What do you think?
Rate this book
Water
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.
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.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published November 2, 2023
About the author
John Boyne
62 books12.4k followersI was born in Dublin, Ireland, and studied English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin, and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. In 2015, I was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by UEA.
I’ve published 14 novels for adults, 6 novels for younger readers, and a short story collection. The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas was a New York Times no.1 Bestseller and was adapted for a feature film, a play, a ballet and an opera, selling around 11 million copies worldwide.
Among my most popular books are The Heart’s Invisible Furies, A Ladder to the Sky and My Brother’s Name is Jessica.
I’m also a regular book reviewer for The Irish Times.
In 2012, I was awarded the Hennessy Literary ‘Hall of Fame’ Award for my body of work. I’ve also won 4 Irish Book Awards, and many international literary awards, including the Que Leer Award for Novel of the Year in Spain and the Gustav Heinemann Peace Prize in Germany. In 2015, I was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of East Anglia.
My novels are published in 58 languages.
My 14th adult novel, ALL THE BROKEN PLACES, a sequel and companion novel to THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS, will be published in the UK on September 15th 2022, in the US and Canada on November 29th, and in many foreign language editions in late 2022 and 2023.
I’ve published 14 novels for adults, 6 novels for younger readers, and a short story collection. The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas was a New York Times no.1 Bestseller and was adapted for a feature film, a play, a ballet and an opera, selling around 11 million copies worldwide.
Among my most popular books are The Heart’s Invisible Furies, A Ladder to the Sky and My Brother’s Name is Jessica.
I’m also a regular book reviewer for The Irish Times.
In 2012, I was awarded the Hennessy Literary ‘Hall of Fame’ Award for my body of work. I’ve also won 4 Irish Book Awards, and many international literary awards, including the Que Leer Award for Novel of the Year in Spain and the Gustav Heinemann Peace Prize in Germany. In 2015, I was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of East Anglia.
My novels are published in 58 languages.
My 14th adult novel, ALL THE BROKEN PLACES, a sequel and companion novel to THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS, will be published in the UK on September 15th 2022, in the US and Canada on November 29th, and in many foreign language editions in late 2022 and 2023.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 971 reviews
August 4, 2023
It is imperative to find a woman to blame for a man's crimes.
Wow. This book is tiny in size, just 176 pages, and unobtrusive in cover and title, but it is a deeply emotive and political book, containing commentary on many different subjects— women and men, religion, abuse, politicians, insular communities, and complicity.
It is rare to find a book that so concisely delivers so much, though it is not really surprising. John Boyne's The Heart's Invisible Furies and A Ladder to the Sky are among my all time favourite novels and here he returns to a similar style.
Vanessa Carvin is a well-drawn, complex character who intrigued me from the get-go. Boyne is very skilled at creating memorable characters and imbuing their stories with equal parts sadness and humour. As always, his dialogue is fantastic.
The themes are dark, but the book is never dreary. Boyne very effectively explores what it feels like to be a woman dealing with shitty men who refuse to stop being overgrown children (so much so that I would have sworn a woman wrote this if I didn't know better), as well as looking at a family torn apart by tragedy and scandal, yet a sense of humour shines through the narrative.
In Terenure, I was a member of a book club, but that was mostly because I could find no way out of it.
**
"And you'll be from Dublin, I suppose," she continues, employing a tense that I'm not sure exists in the language.
Keyboard warriors, virtue-signalling politicians, and powerful men who take advantage of others all come under fire over the course of this short book and neither Vanessa nor Boyne holds back their feelings. It says so much in so few pages, which, I think, makes it all the more powerful.
June 15, 2024
Water is my second John Boyne novel, the first being The Echo Chamber, which was a 5-star book in my view. I have taken to Boyne’s writing like a duck to water.
Wife and mother of two adolescent girls, Vanessa Carvin, self-exiles on a remote island off the coast of Ireland. This wee island has a population of only four hundred, it is close knit, there are no secrets. She rents an old one-bedroom cottage, a ten-to-fifteen-minute walk to the ‘town centre’ with two pubs and a handful of small shops. Boyne describes this remote, harsh environment beautifully.
The first things Vanessa does, on arrival, is change her name to Willow Hale and cut her hair very short. Despite the remoteness of the island, many people there would know her as she and her family have been in the news.
She is escaping a scandal of horrific proportions which had catastrophic consequences. This scandal forever changes the family dynamics and Willow needs space and time to (a) escape the attention and (b) examine her own role, or lack of action – in the crimes committed by a family member.
This is a haunting story. Willow Hale is a fascinating character, Boyne has created a character so real, I could almost touch her, and I certainly could feel her emotions. Her journey of introspection is complicated and believable. Her interactions with the locals are interesting and sometimes funny. Look out for ‘Bananas’ the cat.
There was a moment in this book that resonated with me to the extent it made me choke up.
This is a powerful story I could not put down.
5 Stars
Wife and mother of two adolescent girls, Vanessa Carvin, self-exiles on a remote island off the coast of Ireland. This wee island has a population of only four hundred, it is close knit, there are no secrets. She rents an old one-bedroom cottage, a ten-to-fifteen-minute walk to the ‘town centre’ with two pubs and a handful of small shops. Boyne describes this remote, harsh environment beautifully.
