The Polite Act of Drowning
by Charleen Hurtubise
Description
An intense, atmospheric coming-of-age story set in the 1980s among the lakes of Michigan, touching on interconnected themes of trauma, sexual identity, mental health and complicated relationships between women. The drowning of a teenage girl from the city causes ripples in the town of Kettle Lake, but for most, the water settles quickly. Not so for 15-year-old Joanne Kennedy, who thinks she may have been the last to see the girl alive. Lonely and isolated, Joanne struggles to understand her own fascination with the drowned girl, as the threads of her family’s life begin to unravel over the course of that summer.
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Rights Information
Rights available:
UK, Ireland and Commonwealth, adaptation (brian@storylineagency.com)
US & Canadian Rights, translation: Sharon Bowers, Folio Management (Sharon@foliolit.com)
Endorsements
“Beautiful and captivating, lyrical and sensuous, a precise and faithful evocation of the tumult and trauma of family life. Charleen Hurtubise writes with such tenderness and grace. Her prose is beautiful: lucid and sparkling and wonderfully natural. What a pleasure this story is to read, one that will stay with me for a long time.” – Twice Booker-longlisted author Donal Ryan
“Charleen Hurtubise is a gifted storyteller. The vivid world of Kettle Lake, its natural beauties, its characters and its secrets, comes alive in this lyrical, evocative novel. Hurtubise’s writing is skilful, compelling, mesmeric.” – Lia Mills, author of Fallen
“A luminous and gripping portrait of a teenage girl coming of age in a small lakeshore community. Filled with colourful, complicated characters and brimming with heartbreak, love, and redemption, it is an exquisite debut from a powerful storyteller.” – Michelle Gallen, author of Big Girl, Small Town
“An enthralling read, heart-rending, immersive and beautifully written. I was totally invested in the lives of Joanne and her family, all painted with such compassion and humanity. It’s a powerful portrayal of life inside a family ruled by secrets.” – Danielle McLaughlin, author of Dinosaurs on Other Planets
Author Biography
Charleen Hurtubise is a Dublin-based writer originally from Michigan. Her short fiction, essays and poetry have appeared in various publications. Her work currently features in Poetry Jukebox’s Hungering curation running simultaneously in Dublin, Belfast and Paris. She holds an MFA Creative Writing from University College Dublin (UCD) where she has also facilitated creative writing modules.
Copyright Information
Copyright (c) Charleen Hurtubise 2020
Storyline Literary Agency
Based in Ireland, Storyline Literary Agency was set up in 2019 by Brian Langan, a former editor at Penguin Random House, with the aim of disovering and nurturing the very best in new and emerging literary talent, and finding the ideal publishers for our clients. Our primary focus is on literary and genre fiction, and narrative non-fiction. Recent publishing deals include Iron Annie by Luke Cassidy (Bloomsbury, September 2021); Line by Niall Bourke (Tramp Press, spring 2021); and Fallen by Mel O'Doherty (Bluemoose Books, June 2021).
View all titlesBibliographic Information
- Orginal LanguageEnglish
- ReadershipGeneral
- Publish StatusUnpublished
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