From The Wreck

Jane Rawson

16 April 2020
9781529006568
272 pages

Synopsis

‘This strange story of love and loneliness, which explores how we all long to belong, is simply wonderful.’ Daily Mail

When, in 1859, George Hills is pulled from the wreck of the steamship Admella, he carries with him the uneasy memory of a fellow survivor. Someone else – or something else – kept him warm as he lay dying, half-submerged in the freezing Southern Ocean, kept him bound to life.

As George adapts to his life back on land, he can’t quite escape the feeling that he wasn’t alone when he emerged from the ocean that day, that a familiar presence has been watching him ever since. What the creature might want from him – his life? His first-born? Simply to return to its home? – will pursue him, and call him back to the water, where it all began.

‘[A] singular novel . . . [From the Wreck] movingly explores themes of loss, loneliness and guilt.’ Guardian

‘An absorbing, disturbing read, full of deep currents and lurking fears.’ Adrian Tchaikovsky, Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author of The Children of Time

The power of this singular novel lies in Rawson’s ability to meld seemingly disparate narrative elements into a convincing whole that movingly explores themes of loss, loneliness and guilt.
This strange story of love and loneliness, which explores how we all long to belong, is simply wonderful . . . Jane Rawson’s writing is uncannily good — an original blend of speculative fiction, chilling horror and emotional empathy, fluidly carrying the reader along on a remarkable journey.
[A] superb novel . . . Rawson uses [the novel’s] set up to examine huge themes – the nature of existence and society, the symbiotic relationships between us all – but it’s also deeply personal and ultimately very moving. Extraordinary work.