The first things Vanessa does, on arrival, is change her name to Willow Hale and cut her hair very short. Despite the remoteness of the island, many people there would know her as she and her family have been in the news.
She is escaping a scandal of horrific proportions which had catastrophic consequences. This scandal forever changes the family dynamics and Willow needs space and time to (a) escape the attention and (b) examine her own role, or lack of action – in the crimes committed by a family member.
This is a haunting story. Willow Hale is a fascinating character, Boyne has created a character so real, I could almost touch her, and I certainly could feel her emotions. Her journey of introspection is complicated and believable. Her interactions with the locals are interesting and sometimes funny. Look out for ‘Bananas’ the cat.
There was a moment in this book that resonated with me to the extent it made me choke up.
This is a powerful story I could not put down.
5 Stars
December 4, 2023
Willow Hale retreats to an isolated island cottage off of Ireland after the very traumatic collapse of her life involving her husband… and the loss of her daughter.
Being part of this island community helps her take steps towards recovery.
This is the first of four interlinked novellas … the theme of these being the four elements… WATER, EARTH, AIR, and FIRE.
John Boyne always writes a page turner, can’t wait for the next novella of this series.
Being part of this island community helps her take steps towards recovery.
This is the first of four interlinked novellas … the theme of these being the four elements… WATER, EARTH, AIR, and FIRE.
John Boyne always writes a page turner, can’t wait for the next novella of this series.
November 17, 2023
5★
“I read. I look out the window. I think about the morning when the Gardaí arrived at our front door in Terenure. I tell myself not to think about the morning when the Gardaí arrived at our front door in Terenure. And, in this way, the hours pass and, before I know it, it’s almost lunchtime and I can walk down to the village.”
She’s gone across Ireland from Dublin over to Galway, on the Atlantic Ocean, where she plans to hide out in a rented cottage on one of the many small islands in Galway Bay. This island has only 400 people, and she hopes they aren’t too up to date with the news.
She’s chopped off her hair, changed her name, and is treated politely but with evident curiosity as yet another refugee from the mainland. We don’t know exactly what’s happened, but she speaks of texting her surviving daughter, who keeps blocking and unblocking her.
She walks to one of the two pubs in the village for her lunch, keeping to herself. She has mobile coverage at the cottage, but wifi is only at one pub, which suits her just fine. Maybe she can fly under the radar for a while.
“Later, when I too am alone in my single bed, I wonder whether God is looking over me and, if he is, what punishment he will send my way next. A dead daughter. A husband in jail. My family’s reputation shattered. An entire country convinced that I was complicit in all of it. What more can he do to hurt me?”
She’s not a believer, which is a recurring theme in Boyne’s stories, but she befriends the local priest, because he’s an interesting man to talk to. Ifechi, born in Nigeria, invites Willow to use the church as a place of peace as it’s mostly empty during the day.
“It can be a good place to catch ones thoughts, away from the world. You can talk to God, talk to yourself, or talk to no one at all.”
She wanders in one day drawn to the Stations of the Cross, admiring the art work but then becoming annoyed with what it all represents.
“The whole business of the twelve apostles has always bothered me, the hard-nosed maleness of their clique, the decision from the start to exclude women from their number. Most became saints, I think, but did that prevent them from leering at the women who served their food, or making vulgar remarks about girls they noticed on the streets?”
She goes on to wonder if some of the apostles may have lured girls away or taken women without their permission. She gets angrier and angrier as she looks at the pictures.
“All these men, all these f**king men. Sacred and hallowed and venerated for two thousand years. And yet it was the women, and only the women, who were there for Him at the end when the men betrayed Him, denied Him, ran from Him, pocketed their thirty pieces of silver for traducing him.”
So much for a place of peace. It has done nothing but remind her of the evil she is trying to escape – how much damage is caused by men who consider women as here for their convenience.
“Outside, emerging into the sunlight, I inhale deeply, filling my lungs with air, and feel a sense of relief to have escaped a building that exists solely to comfort the troubled.”
When she is startled awake one night and can’t go back to sleep, she takes herself to the shore and wades in, thinking of the part water has played in her life. Her swimming teacher became her husband. He becomes a well-known coach and community figure, and she takes up social swimming.
Wading into the Bay that night she thinks about Virginia Woolfe, who walked into the water with her pockets full of stones to weigh her down.
“Water has been the undoing of me. It has been the undoing of my family. We swim in the womb. We are composed of it. We drink it. We are drawn to it throughout our lives, more than mountains, deserts, or canyons. But it is terrible. It kills.”
She has been badly shaken by what has happened to her family, but she is still very much an individual and a pretty strong one at that. It’s not all tears and guilt and grim self-recrimination, so I can say I enjoyed reading her story.
John Boyne is a master of the mind. He can put himself in someone else’s shoes, whether it’s a soldier in WW1 or, in All the Broken Places, an 80-year-old woman whose little brother was the protagonist of the The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. His characters are always real and always memorable. This 54-year-old woman is no exception – he understands her mind, her strengths and her weaknesses.
