Floodline

by Kathryn Heyman

When the city of Horneville is destroyed by a flood on the eve of a huge gay mardis gras, Mikey Brown - the feisty, sexy and dynamic host of a Christian shopping channel - knows exactly what she needs to do. Taking her sons with her, she sets out on a grand mercy mission. The journey is more than a flood clean-up for Mikey - she wants to save the city and teach the godless inhabitants a lesson. Her husband was lost to her after attempting to 'mission' to this same festival and this is her chance to lay the past to rest. Mustard - an enthusiastic, ebullient, 8 year old - doesn't believe his father is dead. In fact, he is determined to find him and knows that Horneville is the place to start looking. If anyone can bring him back, Mustard can.

Down in the city, the floodwater surrounding the Horneville City Hospital is steadily rising, turning what has been a place of refuge into a disaster zone. Deep in the hospital chaos, Nurse Gina Donaldson is forced to make a life and death decision with shattering repercussions.

The arrival of Mikey's little troupe helps Gina find hope in the most unlikely places. Both Mikey and Gina must stare down their pasts in order to find salvation, but will they have the courage?

Genres: Fiction, Ebooks

297 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2013

About the author

Kathryn Heyman is the author of six novels including the forthcoming Storm and Grace (Allen and Unwin, Feb 2017), described by British writer Jill Dawson as "Dark, sexy, haunting...timely and important.." Her earlier works are The Breaking ( Orion, London, 1997), Keep Your Hands on the Wheel (Orion, 1999), The Accomplice (Hodder, London, 2003), Captain Starlight's Apprentice (Hodder, 2006) and Floodline (Allen and Unwin, 2013). She is also a playwright for theatre and radio and director of the Australian Writers Mentoring Program. Her short stories have appeared in a number of collections and also on radio. Heyman's writing has been compared with that of Joseph Conrad, Angela Carter, Peter Carey and Kate Grenville.

Kathryn's first novel, The Breaking was shortlisted for the Stakis Award for the Scottish Writer of the Year and longlisted for the Orange Prize. Other awards include an Arts Council of England Writers Award, the Wingate and the Southern Arts Awards, and nominations for the Edinburgh Fringe Critics’ Awards, the Kibble Prize, and the West Australian Premier’s Book Awards.

Kathryn Heyman’s several plays for BBC radio include Far Country and Moonlite’s Boy , inspired by the life of bushranger Captain Moonlite. Two of her novels have been adapted for BBC radio: Keep Your Hands on the Wheel as a play and ,Captain Starlight’s Apprentice as a five part dramatic serial.

Reviews

[gemsbooknook Geramie Kate Barker · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘When the city of Horneville is destroyed by a flood on the eve of a huge gay mardis gras, Mikey Brown – the feisty, sexy and dynamic host of a Christian shopping channel – knows exactly what she needs to do. Taking her sons with her, she sets out on a grand mercy mission. The journey is more than a flood clean-up for Mikey – she wants to save the city and teach the godless inhabitants a lesson. Her husband was lost to her after attempting to ‘mission’ to this same festival and this is her chance to lay the past to rest. Mustard – an enthusiastic, ebullient, 8-year-old – doesn’t believe his father is dead. In fact, he is determined to find him and knows that Horneville is the place to start looking. If anyone can bring him back, Mustard can.
Down in the city, the floodwater surrounding the Horneville City Hospital is steadily rising, turning what has been a place of refuge into a disaster zone. Deep in the hospital chaos, Nurse Gina Donaldson is forced to make a life and death decision with shattering repercussions.
The arrival of Mikey’s little troupe helps Gina find hope in the most unlikely places. Both Mikey and Gina must stare down their pasts in order to find salvation, but will they have the courage?’
This book was absolutely fantastic.
This book captivated me from the very first page and I didn’t want it to end.
Kathryn Heyman’s writing is so lyrical and emotive, I found myself completely engrossed in this story and I connected with it so emotionally that I had to remind myself that I wasnt actually living these events.
The amazing characters in this book were well-developed, three-dimensional and easy to relate to. I loved watch each of the characters grow and change as they faced different hardships throughout the story. What made these character so interesting was they were deeply flawed and utterly human.
I am usually not a massive fan of stories told from dual perspective but I absolutly loved it in this book. The fact that the characters were experience two different circumstances and had completely different lives and background made for a truly wonderful reading experience.
The story itself was equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking. The fact that the story is rooted in fact and could actually happen made reading it compelling. I wanted to see how these stories ended and how each character changed due to what they had experienced.
The ending of this book was perfect. It wasnt what I expected but once I had finished the book I realised it was the perfect ending to such an amazing story.
I honestly don’t have a bad word to say about this book.
Floodline by Kathryn Heyman is a book that everyone should read at least once in their life.

