Winner of the 2023 Independent Press Award for Literary Fiction
Finalist in the 2022 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards for Multicultural Fiction
The Girl in the Water is the story of a multiethnic group of young friends, coming of age in Estonia and Ukraine in the last days of the Soviet Union. Their lives are shaped by an Afghan war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the collapse and legacy of a suffocating society.
The novel examines life and choice in the aftermath of trauma and has garnered praise as both a lifelike family drama and a literary statement in the tradition of the Russian classics:
"The author includes emotional, compelling scenes with every character, as each one has been dealt a vastly different hand of cards." -Audrey Davis, Independent Book Review
"Joseph Howse evokes the literary styles of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky ... The author has composed a book like Tchaikovsky would a symphony; tight, disciplined, yet bubbling with unspoken passion and near-magical allegory." -Rob Errera, IndieReader
Scenes of shortwave listening and roaming the hinterlands provide a backdrop to the young characters' search for themselves within a failing civilization that sees non-cooperation and unhappiness as a disease.
At the centre of this multilayered story of family, society, and nature is a Soviet girl, Nadia, who, one day on a remote beach, looks up from her book to see that her friend is drowning.
Nadia is an abstract thinker growing up in an era of endgames. She is a bookworm, an architect of reckless pranks, a day-and-night wanderer, a compulsive witness, and a note-taker. All around her she sees people quietly gambling with life and soul for little apparent gain. As her illusions unravel, she asks herself, what is to be done?
The Girl in the Water is a tragicomedy. It is an intricate study of beauty and futility in everyday life and a call for compassion and humour in a cruel world.
Winner of the 2023 Independent Press Award for Literary Fiction
Finalist in the 2022 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards for Multicultural Fiction
The Girl in the Water is the story of a multiethnic group of young friends, coming of age in Estonia and Ukraine in the last days of the Soviet Union. Their lives are shaped by an Afghan war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the collapse and legacy of a suffocating society.
The novel examines life and choice in the aftermath of trauma and has garnered praise as both a lifelike family drama and a literary statement in the tradition of the Russian classics:
"The author includes emotional, compelling scenes with every character, as each one has been dealt a vastly different hand of cards." -Audrey Davis, Independent Book Review
"Joseph Howse evokes the literary styles of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky ... The author has composed a book like Tchaikovsky would a symphony; tight, disciplined, yet bubbling with unspoken passion and near-magical allegory." -Rob Errera, IndieReader
Scenes of shortwave listening and roaming the hinterlands provide a backdrop to the young characters' search for themselves within a failing civilization that sees non-cooperation and unhappiness as a disease.
At the centre of this multilayered story of family, society, and nature is a Soviet girl, Nadia, who, one day on a remote beach, looks up from her book to see that her friend is drowning.
Nadia is an abstract thinker growing up in an era of endgames. She is a bookworm, an architect of reckless pranks, a day-and-night wanderer, a compulsive witness, and a note-taker. All around her she sees people quietly gambling with life and soul for little apparent gain. As her illusions unravel, she asks herself, what is to be done?
The Girl in the Water is a tragicomedy. It is an intricate study of beauty and futility in everyday life and a call for compassion and humour in a cruel world.
Joseph Howse writes fiction, as well as technical books on computer programming and image analysis. He lives in a Nova Scotian fishing village, where he chats with his cats and nurtures an orchard of hardy fruit trees. His debut novel, The Girl in the Water, has won the 2023 Independent Press Award for Literary Fiction and is a finalist in the 2022 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards for Multicultural Fiction.
"Joseph Howse evokes the literary styles of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky
... Howse's novel feels Russian, from its ornate structure to its
social commentary to its wry humor. The author has composed a book
like Tchaikovsky would a symphony; tight, disciplined, yet bubbling
with unspoken passion and near-magical allegory." -Rob Errera,
IndieReader
"A resilient coming-of-age story ... The author includes emotional,
compelling scenes with every character, as each one has been dealt
a vastly different hand of cards. ... It feels very down-to-Earth
and includes necessary comical moments throughout. I did not know
much about the events or places in this book before, but after
finishing it and doing a little extra curiosity research, I'm
thankful to have learned something new in such an engaging way."
-Audrey Davis, Independent Book Review
"A coming of age narrative held against the backdrop of the last
days of the Soviet Union ... This setting and context of the book
feels authentic and it is clear that a lot of research has been
carried out in order to add dimension to the story. The sense of
change in the setting reflects the coming-of-age themes in the
characters' narratives. ... I think that this book would appeal to
those interested in character driven family dramas and relationship
stories, and may appeal to those interested in modern Eastern
European history." -LoveReading Ambassador
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