Thanks to #NetGalley and Random House / Transworld for a copy of #Water for review.
“I read. I look out the window. I think about the morning when the Gardaí arrived at our front door in Terenure. I tell myself not to think about the morning when the Gardaí arrived at our front door in Terenure. And, in this way, the hours pass and, before I know it, it’s almost lunchtime and I can walk down to the village.”
She’s gone across Ireland from Dublin over to Galway, on the Atlantic Ocean, where she plans to hide out in a rented cottage on one of the many small islands in Galway Bay. This island has only 400 people, and she hopes they aren’t too up to date with the news.
She’s chopped off her hair, changed her name, and is treated politely but with evident curiosity as yet another refugee from the mainland. We don’t know exactly what’s happened, but she speaks of texting her surviving daughter, who keeps blocking and unblocking her.
She walks to one of the two pubs in the village for her lunch, keeping to herself. She has mobile coverage at the cottage, but wifi is only at one pub, which suits her just fine. Maybe she can fly under the radar for a while.
“Later, when I too am alone in my single bed, I wonder whether God is looking over me and, if he is, what punishment he will send my way next. A dead daughter. A husband in jail. My family’s reputation shattered. An entire country convinced that I was complicit in all of it. What more can he do to hurt me?”
She’s not a believer, which is a recurring theme in Boyne’s stories, but she befriends the local priest, because he’s an interesting man to talk to. Ifechi, born in Nigeria, invites Willow to use the church as a place of peace as it’s mostly empty during the day.
“It can be a good place to catch ones thoughts, away from the world. You can talk to God, talk to yourself, or talk to no one at all.”
She wanders in one day drawn to the Stations of the Cross, admiring the art work but then becoming annoyed with what it all represents.
“The whole business of the twelve apostles has always bothered me, the hard-nosed maleness of their clique, the decision from the start to exclude women from their number. Most became saints, I think, but did that prevent them from leering at the women who served their food, or making vulgar remarks about girls they noticed on the streets?”
She goes on to wonder if some of the apostles may have lured girls away or taken women without their permission. She gets angrier and angrier as she looks at the pictures.
“All these men, all these f**king men. Sacred and hallowed and venerated for two thousand years. And yet it was the women, and only the women, who were there for Him at the end when the men betrayed Him, denied Him, ran from Him, pocketed their thirty pieces of silver for traducing him.”
So much for a place of peace. It has done nothing but remind her of the evil she is trying to escape – how much damage is caused by men who consider women as here for their convenience.
“Outside, emerging into the sunlight, I inhale deeply, filling my lungs with air, and feel a sense of relief to have escaped a building that exists solely to comfort the troubled.”
When she is startled awake one night and can’t go back to sleep, she takes herself to the shore and wades in, thinking of the part water has played in her life. Her swimming teacher became her husband. He becomes a well-known coach and community figure, and she takes up social swimming.
Wading into the Bay that night she thinks about Virginia Woolfe, who walked into the water with her pockets full of stones to weigh her down.
“Water has been the undoing of me. It has been the undoing of my family. We swim in the womb. We are composed of it. We drink it. We are drawn to it throughout our lives, more than mountains, deserts, or canyons. But it is terrible. It kills.”
She has been badly shaken by what has happened to her family, but she is still very much an individual and a pretty strong one at that. It’s not all tears and guilt and grim self-recrimination, so I can say I enjoyed reading her story.
John Boyne is a master of the mind. He can put himself in someone else’s shoes, whether it’s a soldier in WW1 or, in All the Broken Places, an 80-year-old woman whose little brother was the protagonist of the The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. His characters are always real and always memorable. This 54-year-old woman is no exception – he understands her mind, her strengths and her weaknesses.
Thanks to #NetGalley and Random House / Transworld for a copy of #Water for review.
April 19, 2024
A woman arrives on a small island off the coast of Ireland, where she immediately changes her name and takes steps to ensure her appearance is radically altered, too. She’s obviously in hiding, but from what or from whom?
The answers to these questions are not provided quickly. At least not overtly, but it’s not difficult to join up the dots. So this is not a mystery novel, it’s a short tale about things that can happen to individuals and to families that profoundly change everything. And in the aftermath of these events, how it might strike some of them that they may in some way be responsible – or at least partly responsible – for bringing this catastrophe upon themselves.
The meat of this story is how the woman – now called Willow – wrestles with how events had played out and how she copes with the mental torture this evokes. There’s a little more to the story, mainly in terms of the few people she engages with whilst on the island, and this weaves comfortably enough into the narrative.
It’s a disturbing story of betrayal and of serious damage done, but also of renewal too. It's not a comfortable read, but it is a short one. Another brilliant piece of writing from an author who never ceases to surprise me.
My thanks to Random House UK for supplying a copy of this book via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
The answers to these questions are not provided quickly. At least not overtly, but it’s not difficult to join up the dots. So this is not a mystery novel, it’s a short tale about things that can happen to individuals and to families that profoundly change everything. And in the aftermath of these events, how it might strike some of them that they may in some way be responsible – or at least partly responsible – for bringing this catastrophe upon themselves.
