Sheffield author's novel Watershed captures a bereaved twin's struggle against the backdrop of the city's floods

Despite being born in symmetry, Pamela’s character is revealed in sharp contrast to her deceased twin as we follow her life and struggles against the backdrop of the Sheffield floods of 1864 and the 2007 disaster as well as the floods on Canvey Island in 1953.

Historical and contemporary flashbacks abound, painting a picture awash with life and death in the Steel City and elsewhere through the decades.

The uncontrollable tide of this story is also brought into sharp contemporary focus with the context of Lockdown during the current Covid-19 pandemic.

As the ebb and flow of time and tragedy take their toll on the book's main character Pamela she finds herself living as a recluse spending her days in reflection as we follow her struggle to find peace in an ever turbulent life.

The writing in Watershed is beautifully crafted and tight, descriptive and informative with a vivid dialogue that you seem to hear and feel rather than read.

As Susan Day's fifth and latest novel we have a wonderfully thought-provoking work that leaves the reader reflecting on how we all respond to the power and perils of natural forces that are so out of our control.

Fomer English teacher Susan Day has lived in Sheffield since 1983 after growing up in North London and studying English at Essex University.

Her latest novel, Watershed, accompanies Pamela following the loss of her twin sister, and weaves in the two great floods of Sheffield, in 2007 and 1864, the family’s suffering in the floods on Canvey Island in 1953, as well as looking at the effects of the Covid pandemic on her and her family.

This wonderful novel now stands alongside previously very-well receved works by Susan Day including Who Your Friends Are, The Roads They Travelled, Hollin Clough and Back.

Watershed, by Susan Day, is published by Leapingboy publications and is available in all good bookshops and on Amazon, or by visiting the website susandaybooks.co.uk. Her previous novels are similarly available.