Geramie Kate Barker
gemsbooknook.wordpress.com

[Shelleyrae at Book'd Out · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novel about faith, family, hope and salvation, Floodline is Kathryn Heyman's fifth novel.

The dual narrative examines the reactions of two women to a devastating flood in the fictional town of Horneville, not unlike those that have ravaged New Orleans and North Queensland. Mikey Brown sees the crisis as an opportunity to serve her church by ferrying care packages to the stricken city and minister to its sinful inhabitants in their time of need. With her sons, Talent and Mustard, in tow Mikey drives into the heart of the relief effort only to discover that the town she has come to save may instead offer her the miracle of salvation.
Nurse Gina Donaldson is on duty at Horneville's largest hospital when the flood strikes. Trapped by rising floodwater Gina administers care to her patients as best as she able amidst the chaos, but as supplies and services dwindle, Gina is forced to admit that it will not be enough to save them all.

In the midst of the crisis the faith of both women is tested. Mikey is forced to confront her own past failings, especially with regards to her late husband, and the way in which she has used NuDay to avoid facing them. Meanwhile Gina discovers that she is not as unaffected by her patients as she prides herself to be when she is expected to help determine who will survive, and who will not. Deftly, Heyman explores how these women redefine who they are and what they believe in as they discover what they are capable of. Though I found Gina's experiences at the hospital more compelling than Mikey's journey, both characters are interesting and well drawn.

Also exploring themes such as tolerance, forgiveness and redemption, Floodline is a well crafted and affecting novel.

[Velma]

After an exchange on Twitter with the author about her amusing (and justified) response to the London Review of Books concerning her feelings about their shameful gender inequity stance (read it at Salon here), she offered to send me a copy of the ebook.

[Wai Chim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rich, lyrical, relevant and poignant. Kathryn Heyman has woven a colourful tapestry of haunting characters that have been brought together by catastrophe. The journey of the well-intentioned Brown family is beautifully told and touches on so many truths that affect our modern existence.

[Lili · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book filled with beautiful writing, based upon a simple premise - the reactions of two women to a devastating flood - but developing the characters so well. Has some really lovely ideas about faith, family and love. It was surprisingly wonderful.

[Jacqui Lademann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story of faith, hope and family will creep up and overwhelm you. This is one to make you think.

http://wp.me/p20PAS-ot

[Culture Street · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://culturestreet.com/post/floodli...

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and the further into the story I got the more invested I became in the characters. Such a different story and setting yet I could visualise it all. I was not surprised by the conclusion that sometimes you can place your faith in completely the wrong people and or the wrong things. I would have liked to have seen a reunion of Mikey and Mustard and Gina and her Dad however it did not take anything away from the overall impact of the story for me.

[Leonie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The characters from this book will stay with me for a long time. I can’t think of any greater praise. The story reminds me, that even if you don’t believe in God, faith can be found in the most unexpected moments and places.

[Sharon Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tricky to score. I enjoyed this. However it was too melodramatic and the 2 story lines were not sufficiently explored. I could simply have read them as separate stories in particular Gina's experience could have done with more time. Too many peripheral characters that were not drawn in enough detail.

[Ian Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

The genre seemed at first a satirical blend of a Hollywood disaster movie with a Deep Southern evangelical morality play - except that the muddle-headed self-thwarting characters and the emotional troubles generated by their poignantly dysfunctional family relationships soon compelled me not only to believe in them but also to want the best for them.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first word on the back of the book is "funny" - this book is not funny. It's good, a bit disturbing, sad - definitely not funny. There are some great, densely visceral descriptions in here and some stuff where I wasn't sure if it was meant to be taking the piss or not. All in all, I liked it and was glad to have read it.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would make an excellent movie.

[Georgie Pilgrim · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was apparently set in Australia. In my mind it was in America. It ended without closure.

[Rachelle]

Enjoyed her piece in SMH