The meat of this story is how the woman – now called Willow – wrestles with how events had played out and how she copes with the mental torture this evokes. There’s a little more to the story, mainly in terms of the few people she engages with whilst on the island, and this weaves comfortably enough into the narrative.
It’s a disturbing story of betrayal and of serious damage done, but also of renewal too. It's not a comfortable read, but it is a short one. Another brilliant piece of writing from an author who never ceases to surprise me.
My thanks to Random House UK for supplying a copy of this book via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
November 21, 2023
A powerful and reflective story of a Woman, a wife, and a mother coming to terms with her husband's crimes and the pain, shock, loss and void that it has caused. Set on an island off the Irish Cost in modern times.
We have all wondered about the partners of convicted criminals and their families, did they know their partner or wife was involved in crime, how could they not have known, did they choose to confront them or were silenced by shame or society. How does a partner and family of someone who commit the vilest of crimes move forward with their lives in a small town or community, how far can you run before you trip and fall.
This was such an interesting read on so many levels, I would really loved to have read this as a book club read as think there is so much discussion in this one. I spent a lot of time thinking about this one long after I finished it.
How we think we would react and how we react to situations was foremost on my mind when reading this book. So much to reflect on with this novel.
I never fail to be moved by John Boyne's Novels, I have loved many and disliked a few I must admit, but never regretted reading this author's work.
We have all wondered about the partners of convicted criminals and their families, did they know their partner or wife was involved in crime, how could they not have known, did they choose to confront them or were silenced by shame or society. How does a partner and family of someone who commit the vilest of crimes move forward with their lives in a small town or community, how far can you run before you trip and fall.
This was such an interesting read on so many levels, I would really loved to have read this as a book club read as think there is so much discussion in this one. I spent a lot of time thinking about this one long after I finished it.
How we think we would react and how we react to situations was foremost on my mind when reading this book. So much to reflect on with this novel.
I never fail to be moved by John Boyne's Novels, I have loved many and disliked a few I must admit, but never regretted reading this author's work.
April 27, 2024
The Second book to bring tears to my eyes this week!!!
I’d still 100% recommend this well-written short read! :)
Oooo and there’s a second part “Earth”! Should I? Should I read it? 😆 Naahhh, I could use a shortish break
I’d still 100% recommend this well-written short read! :)
Oooo and there’s a second part “Earth”! Should I? Should I read it? 😆 Naahhh, I could use a shortish break
October 8, 2023
I've struggled with Mr Boyne's work before now simply because he always seems to write a book that brings up difficult issues. It always felt like he had to have a cause.
However I requested Water from Netgalley because I feel its always good to keep trying an author you've not read for a while - their style may change and your tastes may also have altered.
Water is the story of Vanessa Carvin (who calls herself Willow Hale). At the start of the book all you know is that she has arrived on a tiny island off the Atlantic coast. She is running away from some terrible scandal that has left one daughter dead and her husband in prison. I won't say more about the plot except to say that it is a difficult and disturbing issue to deal with.
I have never encountered this particular issue personally so I'd only be guessing if I said I wouldn't behave like Vanessa/Willow. No one can know (in any crisis) how they'd behave until it happens.
That said, John Boyne, deals sensitively with the matter and throws several twists into the story just to blindside you.
It was easy to read (if not digest) and so short it would only take most readers a couple of hours to finish. It doesn't delve deep enough into the subject nor does it reach any conclusions. It was an interesting short read that Boyne readers will most definitely appreciate and for those who have never read any of his work previously it would be a good introduction.
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for the advance review copy.
However I requested Water from Netgalley because I feel its always good to keep trying an author you've not read for a while - their style may change and your tastes may also have altered.
Water is the story of Vanessa Carvin (who calls herself Willow Hale). At the start of the book all you know is that she has arrived on a tiny island off the Atlantic coast. She is running away from some terrible scandal that has left one daughter dead and her husband in prison. I won't say more about the plot except to say that it is a difficult and disturbing issue to deal with.
I have never encountered this particular issue personally so I'd only be guessing if I said I wouldn't behave like Vanessa/Willow. No one can know (in any crisis) how they'd behave until it happens.
That said, John Boyne, deals sensitively with the matter and throws several twists into the story just to blindside you.
It was easy to read (if not digest) and so short it would only take most readers a couple of hours to finish. It doesn't delve deep enough into the subject nor does it reach any conclusions. It was an interesting short read that Boyne readers will most definitely appreciate and for those who have never read any of his work previously it would be a good introduction.
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for the advance review copy.
May 29, 2024
Je suis choqué ?????? C’est peut-être ma lecture de l’année ????
May 28, 2024
4.5 rounded up to 5 stars. John Boyne is one of my top ten authors and Water once again reminds me of why that is. I normally have issues with novellas as it always feels that there's not enough time to connect to the characters, but not only does this 176-page story pack a powerful punch, you actually end up feeling like you've read a full-length book.
Some authors write beautiful sentences and others incredible stories - John Boyne is one of the few that does both while also creating deep empathy for other people's lives. In All the Broken Places he focused on the theme of complicity and culpability in a war situation, but in Water he addresses this same theme in a more intimate way. I'm blown away by how authentic his female protagonists voices are in both these novels.
