Reservoir

by Livi Michael

At the International Conference Centre in Geneva, Hannah Rossier, formerly Annie Price, comes face to face with Neville Weir, someone from her childhood whom she never expected, or wanted, to meet again. As Neville's reasons for attending the conference become clear, the dark waters of Hannah's past start to rise. Hannah is a psychotherapist, with a specialist interest in memory and how connections are made between past and present. She has reinvented herself successfully, moving from a small northern town in England to Lucerne, Switzerland, with her husband, Thibaut.
Nobody, not even Hannah, knows the full truth about herself. Her 'memories' consist of glimpses of the place where she played in childhood, known simply as 'The Wild'. Over the three days of the conference she has to decide whether she can avoid Neville, or whether she should submit to an encounter with him and with her past. And in her keynote lecture about the neuroscience of memory, how much to conceal or reveal. But can her specialism save her from drowning?

248 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 15, 2023

Reviews

[Natalie M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Psychological perpetuity.

The events in the novel are retold and relived over the three days of a conference. Professor Hannah Rossier comes face-to-face with a childhood neighbour Dr Neville Weir at this conference in Geneva.

Memories are relived, experiences reexamined and the accuracy of recall questioned. Embedded in this unfolding story is a backdrop of moral, social, cultural examination of age of culpability for children.

Thought provoking, a little long winded but overall intellectually challenging.

[Jacqui · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every month this year, I’m trying to read at least one book from an author who I’m not familiar with, or an author who doesn’t have a large Goodreads following. Livi Michael, who I have since read online, is an award winning author, is my February read. I’m so glad I stumbled across this one. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Sharon Rimmelzwaan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reservoir is a tense psychological thriller from an author who, before this book, was unknown to me. Now, after reading this, I am definitely going to read anything she has written.

It's a very immersive and mesmerising story from the start. I had questions just from reading the blurb of Reservoir. I wanted my questions answering as soon as I possibly could.

Hannah, the main character, is an intriguing woman. On one hand, a woman who helps others as a psychotherapist. On the other hand, she has a past that even she only remembers bits of. Then there is Neville, it's clear, he has his own agenda, but what that is, Hannah clearly wants to avoid.

Reservoir brings the questions of how to deal with a past that is painful. It's so well written by Livi Michael. I could feel every emotion playing out in this story. Hannah's emotions almost emanate from the pages.
It's superbly written with vividly detailed characters. Hannah felt like she was so multi layered that it felt like I was peeling away layer upon layer.

This was a book I didn't realise I needed to read until I read it. I found myself thinking about it when I wasn't reading it and when I finished it, I was still thinking about it. Reservoir is a book that raises questions I have never even had to consider. A truly tense, well paced, and intriguing read!
Thanks to Helen Richardson PR and Salt Publishing for the gifted book in exchange for a honest review for the tour.

[A J HOOPER · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exceptionally constructed and informed psychological thriller, though not a thriller in the sense you are waiting for a murder or threat. The story takes places at a psychological conference in Geneva. Professor Hannah Rossier who is one of the speakers comes face to face with someone she had resolutely forgotten; someone who appears to have travelled all the way from New Zealand to see her again.
Neville was one of the children from her past, someone implicated in the aftermath of a terrible accident. He seems to want to accuse her of something and Hannah is scared, almost into regressing to the elective mute state she had once had as a child.
The main part of the book consists of various psychological justifications for her childhood behaviour. This includes confrontations with Neville but, more interestingly, through opening up to her international colleagues at lectures and an open forum. Her colleagues also give some fascinating papers on childhood development that include the impact of trauma to the brain.
Was Hannah in some way to blame for the third child's drowning? She is not even sure herself. But the acts of opening up to her colleagues go a long way to letting her feel free for the first time ever.
As Thibaut, her husband, drives her home afterwards she recounts all this. And we are left at the end with a disturbing image. And doubt. Finding blame in the context of childhood? Very thought provoking. The neuro and anthropological research is flawless and the arguments for and against childhood consciousness brilliant. Made me think very hard about my own childhood.

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

At an international conference in Geneva, psychotherapist Hannah Rossier, formerly Annie Price, encounters Neville Weir, a haunting figure from her past, forcing her to confront buried memories from her childhood. This novel delves into the murky waters of personal history and identity, making it a compelling read for fans of intricate psychological dramas.
It explores memory, trauma, and the past’s relentless grip on the present. Hannah, who has reinvented herself from her childhood identity as Annie Price, faces the terrifying prospect of confronting Neville Weir, a figure from her past she hoped never to see again. The novel masterfully navigates the tension between what we choose to remember and what we must forget to survive.
If you enjoy psychological thrillers with a literary twist, that probes deep into the human psyche and appreciate rich, character-driven narratives, this one is for you. Whether you're curled up on a rainy day or looking for a gripping story to get lost in, "Reservoir" won't disappoint.

[Andrew Field · Rating 4 out of 5]

Childhood criminal culpability explored academically. Two guest speakers at a three-day conference in Geneva revisit a forty-year old reservoir drowning of a young girl in northern England. They were both at the scene of the tragedy, but have very different memories. The duo’s philosophical and psychotherapy arguments to absolve themselves and their own reactions reminds me of Coetzee’s Disgrace and Gordimer’s The House Gun, proof Livi’s keeping very good company.

[Hayley Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have enjoyed many Livi Michael books before, however, while 'Reservoir' was well written, it felt a little slow and creaky, lacking the sharp observations of previous novels such as Under A Thin Moon and All The Dark Air.
Not my favourite, but still a decent story, and I will obviously look out for future works.

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personal and professional lives collide in Reservoir! Hannah Rossier is now an eminent psychotherapist. Attending a conference in Geneva, she unexpectedly runs into someone from her very traumatic past there. After some forty years, after reinventing herself and having thought her past was very much in her past, the presence of Neville at this conference has her being drawn back into a childhood she’s spent her whole life escaping from. Will she be made to confront a past she doesn’t want to confront?

[Romany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the setting of this novel: a conference.

[Lisa M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling - not only is this a novel full of suspense, emotionally vivid descriptions of people and of places but it also raises issues of interest relating to neuroscience, in particular the unreliability of memory and the way past events have the ability to haunt and influence way into the future