New Island Books Scoops Visceral Debut THE GRATEFUL WATER by JULIANA ADELMAN.
New Island Books has acquired THE GRATEFUL WATER, the riveting debut 19th-century detective novel by historian and writer JULIANA ADELMAN. Set over the scorching summer of 1866 in Dublin’s inner city, an ambitious detective’s search for the truth brings him into contact with an ensemble of characters seeking refuge or forgiveness from the River Liffey on their doorsteps.
AOIFE K. WALSH, commissioning editor, and MARIEL DEEGAN, acting managing director at New Island, acquired English-language, Ireland, UK and Commonwealth (ex-Canada) rights from Imogen Morrell at Greene & Heaton (London). THE GRATEFUL WATER will be published by New Island in May 2024.
About: THE GRATEFUL WATER is The Knick meets The Gilded Age via A Touch of Frost, blending history, mystery and human drama in a vivid portrait of 1860s Dublin, a city teaming with people, animals, Fenians and opportunity.
When a young butcher, Denis Doyle, spots a strange shape on the banks of the River Liffey in the hot summer of 1866, the city of Dublin is gripped by a grimy case of infanticide. Detective Martin Peakin – an amateur entomologist, full of regret for his failed engagement and perpetually gastro-challenged – sets off in search of the murderer, eager to impress his superiors and gain a social climb along the way.
But, as Peakin draws closer, he begins to realise that not all is as it seems – Denis’ wife, Rose, is noticeably skittish and withdrawn; the newly formed Society for the Protection of Infant Life is accusing a local woman, Kitty, of ‘baby farming’; and Eliza, the sex worker Peakin believes he loved, has been missing these past few weeks. And what about the rumours that surround the young ward, Anne, seen stepping out with a young doctor and living in the same grand house where Rose happens to work?
The river binds these hidden and half-known Dubliners together, but who will it divide in the end? And will Peakin actually solve this most shocking, ordinary, desperate crime?
Comments
JULIANA ADELMAN on the reason behind writing THE GRATEFUL WATER, ‘I've written this book to try to give voice to some things I feel to be true, but cannot prove, about ordinary Dubliners in the nineteenth century. That's the alchemy of historical fiction, and really of all fiction: making us feel empathy for experiences we've never had and lives we've never lived.’
AOIFE K. WALSH on acquiring Juliana’s debut novel: ‘This is Dublin like you’ve never seen, smelled or touched before. We knew Juliana would have the historical detail down, but it is her conjuring of this sweltering mystery – sticky with blood and secrets and guilt – that had us sucked in right until the last page.’
JULIANA ADELMAN is a historian and a writer. She lectures in history at Dublin City University where she teaches courses in the history of science, medicine and the environment. Her most recent non-fiction book is Civilised by Beasts (Manchester University Press, 2021), a portrait of 19th-century Dublin that focuses on the importance of animals in urban life. Born in Boston, she lives in Dublin with her husband, two sons and two cats.
NEW ISLAND acknowledges the financial support of The Arts Council (of Ireland) in publishing this book.