I listened to the audio version and the narration by Niamh Cusack was perfection.
The Story: In this first in a quartet of interlinked novellas named after the elements a woman arrives on a remote island, head shaved and name changed. Gradually, we find out why she is escaping from her past.
Some authors write beautiful sentences and others incredible stories - John Boyne is one of the few that does both while also creating deep empathy for other people's lives. In All the Broken Places he focused on the theme of complicity and culpability in a war situation, but in Water he addresses this same theme in a more intimate way. I'm blown away by how authentic his female protagonists voices are in both these novels.
I listened to the audio version and the narration by Niamh Cusack was perfection.
The Story: In this first in a quartet of interlinked novellas named after the elements a woman arrives on a remote island, head shaved and name changed. Gradually, we find out why she is escaping from her past.
June 13, 2024
I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this because I don’t always get on with Boyne but I liked this very much and think it’s an accomplished novella (novel?) Water does everything I like in a short, serious work of fiction. It’s relentlessly bleak, direct, has many layers, characterises with complexity, resolves but doesn’t solve, evokes emotion and place, and does it all with a brevity of expression. I’m pleased to see this is part of a quartet and look forward to seeing how Boyne continues to explore these ideas.
July 3, 2024
A wonderfully written book - difficult material explored lyrically and economically.
What worked well, I felt, was the treatment of a nuanced character and a difficult story.
I found the ending problematic.
The main character gets off way too lightly. A mother who turned a blind eye, who “doesn’t know” if she actually knew what was happening or suspected something amiss…has completely abandoned her child for an easier life in my eyes.
No doubt there are many different judgments from readers on the final outcome, which was perhaps the author’s intent (and also the beauty of a character-driven story).
Beautiful and dreadful.
What worked well, I felt, was the treatment of a nuanced character and a difficult story.
I found the ending problematic.
The main character gets off way too lightly. A mother who turned a blind eye, who “doesn’t know” if she actually knew what was happening or suspected something amiss…has completely abandoned her child for an easier life in my eyes.
No doubt there are many different judgments from readers on the final outcome, which was perhaps the author’s intent (and also the beauty of a character-driven story).
Beautiful and dreadful.
November 6, 2023
I can’t really put my finger on what is wrong with this book; it is engaging enough and well written. I just can’t shake the feeling that it never goes beyond the surface of what it tries to explores. It polishes an attractive veneer of clichéd theme, but fails in its haste to explore what really matters, the visceral sense of guilt on which the whole narrative arch is based.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 26, 2023
4 Stars
September 14, 2023
Water is a novella by award-winning, best-selling Irish author, John Boyne. Not long after her husband Brendan is put in Midlands Prison, and with many people believing she was complicit in his crimes, Vanessa Garvin flees Dublin and goes into self-imposed exile in an austere cottage on an island off the Galway coast. She shaves her head and uses a version of her maiden name: Willow Hale.
Her elder daughter has died; her younger daughter intermittently blocks her on social media, when she can check it via the town’s unreliable Wi-Fi; she’s visited by an imperious cat that she’s later told not to feed:
“‘You can’t feed him,’ she tells me. ‘He has irritable bowel syndrome.’
‘He wasn’t wearing a medical bracelet,’ I reply, ‘Anyway, I’ve only given him a few bits and pieces. Some leftover chicken. A few saucers of milk.’ ‘
And he’s lactose intolerant.’”
Willow remains stand-offish with the locals to ward off closer exchanges, but some of them are fairly persistent; she believes they don’t know who she is, but later learns that she’s not as anonymous as she thought. She spends her time sleeping, going for long walks, watching nature, listening to small-minded locals, swimming, reflecting on what has happened and if she should have seen it.
She has interesting theological and philosophical discussions with the young Nigerian priest; she observes the interactions between the townspeople. Two of those she meets, she feels she could trust with the recent events in her life that brought her here. The exact circumstances, both of her husband’s incarceration, and her daughter’s death, are gradually revealed.
Encounters with some of the islanders have her recalling certain episodes, interactions and comments made: “It’s those f***ing men. They still run everything and look out for each other, no matter what. I hate them. Don’t you? And it’s women like us who allow it to happen. Because staying quiet is easier than causing a fuss, isn’t it? Sometimes I think we’re just as bad as they are.”
Despite the grave subject matter, Boyne manages to include some, often dark, humour. Ultimately, Willow concludes: “we are none of us innocent and none of us guilty, and we all have to live with what we’ve done for the rest of our lives and that the only way through this terrible thing, if we are to survive it at all, is to be kind to each other and to love one another.”
Boyne’s descriptive prose is often exquisite: “You wear your loneliness like an overcoat”; the observations he gives his characters are succinct and insightful: “There are widows. And widowers. And orphans. But there is no word to define a parent who loses a child. The language is missing a noun.” A short read that certainly packs a punch.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Random House UK Transworld.
Her elder daughter has died; her younger daughter intermittently blocks her on social media, when she can check it via the town’s unreliable Wi-Fi; she’s visited by an imperious cat that she’s later told not to feed:
“‘You can’t feed him,’ she tells me. ‘He has irritable bowel syndrome.’
