Review: Broken Water by Nick Perry

Broken Water by Nick Perry

Durham: Chicken House Press, 2025

I was happy to review Port Moody, BC author Nick Perry's debut novel Broken Water, which features an interesting subject and a unique voice. I've reviewed it for The British Columbia Review. This article was originally published on The BC Review on July 14, 2025.

***

In an exploration of adolescent moral development through a spiritual journey from belief to atheism, Port Moody author Nick Perry offers a debut novel that is engaging and earnest. It’s a book with great heart, and it grapples with one of the most personal struggles for meaning: the role of faith–and sometimes its loss–in the context of societal and family norms.

The novel is divided into four sections, each with its own arc. The first is Acknowledgement, where we meet main character Declan Murphy, newly graduated from college and seeking employment with little success.

“Here I am, submerged in uncertainty”: this wonderful opening line kicks off a chapter in which Declan composes several resumé cover letters. It’s a humorous look at trying to be someone who an employer will desire, a version of oneself that is partly–if not wholly–a facade. He reflects:

'Why can’t I just write: This is Declan Murphy. He’s a swell fellow who would really love to move out of his parents’ place and begin his version of independent adulthood. Yes, he’s another arts degree holder and yes, did not use that time to do co-op or volunteer or anything, but he’ll be a decent employee and probably not make too many mistakes.'

The youngest in his family, with two older sisters, he’s a Millennial who’s now expected to take up the mantle of adulthood, and he’s not sure where he stands on that. “If there is a single word that unites me to my generation,” he says, “it is doubt.” He’s also plagued by a recurring, fantastical dream that he’s had since high school, and it’s this dream that leads him to a sudden realization in his ocean of uncertainty: He’ll go into the Catholic priesthood. The only problem? He’s an atheist.

Author Nick Perry

The second section, Psalm, takes a retrospective journey from Declan’s boyhood through the present day that shows how he has wrestled with notions of faith and belief. The Murphy family lives in BC’s Lower Mainland; his mum is French-Canadian and his dad is a transplant from the East Coast. They’ve created a comfortable middle-class life for their kids, and they’re holiday-only Catholics, though still firm believers in God and the Church.

Here, Perry focuses on episodes in Declan’s life that have provoked religious crises, from the silence of God when called upon to deliver him from a middle-school bully, to discovering some of the pillars of the atheist community on television and online. The notion of religious doubt creeps steadily in. It’s an unexpected and painful battle for Declan:

'What did I actually believe? What was most honest? It had only been a short time, but a knife only needs a second to carve a permanent scar.

 
I did not want to watch the mountain of my belief slide into crumbling despair.'

Declan is nothing if not honest and straightforward about his questions, and when he discloses to his parents that he is flirting with atheism, they are alarmed but practical: they’ll take him to the local priest, Father Rogers, for council. Father Rogers is a fantastic character, a compassionate and kind elder, and one suspects, a man who has had his own doctrinal doubts. I love his attitude towards Declan’s quest for knowledge, offering his esoteric personal library for Declan’s use. Declan wonders why he has so many books that are secular or explore different religious traditions. Father Rogers replies, “…I’m not concerned about learning something I may not like. It concerns me even less if I don’t agree with it. What does concern me are people who only take up one book, one resource, and call themselves informed. It is curiosity, Declan, that makes life exciting.” 

Nick Perry (photo: @nickperrynovelist)

In his conversations with his family and Father Rogers, Declan emerges as a unique and different character. He’s exploring universal truths about faith and organized religion, the important crux of the novel, but he’s also a seeker of the right way to live, because he’s very moral, upright, and honest. He can’t make himself a believing Catholic just to fit in because it’s not his truth. One senses he’s a bit at odds with societal norms, and even with his family (“They were the entertainment and I the great spectator.”) though they always afford him love and understanding. He’s the odd man out in many ways.

Perry writes in a unique style in this character-driven novel that presents ample opportunity to get to know Declan intimately. Writing in the first person, his prose reinforces Declan’s “odd man out” character throughout the novel, and it takes some getting used to as a reader. He frequently uses nonstandard sentence structure and slightly off-kilter word choices and similes that impart a more formal, unusual cadence to Declan’s thoughts. Interestingly, Perry uses this style quite specifically when narrating Declan’s internal monologue, and the prose becomes smoother when other characters speak, reinforcing the young man’s peculiarities.

As I continued reading, I decided to go with the style, and when I made that decision and let it wash over me, I realized that I was beginning to appreciate Declan more than I might have. He’s a character worth getting to know. Just as the prose feels awkward, so is Declan often awkward in his own skin, in his sense of social participation, and even more so as a son who doesn’t share his family’s easy and traditional belief system.

That said, there were some textual issues that I had a hard time getting past that took me out of the story rather jarringly, including a spelling mistake, a missing question mark and incorrect grammar. It wasn’t frequent but it happened often enough that it was notable. Occasionally I wondered if the word choices Perry made were purposeful or in error. Perhaps the book could have used a firmer editorial hand.

The novel’s third section is Pursuance, and it’s here that we pick up the current-day story as Declan, having decided to pursue the priesthood despite his atheism, decides to reconnect with the beloved Father Rogers and volunteer at the local Catholic parish. Everything Declan does and feels is of such import to him, as Perry imbues him with a passionate internal life. His crises are acute, and the insights he gains are brilliant. I appreciated passages that showed Declan and his mum’s connection. His mum never struggled with her own religious belief, but there’s an underlying subtext that suggests her faith is more about creating and maintaining a supportive social community than a literal belief in God.

The Resolution section brings first crisis then reaffirmation for Declan, tying in nicely to the recurrent dream that started him on the road to the priesthood. Of note, I was taken by one passage that has Declan examining the four Gospels and interpreting the Book of John in a surprising and perhaps provocative way, one that confirms Declan’s own atheism. Father Rogers, true to character, listens to Declan non-judgementally, and responds with equanimity—

"…in our imperfect understanding, our minds fill in whatever will satisfy us. Those who come looking in this book for consolation will find it on every page. And those who seek fear will see it equally. What you have found is, to my knowledge, unique, and perhaps that will lead you to a different kind of understanding that would be wonderful to share."

In the end, perhaps that is the message that I took away from reading Broken Water. Declan is a singular character whose search for the meaning of faith is about far more than religion. He, like most of us, wants to believe in something tangible, otherwise he risks being untethered. Through all his struggle, he finds meaning in his relationship to family and friends. They, in turn, have loved him steadfastly and accept him without conditions. These bonds are ultimately his salvation: “There were no debts, no clinging obligations. Just love and the recognition that one kind of consolation doesn’t have to work for everyone.”

Broken Water’s titular metaphor refers to Declan’s sense of being trapped beneath the ice in a frigid sea, a barrier of religious dogma that he’ll need to break through to find his own freedom. It is a book that plumbs the depths of a young man’s search for meaning that will appeal to those who are looking for an intellectual, character-driven examination of religious belief. It’s a uniquely written novel with an unusual style that rewards the reader’s patience with some well-drawn characters and food for contemplation.