It is 1847, northern England, and Charles Weightman has been given the unenviable task of overseeing the flooding of the Forge Valley and evicting its lingering inhabitants. Weightman is heartily resented by these locals, and he himself is increasingly unconvinced both of the wisdom of his appointment and of the integrity and motives of the company men who posted him there. He finds some solace, however, in his enigmatic neighbour, Mary Latimer. Caring for her mad sister, Mary is also an outsider, and a companionship develops between the two of them which offers them both some comfort and support in their mutual isolation. As winter closes steadily in and as the waters begin to rise in the Forge Valley, it becomes increasingly evident that the man-made deluge cannot be avoided; not by the locals desperate to save their homes, nor by the reluctant agent of their destruction, Weightman himself.
In a masterful new novel, Edric captures powerful human emotions with grace and precision. The hauntingly resonant backdrop to this story of David and Goliath marks Edric’s dramatic return to historical literary fiction.
From the Hardcover edition.
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About the Author:
Robert Edric was born in 1956. His novels include Winter Garden (1985 James Tait Black Prize winner), A New Ice Age (1986 runner-up for the Guardian Fiction Prize), A Lunar Eclipse, The Earth Made of Glass, Elysium, In Desolate Heaven, The Sword Cabinet, The Book of the Heathen (shortlisted for the 2001 WH Smith Literary Award), Peacetime (longlisted for the Booker Prize 2002) and Cradle Song, Siren Song and Swan Song which make up the Song Cycle Trilogy.
From the Hardcover edition.
Review:
“Gathering the Water belongs with a group of his novels whose artistry and resonance constitute one of the most astonishing bodies of work to appear from a single author for a generation.”
–Daily Telegraph
“A compelling story.... Robert Edric writes with a steady rhythm that, like the flow of the diverted dam waters, fills in a picture of horror and loss with a sustained and unrelenting force.”
–Times Literary Supplement
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherBlack Swan
- Publication date2007
- ISBN 10 0552999741
- ISBN 13 9780552999748
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages389
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Rating