Water by John Boyne
The first thing Vanessa Carvin does when she arrives on the island is change her name. To the locals, she is Willow Hale, a solitary outsider escaping Dublin to live a hermetic existence in a small cottage, not a notorious woman on the run from her past. But scandals follow like hunting dogs. And she has some questions of her own to answer. If her ex-husband is really the monster everyone says he is, then how complicit was she in his crimes? Escaping her old life might seem like a good idea but the choices she has made throughout her marriage have consequences. Here, on the island, Vanessa must reflect on what she did - and did not do. Only then can she discover whether she is worthy of finding peace at all.
Reviews
‘Subtle, intelligent and humane’ Sunday Telegraph
'Boyne not only opens up conversations, he writes beautifully and sensitively' Woman&Home
‘A perceptive, moving exploration of guilt, grief and complicity’ Sunday Express
‘Boyne does not put a foot wrong in this masterly novella’ Mail on Sunday
'An intriguing investigation of contemporary trauma... [a] short but powerful book' Guardian
'His quietest novel... but one just as powerful as his larger canvases' Business Post