‘He wasn’t wearing a medical bracelet,’ I reply, ‘Anyway, I’ve only given him a few bits and pieces. Some leftover chicken. A few saucers of milk.’ ‘
And he’s lactose intolerant.’”
Willow remains stand-offish with the locals to ward off closer exchanges, but some of them are fairly persistent; she believes they don’t know who she is, but later learns that she’s not as anonymous as she thought. She spends her time sleeping, going for long walks, watching nature, listening to small-minded locals, swimming, reflecting on what has happened and if she should have seen it.
She has interesting theological and philosophical discussions with the young Nigerian priest; she observes the interactions between the townspeople. Two of those she meets, she feels she could trust with the recent events in her life that brought her here. The exact circumstances, both of her husband’s incarceration, and her daughter’s death, are gradually revealed.
Encounters with some of the islanders have her recalling certain episodes, interactions and comments made: “It’s those f***ing men. They still run everything and look out for each other, no matter what. I hate them. Don’t you? And it’s women like us who allow it to happen. Because staying quiet is easier than causing a fuss, isn’t it? Sometimes I think we’re just as bad as they are.”
Despite the grave subject matter, Boyne manages to include some, often dark, humour. Ultimately, Willow concludes: “we are none of us innocent and none of us guilty, and we all have to live with what we’ve done for the rest of our lives and that the only way through this terrible thing, if we are to survive it at all, is to be kind to each other and to love one another.”
Boyne’s descriptive prose is often exquisite: “You wear your loneliness like an overcoat”; the observations he gives his characters are succinct and insightful: “There are widows. And widowers. And orphans. But there is no word to define a parent who loses a child. The language is missing a noun.” A short read that certainly packs a punch.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Random House UK Transworld.
December 26, 2023
This was aggressively ok.
May 27, 2024
Excellent inter-weaving of isolated, rural Irish life with Dublin-based trauma. I look forward to the next in the series.
November 20, 2023
I am a fan of Boyne's writing as he always seems to write complex characters and tackle complex issues while keeping the novel engaging and not overwhelming and this was the case here.
This is not exactly a novel, it is a novella falling just under 180 pages, but Boyne proves that a good writer can still deliver a great story in this number of pages. I think Boyne could easily have stretched this into a full novel but what we got was still satisfactory.
From my small experience with Boyne's other books, you can tell that there are some subjects that he likes to talk about, and he does so elegantly. These include LGBT communities, sexism, religion and the church and how communities work in general.
Also, I have to say that the writing was smart because it gives the readers space to draw conclusions through threads that are presented without spoon-feeding them. This explains how such an impactful story was contained in a novella form. I was also pleasantly surprised by the fact that this is an elemental series with the next entry being called "Earth" featuring a character we were already introduced to in Water. I will be definitely keeping an eye on the rest of those novellas.
This is not exactly a novel, it is a novella falling just under 180 pages, but Boyne proves that a good writer can still deliver a great story in this number of pages. I think Boyne could easily have stretched this into a full novel but what we got was still satisfactory.
From my small experience with Boyne's other books, you can tell that there are some subjects that he likes to talk about, and he does so elegantly. These include LGBT communities, sexism, religion and the church and how communities work in general.
Also, I have to say that the writing was smart because it gives the readers space to draw conclusions through threads that are presented without spoon-feeding them. This explains how such an impactful story was contained in a novella form. I was also pleasantly surprised by the fact that this is an elemental series with the next entry being called "Earth" featuring a character we were already introduced to in Water. I will be definitely keeping an eye on the rest of those novellas.
March 27, 2024
3,5 ⭐️
Het verhaal vond ik iets te cliché en voor de hand liggend. Maar de observaties en gevoelens die werden beschreven raakte me hier en daar dan wel weer echt waardoor ik het toch een boeiend geheel vond. Ik had begrepen dat dit deel 1 is van 4 boeken waardoor ik eigenlijk wel benieuwd ben hoe dit deel zich gaat voegen naar het verhaal en of ik dan een wat positiever oordeel eraan kan geven….wordt vervolgd.
Het verhaal vond ik iets te cliché en voor de hand liggend. Maar de observaties en gevoelens die werden beschreven raakte me hier en daar dan wel weer echt waardoor ik het toch een boeiend geheel vond. Ik had begrepen dat dit deel 1 is van 4 boeken waardoor ik eigenlijk wel benieuwd ben hoe dit deel zich gaat voegen naar het verhaal en of ik dan een wat positiever oordeel eraan kan geven….wordt vervolgd.
March 28, 2024
John Boyne’s writing is always beautiful, and the plot of this short novel strikes deep. A woman trying to escape her past - and full of guilt and remorse - seeks anonymity, peace and self-contemplation on a small Irish island. She is running from despicable acts committed by her husband, but she must analyze her own complicity. Should she have known or figured it out? Was her failure to see what was going on complicity or just the role of an unsuspecting mother and spouse? Not only does John Boyne do an excellent job of describing the emotional dilemmas of the main character, but he also paints the Irish island and the cast of supporting characters in beautiful and vivid detail. Apparently a “sequel” relating the story of a minor character in this novel is to come – I’m in!
