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Kiran Dass has compiled a list of water-themed reads
TO THE RIVER
by Olivia Laing
“Unlike a lake or sea, a river has a destination and there is something about the certainty with which it travels that makes it very soothing, particularly for those who’ve lost faith in where they’re headed,” writes Olivia Laing, looking at the role rivers play in people’s lives. Skillfully bringing together folklore, mythology, natural history, nature writing, memoir, biography and literary history, this book charts Laing’s journey as she set out to walk the banks of the River Ouse in Sussex, where Virginia Woolf famously drowned more than 60 years earlier. Eloquent and allusive, this is a dreamy travelogue that offers insight into an enchanting river, from source to sea.
OCEAN: TALES OF DISCOVERY AND ENCOUNTER THAT DEFINED NEW ZEALAND
by Sarah Ell
New Zealand is a maritime nation and we have an inextricable link to the ocean that surrounds us. This beautifully illustrated tome explores Aotearoa’s epic aquatic history from the arrival of the first waka to our shores, to the gloss and prestige of the America’s Cup race. Looking at navigation and how the first explorers came here and the industries that subsequently emerged, recreation and environmental concerns, Sarah Ell also weaves in lively personal stories and interviews with a colourful variety of people from yacht designers to sailors.
SWIM: A YEAR OF SWIMMING OUTDOORS IN NEW ZEALAND
by Annette Lees
From brave swims, gentle swims, urban swims and night swims, to forbidden swims, freezing cold swims and endurance swims — New Zealanders just love swimming. In this evocative celebration of gliding through and splashing around in watery environs, Annette Lees writes of how she made a commitment to swim outdoors every single day one summer, and was so addicted to the thrill of the swim that she just kept going, through autumn and winter. Lees swam her way through rivers, lakes, ponds, seas, estuaries, wetlands, springs and outdoor lido pools; and reckons “you never swim in the same river twice”.
THE STRANGE LAST VOYAGE OF DONALD CROWHURST
by Nicholas Tomalin
The gripping true story of Donald Crowhurst who in 1968 embarked on a race to single-handedly circumnavigate the world solo by boat. With little sailing experience and an unfinished, unseaworthy vessel, Crowhurst soon panicked about being unable to finish the race. He falsified his location through radio messages so those on shore following the progress of the contestants were tricked into thinking he was winning. Eight months after he set off, his boat was found drifting and his body was never found. A sensational story of delusion and ambition, which was last year released as a film, starring Colin Firth as Crowhurst, titled Mercy.
SWIMMING HOME
by Deborah Levy
The perfect languid novel for a balmy long weekend read. Joe, an ageing poet and his war reporter wife Isabel are joined on holiday at a villa in the hills above Nice by their friends Mitchell and Laura who run a business selling primitive weaponry and expensive African jewellery. One sun-drenched afternoon they see a naked woman emerge from their swimming pool. She is Kitty Finch, an enchanting, unstable and mysterious botanist. The empathetic Isabel invites Kitty to stay with the holidaying couples. Taut and disquieting, this beautifully plotted slim novel, set around the pool, has a sense of unease that pulls you along.