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''They dragged her out of the lake at dawn. No jaw, one eye socket like some strange fish. The water was closing and closing, the centre blank as the tissue of a scar. Then, in a place a thousand miles from the ocean, they found something which might have been a seashell but which they knew was not. The lake gave birth regretfully, washing her up in slow burps.'
'A young woman and her baby go missing in an isolated Australian mining town. Two decades later human bones wash up in the local lake. The only clue is that a man driving a truck wearing a hat did it, in a town where every man wears something on his head.
'Twenty years later, Ruth returns to the place where she was born and where her mother was ostracised. Over that time an unexplored territory of guilty secrets centres on one man, Uncle Frank, whose silence has protected him but has also inflicted inconsolable wounds.The Water Underneath, told through the eyes of three women, separated by time, skin colour and allegiance, but united by their love of Frank, is about some of the conflicts which divide Australians, in the past and to this day.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
History and Theirstories : A Review of Some Recent Australian and Asian Fiction
2001
single work
review
— Appears in: Westerly , November vol. 46 no. 2001; (p. 190-203)
— Review of True History of the Kelly Gang 2000 single work novel ; The Slow Death of Patrick O'Reilly 2001 single work novel ; The Company : The Story of a Murderer 2000 single work novel ; Captain Bligh's Portable Nightmare 1998 single work novel ; The Water Underneath 2001 single work novel ; Strangers 1999 single work novel ; The Day We Had Hitler Home : A Novel 2000 single work novel ; Remembering Malcolm Macquarrie 2001 single work novel -
A Murder Mystery and the Power of the Outback
2001
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Canberra Sunday Times , 18 February 2001; (p. 54) -
Dust, Heat and Oppression
2001
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 17 March 2001; (p. 6)
— Review of The Water Underneath 2001 single work novel -
Going with the Flow
2001
single work
review
— Appears in: The West Australian , 10 March 2001; (p. 7)
— Review of The Water Underneath 2001 single work novel -
Paperbacks
2001
single work
review
— Appears in: Canberra Sunday Times , 4 February 2001; (p. 51)
— Review of The Water Underneath 2001 single work novel ; Film 2001 single work novel
-
Head-on with the Past
2001
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 24 February 2001; (p. 7)
— Review of Beyond Duck River 2001 single work novel ; The Water Underneath 2001 single work novel -
Finding Wisdom on the Road
2001
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 20-21 January 2001; (p. 12)
— Review of The Water Underneath 2001 single work novel ; Film 2001 single work novel -
Paperbacks
2001
single work
review
— Appears in: Canberra Sunday Times , 4 February 2001; (p. 51)
— Review of The Water Underneath 2001 single work novel ; Film 2001 single work novel -
Going with the Flow
2001
single work
review
— Appears in: The West Australian , 10 March 2001; (p. 7)
— Review of The Water Underneath 2001 single work novel -
Dust, Heat and Oppression
2001
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 17 March 2001; (p. 6)
— Review of The Water Underneath 2001 single work novel -
A Murder Mystery and the Power of the Outback
2001
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Canberra Sunday Times , 18 February 2001; (p. 54)
Awards
- Australian Outback, Central Australia,