February 6, 2024
It's readable but I feel like it was written purely to either win awards or make a tonne of cash by appealing to celebrity lady book clubs. It certainly ticks all the boxes necessary for either of those things to happen but for me it lacked any real depth, likeable/sympathetic characters or believability.
December 24, 2023
This was a gorgeous slow burn tale about the shame and guilt that comes with being connected to a scandal you had no hand in creating.
Loved the audio narration, and love seeing this author just getting stronger with time.
Loved the audio narration, and love seeing this author just getting stronger with time.
August 19, 2023
I more or less read this book in about two hours. Once I got into it I had to finish. The novel opens up with a woman arriving to a island of the coast of Galway and changing her name and cutting her hair. It is clear she is trying to distance herself from something and that something is not made immediately clear but rather fed to bit by bit as the woman interacts with the island's inhabitants. I loved the humanity of the main character here. She's fully aware of her faults and her mistakes in her life. A recurring theme I noticed is the oppression of women by the men. It stood out to me how the women are burdened with their husbands faults and misdoings, their future plans derailed by marriage and families and they end up losing years so that their male counterparts can live comfortable lives. I really enjoyed seeing how Willow realises this throughout the book and begins to call out the selfish actions of those around her. John Boyne create a short but impactful novel that I would happily recommend to anyone.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for the arc of this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for the arc of this book.
August 15, 2023
Water by John Boyne is a short novella, but boy does it pack a punch.
Vanessa Carvin arrives on the small island of the coast of Ireland and rents a cottage without TV or Wi-Fi. So, she can be alone. She is trying to get away from the media after her husband committed a crime and they think that she is guilty too. She hacks of her hair and changes her name to Willow, so hopefully nobody will recognise her and stays on the island and mingles with the fellow islanders. She reflects on her life and what she could have done differently so she can recover.
The story slowing reveals what happened before she came on the island and the relationships she had with each member of her family. It is also having some hard-hitting subjects regarding abuse and suicide.
This is another beautifully written and thought-provoking book that I was engrossed in from the very first page from the author and had some great characters and will be thinking for some time. I can’t wait for the next one in the series.
Vanessa Carvin arrives on the small island of the coast of Ireland and rents a cottage without TV or Wi-Fi. So, she can be alone. She is trying to get away from the media after her husband committed a crime and they think that she is guilty too. She hacks of her hair and changes her name to Willow, so hopefully nobody will recognise her and stays on the island and mingles with the fellow islanders. She reflects on her life and what she could have done differently so she can recover.
The story slowing reveals what happened before she came on the island and the relationships she had with each member of her family. It is also having some hard-hitting subjects regarding abuse and suicide.
This is another beautifully written and thought-provoking book that I was engrossed in from the very first page from the author and had some great characters and will be thinking for some time. I can’t wait for the next one in the series.
April 1, 2024
3.25 stars
Not sure how I feel about this book. It's short and it reads easily. However, some of the details, like some stuff Vanessa thought/said/did, didn't resonate with me. Maybe because of this, it was hard to feel sympathy for her, despite everything she had been through (and still was). Rebecca's story seemed more palpable. Maybe there wasn't enough depth because it was so (too?) short? I'm not sure…
Characters 7
Atmosphere 7
Writing Style 7
Premise 6
Execution/Plot 6
Execution/Pace 7
Execution/Setup 5
Enjoyment/Engrossment 6
Not sure how I feel about this book. It's short and it reads easily. However, some of the details, like some stuff Vanessa thought/said/did, didn't resonate with me. Maybe because of this, it was hard to feel sympathy for her, despite everything she had been through (and still was). Rebecca's story seemed more palpable. Maybe there wasn't enough depth because it was so (too?) short? I'm not sure…
Characters 7
Atmosphere 7
Writing Style 7
Premise 6
Execution/Plot 6
Execution/Pace 7
Execution/Setup 5
Enjoyment/Engrossment 6
January 9, 2024
Hoewel ik mezelf fan durf te noemen van de boeken van John Boyne, ben ik niet heel erg op de hoogte van zijn oeuvre. De man schrijft met een enorme snelheid, voor mijn gevoel, en ik laat de boeken maar gewoon op me af komen. Via Mastodon ontdekte ik dat deze nieuwe van hem uit was. En pas aan het einde van dit boek ontdekte ik dat het een deel is (deel 1?) van een serie, The Elements, waarvan het volgende deel, Earth, in mei uitkomt en gaat over een van de personen uit Water.
Dat maakt me direct benieuwd, want ik heb ook van dit verhaal weer genoten. Met 156 bladzijdes is het eigenlijk meer een novelle dan een roman, maar inhoudelijk kom je desondanks niks tekort. De hoofdpersoon, Vanessa, krijgt genoeg diepte en je komt gaandeweg genoeg te weten over haar verleden om haar heden te begrijpen. Dat ze bedacht is en gekarakteriseerd wordt door een man, merk je eigenlijk nergens. Zoals altijd schrijft Boyne ook hier weer volkomen natuurlijke dialogen die je snel het verhaal in trekken.
