This is a powerful small book that deals with some hard-hitting themes in its 160 pages. Trust, betrayal, marriage, politics, elite sport, misogyny, the media, the Catholic church and men who prey on others all play in their role in this hard-hitting novella.

A woman arrives on an island off the Galway coast to. She changes her name and cuts her hair and rents a barely furnished cottage without internet or television. She is hiding from the world, nursing her profound grief and licking her wounds. We learn that her eldest daughter has died and her husband has been convicted of a horrendous crime. Social media has had its say and judged her, the woman behind the man, guilty of knowing what he was doing (how could she not?). Now she is forced to examine her own complicity – did she knowingly turn a blind eye because she didn’t want to see?

Gradually over the course of a year, she learns how to live with herself again and reconnect with her remaining hurt and angry daughter. The islanders are a taciturn bunch who keep to themselves but she discovers others she can trust and her discussions with the young priest help, even though she is not religious. Told with a touch of wry humour, sensitivity and empathy for women who often unfairly bear the blame for men behaving badly, this is another brilliant, perfectly formed piece of writing from this very talented writer.

Water tells the story of Vanessa Carvin who has escaped her past on mainland Ireland to live in a cottage on an island. We know something bad happened with her husband and one of her daughters. We also know she is estranged from another daughter and the first thing she has done on the island is change her name to Willow. Some become suspicious of her behaviour, but she uses the time to come to terms with what has happened. If her husband committed these crimes, she must decide how complicit she is in his actions.

I really enjoyed this short, snappy exploration of a character as we slowly find out what has happened in her past. I love the metaphor of the water here too, and we, the reader, are to be the judge of her behaviour. I didn't particularly warm to Vanessa as a character but I really felt for her daughters and I felt that was fascinating to read.

Another great read by Boyne and I will be looking out for the rest of the quartet.

Water, by John Boyne
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A woman arrives on a small island off the coast of Ireland where she immediately changes her name and appearance. This short but addictive book reveals her demons gradually, helping us understand why she is in so much internal turmoil.

I almost read it in one sitting, completely hooked. I loved the moody, turbulent setting of the island, and the cast of intriguing, troubled locals. Vanessa’s story, as it was slowly revealed, was shocking and captivating.

John Boyne is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. This is a must-read recommendation from me!

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this fabulous book in return for an honest review.

Water is evidently the first of four novellas by John Boyne. In it we find Vanessa who has moved to a small Irish island cutting all ties with her old life. Shaving her hair, changing her name to Willow and avoiding the outside world. Slowly we discover what it is that Willow is hiding from and how she slowly comes to terms with how the devastating actions of others have impacted her life. Water is a small book but it deals with big topics such as child abuse, incest and suicide, to name but a few. Boyne writes from a woman's point of view beautifully and this book touched me and brought me near tears several times. I'm happy to recommend it and look forward to reading the other books in the series.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

Water by John Boyne
I give this book 5 stars

The first thing Vanessa Carvin does when she arrives on the island is change her name.But scandals follow like hunting dogs.
Escaping her old life might seem like a good idea but the choices she made have consequences. Here, on the island, Vanessa must reflect on what she did - and did not do.

This is the first in a interlinked novel quartet named after the elements……Water,Earth,Fire and Air.
This powerful prose doesn’t feel like a novella and left it’s mark on me.The author takes us on a sweeping journey of self discovery encompassing guilt,grief,family,religion and subtle humour all of which are perfectly balanced throughout the storyline .As always with John Boyne it’s crafted exquisitely and the serious subject matters are executed with emotional impact.I loved how Water has its part to play!
An incredible and intense read …… I could not put this one down for the life of me,and I’m excited for what’s to come next in Earth.
With thanks to Netgalley,John Boyne and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Doubleday for my chance to read and review this book.

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 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. Not a comfortable read, but it is a short one. Another brilliant piece of writing from an author who never ceases to surprise me.

Wow! I’ve simply not been able to put this book down, so compelling is the narrative.
The novel begins with Vanessa Carvin arriving on an island off Galway, cutting off her hair and changing her name. What is she running away from? Why does she want to hide? And so begins Willow’s exploration into her past life and her actions and what impact or responsibility she had on any of the events that led up to her escaping to the island. This is a story full of raw emotions that deals with some hard hitting themes. As Willow slowly recounts her life, the tragedy she suffered and then the scandal that ensued, she searches for her truth and role in the events and her answers to the kinds of questions anyone could ask in hindsight,
A wonderful novella from John Boyne that I shall be recommending widely and I look forward to reading the rest of this series
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for a review.

An unusual step for John Boyne - a short novel written completely in the voice of a female main character that at first I found rather forced but the further on I read, the more confident the voice became.

