you need? Finally, some sound advice comes from an unlikely source.
Ferry Finding’s final story, “It’s Magic”, we see the life of a man driven by work. This was the one story I wasn’t sure about. The beginning had a cliché ring to it; man works too hard, misses out on his son’s life, and regrets it. But as with all of Susan’s stories, this one has a twist that leaves the reader satisfied.
Discussion questions follow each short, delving deeper into themes and characters. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of heartfelt short stories, and I look forward to what Susan Watchman creates next.
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