Cool Water by Myfanwy Jones
$33.00 Inc GST
‘Why this novel? Because we need empathy, understanding, some magic and hope more than ever in our lifetimes.’ HOLLY RINGLAND
‘Most novels leave us with learnings, but very few refine your character. I left more astute, more empathic, and somehow wiser after I read these pages.’ HILDE HINTON
‘Cool Water ripples through the reader and leaves an enduring imprint. Myfanwy Jones writes this story of inherited trauma with grace and empathy. A vivid and profound novel that conjures old hurts from the depths and brings them to the light. I loved this novel.’ KATE MILDENHALL
From the Miles Franklin-shortlisted author of Leap comes an unforgettable new novel about fathers and sons, and the damage that can ripple through generations.
‘Frank feared a reckoning, but what he feared more was that all the men in his family were cursed. And that however hard he tried to be good, he would not be able to escape his shadow.’
Frank Herbert’s family has gathered beside Tinaroo Dam for his daughter’s wedding – the first time they’ve been together since the death of his father, Joe, a year earlier. It should be a time of celebration, but things are shaky for Frank, in his marriage and his new business. Joe never did think Frank could do or make anything worthwhile.
Like Frank, the dam itself has seen better days. Built in the 1950s for the tobacco industry, it is lower now than ever before. As the water recedes, objects begin to emerge from below the surface – abstract and disquieting. It seems the past is always lurking. Frank’s grandfather, Victor Herbert, was the butcher of Tinaroo during the dam’s construction, but Joe never spoke of him. Joe was not a talker, but he could roar. What ancient wrongs was his fury concealing?
In the midst of wedding preparations, but unable to utter the words he needs to save his own marriage, Frank is drawn onto the water. Beneath the fig trees, where bloated black bream circle, he hears the echo of his father’s voice, forcing him to look down – and back.
Moving between the weekend of the wedding and the year in the mid-1950s that cursed the Herbert men for three generations, Cool Water asks what it means to be a good man, and what we risk when we allow the patterns of the past to hold us in their grip. The question is: can Frank eclipse his family’s shadow, to find a way into a future of his own making?
A breathtaking story brimming with insight and emotional power by Miles Franklin-shortlisted author Myfanwy Jones, this is an unforgettable novel about fathers and sons, and the damage that can ripple through generations.
About the Author: Myfanwy Jones is the author of Leap, shortlisted for the 2016 Miles Franklin Literary Award, and The Rainy Season, finalist for the 2009 Melbourne Prize for Literature’s Best Writing Award. She also co-wrote the bestselling Parlour Games for Modern Families, awarded the 2010 ABIA Book of the Year for Older Children. Her short stories and essays have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including most recently Split: true stories of leaving, loss, and new beginnings. Myfanwy works as an editor and writing mentor, and lives beside a creek in Melbourne/Naarm.
www.myfanywajones.com
28 Feb 2024
Additional information
Format | Paperback / softback |
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Genre | Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) |
Readership Level | General (US: Trade) |
ISBN | 9780733650024 |
Publication Date | 28 Feb 2024 |
Cool Water by Myfanwy Jones ISBN 9780733650024