Water

About the book

'Achingly sad, masterfully told and with such an emotional impact, this is Boyne at his very best' John Marrs

'Beautifully written... it is powerful in what it has to say about mens treatment of women, abuse, religion and political meandering' Belfast Telegraph

'Boyne tells us a story we thought we knew, but strips away the ideology to present a new way of seeing. A book that opens your eyes is a rate one indeed' Claire Kilroy
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From internationally bestselling author John Boyne comes a masterfully reflective story about one woman coming to terms with the demons of her past and finding a new path forward.

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.
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What readers are saying:

'Powerful, challenging and beautifully written
'Compelling, propulsive, and completely immersive
'Written with the same emotional intensity and thought provoking honesty as his longer works
'Packs a hard hitting punch with its depth of emotional understanding of what it is to be human
'What an astoundingly brilliant piece of writing this is . . . by its end you feel as though you have read something much more epic in length'