Published: May 29, 2011
Words: 129,013 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781458017468

Short description

Spanning seventy years, set in England and in Nigeria during the Biafran crisis, the latest novel from this award-winning author is a sweeping, compulsive story about conscience and selfishness and the far-reaching damage that cruelty can do.

Extended description

May 1944: dawn in the Bay of Biscay. A U-boat lies crippled on the seabed. Within earshot of the warship that sank her, a solitary survivor breaks the surface. Injured, in shock, hypothermic, his life-vest torn, he cries out for help.

The captain is on the bridge and brings his binoculars to bear.

The order he gives sets off a train of consequences reaching down through the landscape of post-war, post-colonial Britain, changing not only his own life and the lives of his men, but those of civilians ashore and of children yet unborn.

Spanning seventy years, set in England and in Nigeria during the Biafran crisis, this is a sweeping, compulsive story about conscience and selfishness and the far-reaching damage that cruelty can do.

“The Drowning” is the latest novel from this award-winning author.

Extent: 125,200 words (about 417 conventional pages)

Adult-content rating: This book contains content considered unsuitable for young readers 17 and under, and which may be offensive to some readers of all ages. For more information, see the Support FAQ.

Tags

buddhism, literary fiction, britain, nigeria, biafran war, postcolonialism

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Reviews

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Review by: Chris Gallagher on Feb. 24, 2012 :
Seldom have I read a book that moved me quite as much, and as deeply, as The Drowning by Richard Herley. From its opening paragraphs set beneath the wartime Atlantic Ocean, where Herley let me think I was reading one type of novel, only to confound me in the second chapter, to its conclusion 70 odd years later, The Drowning never failed to satisfy.

Essentially a love story, the action moves seamlessly between England and Nigeria, and recounts the lives of Roland and Elspeth, both together and apart. The closing chapters are deeply poignant and incredibly moving. I can count on the fingers of one hand books that have left me in tears; this was one of them.

This is a book that should be required reading for any would be writer, and as one such I could only read in admiration. The quality of the writing is superb, and although not normally a jealous person, I am extremely envious of Richard Herley's ability, and wish I could write half as well.
(review of free book)

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