Seduction Of Water

Carol Goodman's second novel is as atmospheric and gripping as her bestselling first, The Lake of Dead Languages. The Seduction of Water is a quest narrative for the 21st century. Iris Greenfeder is a struggling writer who plans a memoir of her novelist mother, Kay, who disappeared when Iris was ten. She was found dead in a Brooklyn hotel, registered as another man's wife. Through Kay's writing and encounters with those who knew her, Iris begins to piece together her mother's past life. But her quest for truth becomes increasingly difficult and dangerous, and she struggles to survive when events take a sinister turn. While Goodman weaves a compelling thriller, she also looks at some serious themes. She focuses on reinvention: characters transform themselves; fortunes shift; the plot itself reworks an old Irish fairy tale. The novel also addresses the relationships between mothers and daughters, secrecy, and women's struggle to express their creativity. Goodman is interested in the process of writing and how different texts link together unexpectedly. Extracts from Kay Greenfeder's fantasy novels are threaded through Iris's first-person narrative. These extracts serve as a beautiful code, questioning the divide between fantasy and reality. With fairy tales as her starting point, Goodman's characters are drawn with bold strokes yet avoid cliche. Iris is a winning heroine with her burden of loss and all her flaws. Goodman creates an unnerving cast of possible villains: fierce agent Hedda Wolfe, expressionless writer Phoebe Nix and moody ex-convict Aidan Barry. The settings alternate between grimy New York and the almost mythical Equinox Hotel. This grand country retreat is where Iris grew up; its links with childhood give it an almost magical status. Goodman's switch from city to country lends her complex plot a neat structure. This is an intricate tale told in confident, sensual prose. Goodman warns us that stories are rarely as simple as they seem. (Kirkus UK)