The Nature Of Water And Air

Evoking a raw and spirited Ireland, ""The Nature of Water and Air" is an astoundingly rich and lyrical novel about mothers and daughters, secrets and delusions, and the salve of love" (Tillie Olsen). McBride's debut novel is set on a patch of Irish coast where readers meet Clodagh, the only surviving daughter of Agatha, a tinker and traveler girl who married a wealthy man but was never easy in the world of houses.

"My mother was never easy in the world of houses. She was a tinker, a traveler girl who had married a wealthy man. Her name was Agatha Sheehy....There are silences all around my mother's story."

So begins "The Nature of Water and Air," set on a patch of Irish coast where, amid a flurry of whispers, we meet Agatha's only surviving daughter, Clodagh. Determined to secure her mother's elusive love and the truth about her, Clodagh is swept into a relationship with a handsome, isolated man. He brings her to the heart of her mother's story, where she must confront the questions "Does a truth change love?" and "What madness will come from chasing a secret?"

Powerfully sensitive, this startling debut novel about forbidden love will place Regina McBride among our most celebrated novelists.