The International Dublin Literary Award from the home of literature, proudly sponsored by Dublin City Council
International DUBLIN Literary Award
International DUBLIN Literary Award
       
Facebook Twitter Pinterest linkedin Telegram
International DUBLIN Literary Award
  • Home
  • The Books
    • 2020 Shortlist
  • The Judges
  • The Libraries
  • FAQs
  • The Archive
  • News
Menu
International DUBLIN Literary Award
Sold out
HomeBooks2018 The North Water
Previous product
The Lesser Bohemians
Back to products
Next product
Bricks and Mortar

The North Water

Author: Ian McGuire

2018 Longlist

1859. A ship sets sail with a killer on board . . . A man joins a whaling ship bound for the Arctic Circle. Having left the British Army with his reputation in tatters, Patrick Sumner has little option but to accept the position of ship’s surgeon on this ill-fated voyage. But when, deep into the journey, a cabin boy is discovered brutally killed, Sumner finds himself forced to act. Soon he will face an evil even greater than he had encountered at the siege of Delhi, in the shape of Henry Drax: harpooner, murderer, monster . . .

About the author

Ian McGuire grew up near Hull and studied at the University of Manchester and the University of Virginia, USA. He is a founder and co-director of the University of Manchester’s Centre for New Writing. His stories have been published in the Chicago Review, Paris Review and elsewhere. His first novel was Incredible Bodies. The North Water is his second novel.

(from publisher)

Librarians’ comments

Thrilling and well written, a very dark tale set on a 19th century whaling ship. Our staff couldn’t put this one down!

In the late 1850s the whaling industry is dying as the need for the mammal’s oil is giving way to petroleum, but whaling in The North Water is only a ruse for insurance fraud. There are two central characters aboard the ship, Henry Drax, a psychopath, and Patrick Sumner, a failed physician coping with a broken reputation. This story has copious amounts of raw violence and filth so swift and sure that it’s hard to believe that the men have the ability to scheme and calculate. The arctic cold and the dirty, diseased, and smelly conditions aboard the ship make the reader marvel at what the body can endure while pondering how routinely it can fail from acts of bludgeoning and rape. The novel leaves the reader wanting to forget the vivid, graphic actions of Drax’s debauchery, but I will never forget Sumner’s determination to make things right.

This is a grisly and raw tale with thoughtfully developed characters, fascinating period points and well rendered settings. The few acts of compassion between men while in great peril are significant and touching.

  • Additional information
  • Libraries Ireland - Find This Book
Additional information
Author

Ian McGuire

Country

GB

Nominating Library

Australia, Linc Tasmania

Publisher

Scribner, UK

Libraries Ireland - Find This Book

Libraries Ireland Encore System

Search for this book in the Dublin City Library Encore system and arrange a suitable location for loaning it.

Search Encore for The North Water

This search result is offered as a helping hand to find books in the Library Ireland Encore System. Some results may not be accurate where book titles have common words with similar titles. 

Category: 2018
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest linkedin Telegram
ABOUT DUBLIN CITY LIBRARY & ARCHIVE

Dublin City Libraries, a service of Dublin City Council, is Ireland’s largest library service, with responsibility for the delivery of high quality, effective public library, information and archive services to a resident population of over half a million people.

Designated as a UNESCO City of Literature in 2010, Dublin City Libraries aims to maximise opportunity for all – individuals and communities – through guided access to ideas, learning, literature, information and heritage resources supported by cultural programming.

Cookie Information

This website uses Cookies. Continued use of the site will be deemed as your acceptance of this necessity.

Quick Links
  • Home
  • The Books
    • 2020 Shortlist
  • The Judges
  • The Libraries
  • FAQs
  • The Archive
  • News
International DUBLIN Literary Award Office. Dublin City Library & Archive. 138 - 144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2. Ireland. Email: literaryaward@dublincity.ie. Tel +353 1 6744802. Copyright © 2019 Dublin City Libraries.
Website by JET Design
close
Start typing to see products you are looking for.
  • Home
  • The Books
  • The Judges
  • The Libraries
  • FAQs
  • The Archive
  • News
Scroll To Top