John Boyne’s body of work encompasses children’s literature (The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas), historical fiction (The Heart’s Invisible Furies), and contemporary comedy (The Echo Chamber) to name but a few. His latest novel, Water, is his 14th for adults and sees him move into new territory again. Water is the first in a planned quartet of short novels, with Earth, Air and Fire due to follow at six-monthly intervals over the next two years.
Water tells the story of Vanessa Carvin, a middle-aged woman who has fled her life in suburban Dublin after her husband, Brendan, is convicted of a shameful and scandalous crime.
In search of anonymity, she changes her name to Willow, cuts off her hair and arrives on an island off the west coast of Ireland. The isolation gives Vanessa time to reflect on her marriage to Brendan, doomed from the start, it would seem, and the death of one of her daughters and the estrangement of the other.
Boyne cleverly introduces an array of islanders, from the Nigerian priest and the publican with a secret to the nosy next-door neighbour, and he uses these characters to keep Vanessa’s story moving forward in the present as she reflects on her past. Each islander also offers a neat opportunity to explore different aspects of Irish culture and attitudes.
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Water is a slim volume but much ground is skilfully covered here, including but not limited to sexuality, masculinity, domestic and sexual abuse, but it is the warping effects of shame that are at the heart of this story and how we learn to live in the aftermath of shame.
Water is a propulsive story that I read in a single sitting. It is an intriguing first instalment in what looks set to be a bingeable box set about the clash of Ireland’s dark past with contemporary Irish life. If the synopsis for the next book, Earth, is anything to go by (a gay footballer caught up in a high-profile rape trial), this series will continue to dig deep into morally complex ground that offers readers no easy answers, which is precisely what makes Water such a perfect book-club read. The only downside is you’ll have to wait until May 2024 to read the next one.
