We Run the Tides
by Vendela Vida
A book review
We Run the Tides is a coming-of-age, loss-of-innocence novel set in Sea Cliff, an oceanside suburb of San Francisco in the 1980s. The narrator is thirteen-year old Eulabee but the real protagonist is her glamorous, rich and beautiful friend Maria Fabiola – “Maria Fabulous” to her male admirers – who is by turns envied and idolised by all around her. Maria Fabiola’s mysterious disappearance, and the upheaval this brings to the community is a watershed moment for Eulabee and her generation, one that will mark her journey to adulthood.
I am a sucker for coming-of-age novels, and although I was still a boy in the eighties (and lived on the other side to the world to San Francisco) I still strongly got the feeling of nostalgia evoked by the author. Admittedly, lately we seem to be getting several novels using the missing person “hook” in the context of a coming-of-age story (I’m thinking, for example of "Marilou is Everywhere" by Sarah Elaine Smith or The Van Apfel Girls are Gone by Felicity McClean). I came to We Run The Tides expecting a riff on the same themes. What I didn’t expect was the humour behind the narration – at times eliciting a wry smile, at others sparking a laugh-out-loud moment. This was a pleasant surprise, and one which gave the novel its particular flavour.
OK, the book might not
be perfect. For instance, I’m not sure
that the “knowing” voice of Eulabee sounds like an authentic young teenager –
it is probably more fitting to Eulabee’s older and wiser persona. Similarly,
the event-packed narrative tests readers’ ability to suspend their disbelief, particularly
considering that this is ultimately a “realist” novel. But it was still a gripping read – an
intriguing mix of drama, mystery and humour.
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