8 /10 1 Votes
Language English Originally published 2016 Genre Fiction | 4/5 Goodreads Publication date 2016 Country United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Fiction books Serious Sweet, Work Like Any Other, Hot Milk, The Sellout, A Brief History of Seven Kil | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The North Water is a 2016 novel by English author and academic Ian McGuire. McGuire's focus of study and field of interest is American realist literature which is defined as, "...the faithful representation of reality" The Guardians reviewer writes, "The strength of The North Water lies in its well-researched detail and persuasive descriptions of the cold, violence, cruelty and the raw, bloody business of whale-killing." The headline of the Independent Book Review "Ian McGuire, The North Water: 'Subtle as a harpoon in the head, but totally gripping', book review" reinforces the realist aspect of the writing.
Contents
In July 2016, The North Water was longlisted for the 2016 Man Booker Prize. In December 2016 The New York Times named The North Water as one of the 10 Best Books of 2016.
Plot
The north water of the title is where ships sail to in the hunt to harvest whales. The novel opens in Hull where the industry is under threat with paraffin and coal oil replacing whale oil. We meet Henry Drax a harpooner who rapes and kills a child, "... a brute, a vacuum into which men and boys are sucked and do not emerge alive" Joining as ships doctor is Irishman Patrick Sumner a disgraced former British army surgeon with a murky past in India. They set sail on the Volunteer under Captain Brownlee who lost his last ship and crew and in league with the owner Baxter intends to scuttle the Volunteer in an insurance scam.