Dat maakt me direct benieuwd, want ik heb ook van dit verhaal weer genoten. Met 156 bladzijdes is het eigenlijk meer een novelle dan een roman, maar inhoudelijk kom je desondanks niks tekort. De hoofdpersoon, Vanessa, krijgt genoeg diepte en je komt gaandeweg genoeg te weten over haar verleden om haar heden te begrijpen. Dat ze bedacht is en gekarakteriseerd wordt door een man, merk je eigenlijk nergens. Zoals altijd schrijft Boyne ook hier weer volkomen natuurlijke dialogen die je snel het verhaal in trekken.
August 26, 2023
This is my second Boyne, and it hasn’t done much to convince me to read more. It was….fine.
I was bored in the first half and only the promise of less than a hundred pages remaining motivated me to continue. Boyne litters the book with references to the general awfulness of men and it just felt so very heavy handed. It was a joy to behold Luke and I’d love to have seen more of him.
The penultimate chapter was beautiful. The book’s saving grace.
Not one I’d hurry to recommend.
I was bored in the first half and only the promise of less than a hundred pages remaining motivated me to continue. Boyne litters the book with references to the general awfulness of men and it just felt so very heavy handed. It was a joy to behold Luke and I’d love to have seen more of him.
The penultimate chapter was beautiful. The book’s saving grace.
Not one I’d hurry to recommend.
December 12, 2023
One will never be disappointed by this author
His books express so much depth
This is a short story that covers many topics and it’s emotional, raw and heartbreaking with such painful confrontation your heart just bleeds for the characters
Every time I finish one of John Boyne books I always ask myself is it lifted from a true event that he has experienced in his life directly or indirectly.
Water - is a beautiful read, the words are magic to say the least
His books express so much depth
This is a short story that covers many topics and it’s emotional, raw and heartbreaking with such painful confrontation your heart just bleeds for the characters
Every time I finish one of John Boyne books I always ask myself is it lifted from a true event that he has experienced in his life directly or indirectly.
Water - is a beautiful read, the words are magic to say the least
October 27, 2023
Wow, this certainly is an impressive book. The characters feel natural and lifelike and the story itself is intense, disturbing and powerful. How Boyne ‘builds’ the story and how you learn more about the particulars of the scandal as you read on reminded me a bit of Claire Keegan’s novellas. Very well done. A brilliant novel.
Thank you Penguin Random House UK and Netgalley for that ARC.
Thank you Penguin Random House UK and Netgalley for that ARC.
June 10, 2024
If I could rate this book a 10, it would be a no-brainer. It knocked me to the floor, then picked me up again, all the while holding me in its grip. I've always believed that silence is complicity, but is denial also complicity?
This is a novel about Vanessa Carvin, a woman who has been married for many years and living a very comfortable life in Dublin, Ireland. After a major life event impacting her family, that is also very news-worthy, she decides to leave Dublin and try living on a remote Irish island that is minimally populated.
After getting off the ferry from Galway, she proceeds to change her name to Willow Hale, cut her hair in an unattractive way, and attempt to live in this remote village setting as an 'unknown', unrecognizable 50 something woman in a patriarchal and misogynistic world. Most of the people on this island do not read the newspaper so Willow is hoping to maintain her anonymity.
Willow is choosing to live this way because she has to think and come to some important realizations about herself and her family. The hubub of city life is too much in the way and so this quiet encapsulated island is where she goes to find herself and make sense of her adult life.
What has occurred in Willow's life gradually becomes apparent and she learns to face the truth of her actions, the inability to completely know the intent of her past actions, and her part and responsibility in the crisis that destroyed her family. But, she thinks, perhaps it was always destroyed and she considers what her role in this might be.
Mr. Boyne is a master. There are no extra words but every emotion is fully laid bare. He manages to integrate characters from his next novel into 'Water' and it never feels false or strained. Mr. Boyne explores a multi-faceted sword of life - grief, guilt, remorse, pain, and anger. He gets it all right.
This is a novel about Vanessa Carvin, a woman who has been married for many years and living a very comfortable life in Dublin, Ireland. After a major life event impacting her family, that is also very news-worthy, she decides to leave Dublin and try living on a remote Irish island that is minimally populated.
After getting off the ferry from Galway, she proceeds to change her name to Willow Hale, cut her hair in an unattractive way, and attempt to live in this remote village setting as an 'unknown', unrecognizable 50 something woman in a patriarchal and misogynistic world. Most of the people on this island do not read the newspaper so Willow is hoping to maintain her anonymity.
Willow is choosing to live this way because she has to think and come to some important realizations about herself and her family. The hubub of city life is too much in the way and so this quiet encapsulated island is where she goes to find herself and make sense of her adult life.
What has occurred in Willow's life gradually becomes apparent and she learns to face the truth of her actions, the inability to completely know the intent of her past actions, and her part and responsibility in the crisis that destroyed her family. But, she thinks, perhaps it was always destroyed and she considers what her role in this might be.
Mr. Boyne is a master. There are no extra words but every emotion is fully laid bare. He manages to integrate characters from his next novel into 'Water' and it never feels false or strained. Mr. Boyne explores a multi-faceted sword of life - grief, guilt, remorse, pain, and anger. He gets it all right.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 971 reviews