Vanessa Carvin is running away and when she arrives on a small Irish island she attempts to conceal her identity by using a different name, Willow Hale. She strips her life to the bare minimum in order to survive and heal from her past.

An intriguing character based story. It will be interesting to see how the future novellas in the series pan out.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK/Transworld/Doubleday for the opportunity to read and review
Water.

I really enjoyed this book.
A short story but one I couldn’t put down, right from the start I was hooked.
It’s about a woman who arrives on a small Irish island. The first thing she does is change her name.
The authors writing is beautifully descriptive with strong, real believable characters and engaging, thought provoking storyline.
A sensitive and emotional read. Highly recommend.
I look forward to the next book in this elemental series @JohnBoyne.
Thanks to #NetGallery @RandomHouseUK @TransworldPublishers for an arc of #Water in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own.
Book publishes 2nd November 2023.

A young woman has upped sticks and travelled to a remote island. The first thing she does on landing is change her name. Willow Hale does not come with the same baggage as Vanessa Carvin. Big nasty baggage which I will leave you to discover as the author intends. But I will say that she has good reasons for wanting to get away from it all, to leave her past behind, to escape the notoriety that her husband's crimes have associated her with and the uncertainty of exactly how much she knew at the time.
It's a time for her to stop, take stock, relax and try to come to terms with the whirlwind that her life has become. And to mourn for what she has lost. But, remember the old adage, you can't escape your past until you have made peace with it...
This relatively short novella, I believe to be a part of a series, follows Willow as she learns to live basically. To strip down her life into just what she needs to survive. How she starts to open up. Meeting some of the larger than life characters who already inhabit her new home. And as we follow Willow in the present, we also follow Vanessa in the past. Her relationship and subsequent marriage and, eventually, how it all went horribly wrong and unravelled. These vignettes give colour and clarity to Willow's present journey and also become rather cathartic as the whole horrible truth is finally laid bare.
But only then can her journey of healing begin... My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Beautifully written novella following a woman seeking solace from the infamy of her husband’s crimes. Authentic characters and astute dialogue. Particularly loved Mrs Duggan.

A though provoking tale of finding ones self
I didn't quite know where this book was going to go at the star, but that soon resolved into a tale of self discovery and their th.. Following the distance of her husband his wife moves to a small island and lives a simple live. During her time there she begins to understand more about herself and develops the inner strength and fortitude to move on with her life. It's a beautifully written book.

I'm a huge fan of John Boyne's writing and always know I'm going to go on a real journey through his amazing characters. This book is no exception.
It essentially was such a simple story, but so brilliantly executed. I was completely transported to this location, and I was hooked on the characters. (Boyne always writes such real and believable characters!)
This book had a slight 'mystery' element to it, so it kept you reading as you wanted to know what really happened to 'Willow Hale' that made her run away. But even without the mystery, I still would have kept reading due to John Boyne's atmospheric writing.

Water
A woman arrives, alone,
on an island off the Irish mainland. She almost immediately cuts off her long blonde hair off and shaves her skull leaving a greying frizz. The reader learns that she was, until recently, Vanessa Hale, but will now be known by her middle name, Willow Hale.
The cottage she is renting is austere with very few creature comforts and her only contact with the wider world, an old radio, is rendered silent by her removing its batteries and burying them in the garden. Is Willow doing penance for something she’s done in the past? She has obviously had enough of her previous life and has gone to ground or to search for, as she describes it as ‘the simplicity, the monastic nature of all of this.’
One of her two daughters, Emma, is dead and Rebecca, her surviving daughter refuses to reply to text messages and holds her accountable. Willow’s husband Brendan is in prison for a crime he swears that he didn’t commit but it’s Willow who is left having to pick up the pieces.
Despite wanting to be left alone and remain anonymous, Willow slowly gets to know people on the island and to be an observer of their lives: the matriarchal Mrs Duggan, the visiting cat Bananas, Luke Duggan and the conflicted Evan Keogh. Even if a place is temporary, somehow you can still end up putting down even baby roots.
And as the book progresses the reader learns more of Willow’s past and what happened to force her into exile. The reason that Brendan is in prison, the role of women in Ireland even today, double standards, the power of religion, abuse, isolation and betrayal. But there is also humour as a sack of potatoes is described as ‘slumped like a weary traveller by the front door.’ After she has cut off and shaved her head she thinks that she looks so different but ‘unlike the famous singer who looked like one of God’s angels when she first appeared on our television screens.’ Willow also parries with the visiting cat, ‘I have a rental agreement.’ I tell her and her eyes narrow at my insolence. ‘Do you want to see it?’
This is a literary novella of 176 pages by John Boyne, author of ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ and this is the first time that I’ve read his work. ‘Water’ is written with sensitivity especially with powerful theme being that of family secrets. The book’s title refers to how water surrounds and features in Willow’s life. Brendan was the Director of the National Swimming Federation, she is living on an island and Emma’s death was by drowning. Water to wash away sins perhaps? I noted that it was book one of a series called the Four Elements. I enjoyed reading ‘Water’ and meeting Willow.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC.

