The Silence of Water

Description

Wrenched from her idyllic home to live in another state with a grandfather she's never heard of, Fan searches amongst the relics of her family's possessions for the truth about her convict heritage. When Fan's mum, Agnes, announces the family is moving to Western Australia to take care of Agnes's father - a man they've never spoken of before now - Fan finds herself a stranger in a new town living in a home whose currents and tensions she cannot read or understand. Resentful of her mother's decision to move, Fan forms an alliance with her grandfather, Edwin Salt, a convict transported to Australia in 1861. As she listens to memories of his former life in England, Fan starts snooping around the house, riffling through Edwin's belongings in an attempt to fill the gaps in his stories. But the secrets Fan uncovers will test the family's fragile bonds forever, and force Edwin into a final reckoning with the brutality of his past.

Sharron Booth was born in Yorkshire, England and emigrated to Western Australia as a child with her family in the 1970s. She has worked as a professional writer for more than 25 years. She has a PhD in Creative Writing and her creative work has been published in Southerly, LiNQ, The Australian and broadcast on ABC Radio.

'The crime that brings Edwin Salt to Australia echoes through this story of three generations, beautifully and powerfully wrought from convict history and a lyrical writerly imagination.' --Amanda Curtin, author of The Sinkings 'With careful research and sparse, elegant prose Sharron Booth reveals how the life and crimes of a Western Australian convict affect generations of his family. By bringing to life this neglected aspect of our convict history, Booth reminds us it is the secrets and silences of the past which often exert the most power upon the present.' --Kiera Lindsey, author of The Convict's Daughter