Memory of Water
ABOUT
THE BOOK
Global warming has changed the world’s geography and its politics. Wars are waged over water, and China rules Europe, including the Scandinavian Union, which is occupied by the power state of New Qian. In this far north place, seventeen-year-old Noria Kaitio is learning to become a tea master like her father, a position that holds great responsibility and great secrets. Tea masters alone know the location of hidden water sources, including the natural spring that Noria’s father tends, which once provided water for her whole village. When Noria’s father dies, the secret of the spring reaches the new military commander . . . and the power of the army is vast indeed. But the precious water reserve is not the only forbidden knowledge Noria possesses, and resistance is a fine line.
Threatened with imprisonment, and with her life at stake, Noria must make an excruciating, dangerous choice between knowledge and freedom.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
In a post-catastrophe world, where water is scarce, a young woman becomes a tea master and a guardian of a secret held in her family for generations. In her world hiding water sources is the gravest of criminal offences and the supreme quality of the tea she serves raises the military government’s suspicions. Written in lyrical, flowing prose this debut novel is a coming-of-age story with a difference. It’s a cleverly plotted, engaging tale about a world that is suffering, but not without hope.