I am aware that I have grumbled a few times on this site about short novels or novellas. This year I’ve read short work by Philippe Besson, Claire Keegan and Mike McCormack and I’ve felt the need each time to mention my ambivalent feelings towards this form. In my review of Claire Keegan’s much celebrated “Small Things Like These” (2021) I said “faced with a couple of tempting novels, one short, one longer I’d generally pick the longer.” Trust John Boyne to challenge my prejudices.
It's no real surprise that this is one of the few under 200 pages (176 in the hardback edition) that I’m giving my top rating to. Irish author John Boyne is the author I’ve given the most five stars to ever (this will be the 6th out of the 9 books of his I’ve read).
The author is getting all elemental on us with this the first in a projected quartet which will also feature Fire, Earth & Air, producing a literary sequence which is reminiscent of the seasonal quartet which did so well for Ali Smith.
“Water” is the tale of a woman in her early fifties who arrives on a sparsely populated Irish island to escape her past. The first thing she does is change her name and shave her head so we know the past is obviously a problem. Slowly, we get to know why she is there and what she is hiding from. What John Boyne does so well is to hide the horrors amongst domestic detail – there’s a point where the situation is grim for main character Willow/Vanessa related through her first-person narrative but she becomes preoccupied with the arrival of her new credit card. Although she has chosen a solitary life there’s some great interactions especially with neighbour and busybody Mrs Duggan. The author knows exactly when to release information to us (generally just slightly before you think it’s coming, which keeps the reader on their toes). It is superbly crafted. This belies one of my issues with novellas in that despite their brevity they can feel drawn out. Here, it feels packed with character development, plot twists and a delight in story-telling. Water is everywhere, unsurprisingly as the main character has relocated onto a smaller island than where she previously lived but it is the danger and unpredictability of it which influences this work most.
I really did not want it to end but it feels as if it does so at an appropriate time which challenged another of my short-fiction notions. I’ve read two sub-200 pages books by celebrated authors back to back. In my opinion John Boyne gets the form exactly right and really drew me in whereas Mike McCormack, which also dealt with serious issues, distanced me somewhat and left me unsatisfied. I can’t wait to read the other three works in this quartet- whether they are going to be short or long.
Water is published in the UK by Doubleday on 2nd November 2023. Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the advance review copy.

A short novella but packing a hefty emotional load, Water is the story of a woman, mother and wife who moves to a small island from Ireland in order to review her situation and rediscover herself. The narrative gradually reveals the reasons for the estrangement from her daughter and the changing of her name and appearance.
Despite the traumatic events, there are some lovely touches of humanity in the islanders she comes to know and also some welcome, deft comedy in the character of Mrs Duggan.

This author wrote one my absolute favourite books of recent years The Heart's Invisible Furies, so I always look out for their new work and this book was small, but oh so mighty!

The first in an elemental series, Water follows a woman who arrives on a remote island and almost instantly changes her name and appearance. As the story unfolds we find out more of what happened and why she wants, or needs to hide so much.

Dark yet compelling, this is a beautifully written book and I look forward to the next.

As ever, another enthralling read from John Boyne, tackling a very dark subject.

It‘s only a short read and, whilst this means it packs a heavy punch, I do wish there had been space to explore some areas a bit further.

Willow Hale arrives on a tiny Irish island from Dublin, having changed her name. What is she hiding from and can she really ever escape?

This is a beautifully written and powerful book about guilt and being a woman. Especially being a woman in Ireland which is obviously not that easy.

The first thing Vanessa does when she arrives on a remote island: she changes her name to Willow. And then she cuts her hair. She is hiding on that island from a scandal at home. Her husband was accused of a horrendous crime, her first born daughter is dead and her second daughter does not speak to her. So she moves to a cottage without WiFi and television to think about her life. In Dublin she led a life of wealth and privilege but when confronted with things her husband may have done she does not want to see. Willow is such a real life character. I could relate to her. When you read her story it is easy to judge her and say “I would have acted differently”. But would you really have?

As I said, the book is about grief, guilt and how women are held accountable of the bad things men do. The book is short and sharp, there are no unnecessary words, every sentence is needed and there is no filling in for more pages. This is, simply said, a great book I would highly recommend reading. Men and women. I was hooked from page one.

This is my third book from this author and I really don’t know why I did not read all of his books. John Boyne is a gifted writer and I am looking forward to what he is up to next.

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.