The Water Underneath

Fiction & Literature
Cover of the book The Water Underneath by Kate Lyons, Allen & Unwin
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Kate Lyons ISBN: 9781741151497
Publisher: Allen & Unwin Publication: January 1, 2001
Imprint: Allen & Unwin Language: English
Author: Kate Lyons
ISBN: 9781741151497
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Publication: January 1, 2001
Imprint: Allen & Unwin
Language: English

A unique blend of literary road movie and murder mystery.

'They dragged her out of the lake at dawn. No jaw, one eye socket like some strange fish. The water was closing and closing, the centre blank as the tissue of a scar. Then, in a place a thousand miles from the ocean, they found something which might have been a seashell but which they knew was not. The lake gave birth regretfully, washing her up in slow burps.'

A young woman and her baby go missing in an isolated Australian mining town. Two decades later human bones wash up in the local lake. The only clue is that a man driving a truck wearing a hat did it, in a town where every man wears something on his head.

Twenty years later, Ruth returns to the place where she was born and where her mother was ostracised. Over that time an unexplored territory of guilty secrets centres on one man, Uncle Frank, whose silence has protected him but has also inflicted inconsolable wounds.

The Water Underneath, told through the eyes of three women, separated by time, skin colour and allegiance, but united by their love of Frank, is about some of the conflicts which divide Australians, in the past and to this day.

The Australian/Vogel Literary Award judges' comments

'it captures mood and place with consummate skill, while the characters are revealed with an unhurried onion-skin peeling' Murray Waldren

'lovely expressive language' Garry Disher

'the prose knocks me out' Margaret Simons

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

A unique blend of literary road movie and murder mystery.

'They dragged her out of the lake at dawn. No jaw, one eye socket like some strange fish. The water was closing and closing, the centre blank as the tissue of a scar. Then, in a place a thousand miles from the ocean, they found something which might have been a seashell but which they knew was not. The lake gave birth regretfully, washing her up in slow burps.'

A young woman and her baby go missing in an isolated Australian mining town. Two decades later human bones wash up in the local lake. The only clue is that a man driving a truck wearing a hat did it, in a town where every man wears something on his head.

Twenty years later, Ruth returns to the place where she was born and where her mother was ostracised. Over that time an unexplored territory of guilty secrets centres on one man, Uncle Frank, whose silence has protected him but has also inflicted inconsolable wounds.

The Water Underneath, told through the eyes of three women, separated by time, skin colour and allegiance, but united by their love of Frank, is about some of the conflicts which divide Australians, in the past and to this day.

The Australian/Vogel Literary Award judges' comments

'it captures mood and place with consummate skill, while the characters are revealed with an unhurried onion-skin peeling' Murray Waldren

'lovely expressive language' Garry Disher

'the prose knocks me out' Margaret Simons

More books from Allen & Unwin

Cover of the book Resilience by Kate Lyons
Cover of the book Special by Kate Lyons
Cover of the book Rockpool Bar and Grill by Kate Lyons
Cover of the book Deep Health by Kate Lyons
Cover of the book City Girl, Country Girl by Kate Lyons
Cover of the book Deep Water by Kate Lyons
Cover of the book The Food I Love: Seafood by Kate Lyons
Cover of the book The Life of George Bass by Kate Lyons
Cover of the book The Moon Seems Upside Down by Kate Lyons
Cover of the book A Simple Table by Kate Lyons
Cover of the book Tuna by Kate Lyons
Cover of the book Jungfrau by Kate Lyons
Cover of the book Schooling the Rustbelt Kids by Kate Lyons
Cover of the book My Little Cocktail Book by Kate Lyons
Cover of the book 10 Little Hermit Crabs by Kate Lyons
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy