A prize-winning poet explores the secrets and strivings of a small English village in this debut novel of "precise, lyrical prose" ( Publishers Weekly). Essex, England, 1970s. The day Tom Hepple returns to the village of Allnorthover, he stops at the local reservoir, beneath which lies his childhood home. Looking for a sign, he sees seventeen-year-old Mary George—who appears to be walking on water. Mary knows her life is far from miraculous, but as she contends with family and dating, navigating town festivals and raves shows, Tom becomes increasingly obsessed. Meanwhile, the small, orderly world of Allnorthover is being disrupted by power cuts, petrol shortages, and drought. The brash noise of punk rock is infiltrating the village hall, and London is getting closer all the time. As buried secrets begin to surface, Mary George is caught up in old dramas and new changes she struggles to comprehend. The T.S. Eliot Prize-winning poet Lavinia Greenlaw both recalls and subverts the traditions of nineteenth-century literature in this debut novel of family, community and the meaning of inheritance.
