Salt Upon the Water
A fictional recreation of the life of Colonel William Light, Surveyor-General of the new British Province of South Australia and responsible for planning its capital city, Adelaide, in 1836, this novel goes back and forth in time between 1804 and 1845. The dual narrative centers on the romantic relationship between Light and Clarissa FitzRoy, both of mixed heritage. We learn of their near marriage years ago and their rediscovery of one another when Clarissa travels to South Australia, and share in the possibilities of rekindled love as they re-examine their pasts in relation to the present while traveling in Europe together.
Themes of the impact and violence of British colonialism, racial identities and prejudices, interracial marriage, class distinctions, family secrets, and Eastern versus Western cultures are reflected through the personal histories of both main characters. The range of settings is wide, from Bath, Cornwall, and London’s Vauxhall Gardens, to Calcutta, Penang, Rome, Venice and South Australia. Each place is limned by Dickens with such exquisite detail that the near-constant time travel between past and present, which otherwise could be a bit taxing for readers, works effectively.
Dickens’ thorough historical research emerges in details of Colonel Light’s life, from the effects of some backward cultural changes from Regency England to early Victorianism, in contrast to his work on the wild and rugged coast of the new colony, South Australia. She cautions us that history is not necessarily a progression.
Lyn Dickens’ lyrical writing imbues her novel with a magical aura, especially in her descriptions of nature in the various locales. The story takes on a fantastical feeling from her use of language that reminded me of W.H. Hudson’s Green Mansions. Salt Upon the Water is a somewhat difficult, but very impressive debut novel.
