1
/
of
1
Corey, Deborah Joy
The Skating Pond
The Skating Pond
Regular price
$12.00 CAD
Regular price
Sale price
$12.00 CAD
Unit price
/
per
Couldn't load pickup availability
Deborah Joy Corey’s The Skating Pond is a masterful and hypnotic exploration of the depths of human needs and desires. Told through the eyes of a young woman who has experienced more than her expected share of pain, this evocative novel explores the hidden truths of our lives with both candor and grace.
In the small fishing village of Stonington, Maine, the local pond is a hive of activity — in the summer, tourists flock to see the lilies in bloom; in the winter, it becomes the local skating pond, with boys playing hockey alongside pleasure skaters gliding around in circles. For young Elizabeth, going skating is less a pleasure than a chore, though watching her mother on the ice is a joy: “she looked like something from a fairy tale, a gazelle, thin-necked and elegant.” Elizabeth also relishes the knowledge that every swish of her mother’s skates is an act of defiance of her father, who sees his wife’s skating as decadence — her proper place is at home, taking care of her family. For Peter, an artist who only paints fishing boats, life is not about taking risks, but living in fear of the past, of the future, and anything that could possibly bring you harm.
One winter Saturday, both parents and Elizabeth head down to the pond — Peter with his sketchbook, Doreen wearing a sequined skating skirt that looks like neon when she spins. But in a random accident, a stray hockey puck hits Doreen squarely between the eyes and she crumples to the ice. With this event, Elizabeth’s life changes completely.
Horribly disfigured, Doreen begins to hide herself from the outside world, her condition worsening every day. And when Doreen’s husband disappears one night with his new art dealer, leaving only a note, Elizabeth is left to care for her mother alone. Then when Doreen dies, the 15 year old is left to raise herself. With only her new dog for company, besides the visits from the boy next door who comes to check up on her, she gets by on macaroni and tomatoes and stops going to school. Elizabeth loses herself in solitude, until one day she begins an affair with a stranger, a visiting architect named Frederick who is her father’s age. In their sexually intense relationship she tries to find rescue, to learn what crucial element is missing from her own life. But when he leaves, and leaves her pregnant, it’s as if the world’s been ripped out from around her again. The neighbour Michael steps forward to marry her — yet despite her best efforts to have a “normal” life and raise their family, she never feels that her life is complete, or recovers from her grief, or truly loves. It is only when Frederick reappears, a decade later, and tragedy once again threatens to tear her world apart, that Elizabeth is forced to come to terms with her heart’s truths.
Rich in images and language that will transport you into the emotional landscape of one small town, The Skating Pond is a heart-wrenching yet beautiful book, one that reaches into the core of human longing. Deborah Joy Corey explores how love and desire, belonging and grief, can shape our very beings — the effects rippling through her characters’ lives until tragic events send them flowing in new directions once again.
In the small fishing village of Stonington, Maine, the local pond is a hive of activity — in the summer, tourists flock to see the lilies in bloom; in the winter, it becomes the local skating pond, with boys playing hockey alongside pleasure skaters gliding around in circles. For young Elizabeth, going skating is less a pleasure than a chore, though watching her mother on the ice is a joy: “she looked like something from a fairy tale, a gazelle, thin-necked and elegant.” Elizabeth also relishes the knowledge that every swish of her mother’s skates is an act of defiance of her father, who sees his wife’s skating as decadence — her proper place is at home, taking care of her family. For Peter, an artist who only paints fishing boats, life is not about taking risks, but living in fear of the past, of the future, and anything that could possibly bring you harm.
One winter Saturday, both parents and Elizabeth head down to the pond — Peter with his sketchbook, Doreen wearing a sequined skating skirt that looks like neon when she spins. But in a random accident, a stray hockey puck hits Doreen squarely between the eyes and she crumples to the ice. With this event, Elizabeth’s life changes completely.
Horribly disfigured, Doreen begins to hide herself from the outside world, her condition worsening every day. And when Doreen’s husband disappears one night with his new art dealer, leaving only a note, Elizabeth is left to care for her mother alone. Then when Doreen dies, the 15 year old is left to raise herself. With only her new dog for company, besides the visits from the boy next door who comes to check up on her, she gets by on macaroni and tomatoes and stops going to school. Elizabeth loses herself in solitude, until one day she begins an affair with a stranger, a visiting architect named Frederick who is her father’s age. In their sexually intense relationship she tries to find rescue, to learn what crucial element is missing from her own life. But when he leaves, and leaves her pregnant, it’s as if the world’s been ripped out from around her again. The neighbour Michael steps forward to marry her — yet despite her best efforts to have a “normal” life and raise their family, she never feels that her life is complete, or recovers from her grief, or truly loves. It is only when Frederick reappears, a decade later, and tragedy once again threatens to tear her world apart, that Elizabeth is forced to come to terms with her heart’s truths.
Rich in images and language that will transport you into the emotional landscape of one small town, The Skating Pond is a heart-wrenching yet beautiful book, one that reaches into the core of human longing. Deborah Joy Corey explores how love and desire, belonging and grief, can shape our very beings — the effects rippling through her characters’ lives until tragic events send them flowing in new directions once again.
Share
