An engrossing debut from a writer to watch * Kirkus Reviews * Quietly powerful prose and carefully nuanced description.

A very suspenseful tale, one that will keep readers up shivering in the heat of an August night * USA Today * DROWNING RUTH is a complex and rewarding debut * Anita Shreve *Ī riveting first novel. 'This is a book that really ought not to be missed' Sentinel Sunday * Sentinel Sunday *Ī strong sense of portent and unusually vivid characters distinguish this mesmerizing first novel about horrifying family secrets and nearly annihilating guilt. She gives it the extra wisdom that marks DROWNING RUTH as the chilling, precociously good start to a bright new novelist's career * New York Times * In assured last stroke, Ms Schwarz affirms the psychological underpinnings of a book that would have worked page-turningly well as a straightforward mystery alone. 'Austere, tense, painful and rewarding, this book keeps you reading until the vertebrae sulk - and the aftertaste has the bitterness of a linctus whose sharpness conveys its benefit' Frank Delaney * Frank Delaney * 'Assured and dense debut.Schwarz's real achievement is in matching the complexities of her plot with vivid characters' The Scotsman * The Scotsman * 'A compelling mystery' The Times * Play (The Times) * 'A gripping read' Choice magazine * Choice * Publisher: Headline Publishing Group ISBN: 9780747264651 Number of pages: 288 Weight: 199 g Dimensions: 197 x 153 x 18 mm MEDIA REVIEWS A VERY SUSPENSEFUL TALE, ONE THAT WILL KEEP READERS UP SHIVERING IN THE NIGHT 'A strong sense of portent and unusually vivid characters distinguish this mesmerizing first novel about horrifying family secrets. STRONG CHARACTERS AND A PLOT LONG ON TENSION AND SURPRISES' The narrative gradually and tantalizingly reveals the dark family secrets and the unsettling discoveries that lead to the truth of what actually happened the night of the drowning'

The shock of her death dramatically changes the lives of her daughter, troubled sister, and husband. In the winter of 1919, a young mother named Mathilda Neumann drowns beneath the ice of a rural Wisconsin lake. CHILLING, PRECOCIOUSLY GOOD START TO A BRIGHT NEW NOVELIST'S CAREER'

Drowning ruth