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. Wilson-Lee’s point is that we all need to be a bit more De Góis and a bit less De Camões. Employing prose as luscious as it is meticulous, Wilson-Lee shows us the world through De Góis’s eyes, a wonderful tapestry that includes Ethiopians and Sami, Hieronymus Bosch (he owned three of the master’s fever-dream paintings) and elephants that can write in dust with their trunks. In 1531 De Góis was hugely affected by an audience he had with Martin Luther in Wittenberg when the great man’s wife served him hazelnuts and apples. There was a point to the meal’s simplicity that went beyond grandiose self-denial. Luther believed that the obsession with international capitalism, which brought spices and other exotic delicacies pouring into Europe, was pointless and wasteful. Shopping locally and growing your own (Mrs Luther had a very nice kitchen garden) was the righteous way to go. And you'll be from Dublin, I suppose," she continues, employing a tense that I'm not sure exists in the language. As humanity strays across planetary boundaries, Boccaletti’s political biography of water is essential reading. This bold and ambitious saga offers important lessons and instils humility in the reader, both of which we need as we face the dangers of increasing pressure on nature, climate change, and corrosive inequality.” —Rachel Kyte, Dean, The Fletcher School, Tufts University At the turn of the century a twelve-year-old girl, grieving the death of her father, is sent by boat to her wedding, where she will meet her forty-year-old husband for the first time. From this poignant beginning, the young girl and future matriarch - known as Big Ammachi - will witness unthinkable changes at home and at large over the span of her extraordinary life, full of the joys and trials of love and the struggles of hardship.

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.” This is a book for the layperson, but a book, definitely, for a layperson who doesn’t shy away from the technical. (The chemistry, at times, had me floundering, as did some of the geology). But, while I did find myself getting lost occasionally, and I would’ve liked more on the cultural significance of water—this book was still a good read, mainly because I learnt so much from it. Ice acting as a metal? The fact that marine life produces half the oxygen in the atmosphere through photosynthesis? That newly formed sea ice is naturally salty, but (because the salt drains away gradually into the water below) it eventually becomes tasteless, while the water below becomes extra salty? About the Mpemba Effect, and how it was ‘discovered’?So many great global challenges are more solvable than we think—if the people who are facing those challenges, who have great capacity to solve them, are empowered. That’s how we’ve been able to change 43 million lives with safe water and sanitation. The writing is disarmingly honest – sometimes, when it comes to Lucy’s relationship with her mother, uncomfortably so This is a courageous book dealing frankly with youth, puberty, mother-daughter relationships, class, disability and alcoholism. There are difficult truths, but no wallowing. Verghese outdoes himself with this grand and stunning tribute to 20th-century India.' - Publishers Weekly Brimming with ideas and unexpected correlations, Water is far more than a biography of its nominal subject . . . The book stands as a compelling history of civilization itself.” — The Wall Street Journal Book Review

This is an amazing debut novel. It's a beautifully narrated, intelligently crafted piece of love that goes deep, then goes deeper. You should read this book. Let's hear it for Caleb Azumah Nelson, also known as the future' - Benjamin Zephaniah, award-winning poet, playwright and novelist With the help of this book, and with careful attention and observation, anyone can learn how to interpret the messages water offers to aid in everything from navigation to weather forecasting. A ­riveting and highly accessible book that will appeal to water enthusiasts and nature lovers of all kinds.” Library JournalHe is breathless for the life he is entering into and I hope that he will not know pain or betrayal or disappointment, but of course he will, because he's alive and that's the price we pay" In Terenure, I was a member of a book club, but that was mostly because I could find no way out of it.

The story of Water is our story. Giulio Boccaletti takes us on an extraordinary journey through water history, from the retreating glaciers of the ice age which shaped the landscape and the livelihoods of local communities,to the emergence of nation states and the industrialised world, presided over by democrats, despots and dreamers. This book is a cautionary tale for our times” —Alan Yentob, BBC Producer and Presenter Water is the story of Vanessa Carvin, a middle-aged woman, who arrives under an assumed name on a tiny island off the Irish coast. Her husband is in prison after committing monstrous crimes, in which she may or may not have been complicit. The tragic fallout has shattered her world. Before she can move on, she must consider her culpability, work through her guilt and grief, and find a path to redemption.

Water is the first in a contemporary quarter penned by John Boyne and titled after the elements: Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. Each novel focuses on a victim of trauma, providing a unique narrative that—if the others are anything like this one—could emotionally eviscerate a reader. Although each novella interconnects and overlaps with each other, they can each be read as standalones. Erudite and engrossing...the book combines literary flair with deep historical insight... One of its many strengths is its vivid characterisation of people and places, not least those of Lisbon life high and low' - The Times It’s been a while since I’ve read a novel by Boyne. Years ago I read, and loved, The Heart’s Invisible Furies - so I was excited to read his latest novel. Quite apart from being well written and an enjoyable read, there is plenty in the book that is revelatory.” The Royal Institute of Navigation

Open Water is a beautifully, delicately written novel about love, for self and others, about being seen, about vulnerability and mental health. Sentence by sentence, it oozes longing and grace. Caleb is a star in the making.' - Nikesh Shukla, editor of The Good Immigrant and author of Brown Baby Water molecules helped create the Earth, life on it and us. We have built our worlds, and we are ourselves built of this remarkable substance. Jha’s book is often remarkable, too. It is overlong; in places it needed more zealous editing. But it holds wonders enough that you can swim through the flaws, and into its deeps. Giulio Boccaletti makes a strikingly original and persuasive case that the history of human civilization can be understood as a never-ending struggle over water. Boccaletti’s command of a vast range of material, across time and space, is astonishing.” —Nicholas Lemann, Joseph Pulitzer II and Edith Pulitzer Moore Professor of Journalism, Columbia University.There were times when I wanted to hear more about the other characters, but then the entire project is devoted to one young woman’s subjectivity. There is little dialogue, but if the interiority can occasionally feel wearing, it is worth it for its refreshing perspective. Lucy feels the acute tension and anxiety that arises between leaving your community and staying. I found parts of this novel intensely moving – I wish I had read it when I was 19. For those who leave, it will be a balm to know they are not alone. For those who stay, Saltwater tells you there is life elsewhere, but that finding it can tear your heart in two. 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. 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. Penso anche che sarebbe stato ideale inserire un maggior numero di grafici nel testo, specialmente per spiegare alcuni concetti più complessi. You gradually learn what has happened. Living alone on the island gives her time to think and consider if her actions and non-actions made her complicit in what we now know was a crime.