Tales from Rainwater Pond by Billy Roche [Suggested by K]
The first collection of short stories by playwright, Billy Roche. Each of these twelve stories, has, at its heart, the strange, beautiful and eerie place known as Rainwater Pond, which acts as a silent witness to the passage of years and interactions of characters.
While all of these stories stand alone the whole collection artfully connects to paint a vivid portrait of Rainwater Pond and a multitute of its inhabitants;
Maggie Angre who lost a brother in a swimming accident and visits the scene of his drowning, Tommy Day, the singer who dreams of better days, Kevin Troy, the hurling 'star' who, at 17, has too much responsibility.
Two stories in the collection, Haberdashery and Sussex Gardens, have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 while, Table Manners, is to be filmed and directed by award winning playwright Conor McPherson.
[Image taken from http://www.tcd.ie/Library/Shop/product.php?productID=1461]
Death of a River Guide by Richard Flanagan
[Suggested by Shinners]"He feels himself tumbled by water, then suddenly slammed to a halt, feels rocks grip round his hips and his chest like tightening vices. Feels the water that was for a few seconds benign change its character immediately to that of a mad, rushing sadist, forcing his head and body forward and down and under. And he knows this moment has been a long time coming. "
Beneath a waterfall on the Franklin, Aljaz Cosini, river guide, lies drowning. Beset by visions at once horrible and fabulous, he relives not just his own life but that of his family and forebears. In the rainforest waters that rush over him he sees those lives stripped of their surface realities, and finds a world where dreaming reasserts its power over thinking. As the river rises his visions grow more turbulent, and in the flood of the past Aljaz discovers the soul history of his country.
Widely acclaimed, Death of a River Guide is an inspired novel; a lyrical torrent of love and redemption, of rage and pain and laughter tempered by the inevitability of loss.
[Image and synopsis taken from http://www.middlemiss.org/lit/authors/flanaganr/riverguide.html]
