Memory of Water [Excerpt only]

by Emmi Itäranta

With the lyricism of Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, and the world building brilliance of Atwood, Emmi Itäranta’s effortless and poignant debut novel is a coming of age story full of emotional drama and wonderment.

Some secrets demand betrayal.

'You’re seventeen, and of age now, and therefore old enough to understand what I’m going to tell you,’ my father said. ‘This place doesn’t exist.’

‘I’ll remember,’ I told him, but didn’t realise until later what kind of promise I had made.

When Noria Kaitio reaches her seventeenth birthday, she is entrusted with the secret of a freshwater spring hidden deep within the caves near her small rural village. Its preservation has been the responsibility of her family for generations.

Apprenticed to her father, one of the last true tea masters, when Noria takes possession of the knowledge, she become much more than the guardian of ancestral treasure; soon, she will hold the fate of everyone she loves in her hands.

376 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 17, 2014

Reviews

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting but frustrating

Promised a lot but left so many questions unanswered. What was the secret of the Jansson expedition? What was Taro’s motivation? The world depicted was quite vivid, but the characters were ultimately a bit thin….