Publisher's Synopsis
Man of Water centers around the main character of Watt, a writer in middle-aged decline with a string of failed relationships behind him. Having successfully secured a postgraduate scholarship to write a novel and a dissertation, he borrows the use of his friend's holiday house in a coastal town. But the days and weeks go by and Watt achieves nothing. This talent for procrastination and inaction culminates when he stands by and watches as an old man drowns trying to save his dog. The story then unfolds like a psychological thriller, carefully peeling back the layers of Watt's life, revealing clues to his guilt in the long line of drowned and abandoned relationships he has left behind. His mother, wife, son and a string of lovers have all been victims and, as his past and his personal life seem to be closing in, Watt seeks to escape the best way he can. Psychologically rich and superbly crafted, Man of Water is a sharp and darkly humorous novel about abandonment, redemption, guilt, loss
