Water Lily
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Runa is a young Japanese high school teacher leaving the country to avoid the scandal she has created by sleeping with one of her students. She steals her sister’s passport and boards the ferry to Shanghai. Then, careful to impersonate her sister, she is quiet, docile and discreet...
Meanwhile, on the last stretch of a fraught and tiring mission to find a wife, an Englishman also boards the ferry. Rebuffed in Tokyo, Ralph hopes that on the Chinese mainland he will meet a gentle, beautiful girl to return home with.
When these two meet, suppressing at first their secrets and obsessions on this long and claustrophobic journey, we enter a desolate, emotional landscape as Runa’s journey begins to turn into a surreal and terrifying nightmare...
It is evident from her first two novels that Susanna Jones has a penchant for subversion. Not only does she use her characters to explore the dynamics of subversive behaviour, she also subverts the notion of genre fiction and – along with it – the expectations of readers. Is she a crime writer, a mystery writer, or a ‘literary’ novelist? The Literary Review
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'The most remarkable thing about this excellent novel is its balance...episodes that at first seem innocent become loaded with dark significance. The meeting of cultures has a fascinating authenticity, and the subtle narrative leads to a mesmerising finale'. Daily Mail
'Novels of psychological suspense hang on the delicacy of the writer's touch - that feathery brush - stroke that darkens a mood, heightens an action and brings a revealing word to a character's lips - and Susanna Jones has the touch...this meticulous stylist sets her alienated characters adrift in modern-day Japan and in spare, nuanced prose gently leads them into disaster'. New York Times
'This beautifully written and disturbing novel is filled with a sense of impending tragedy, as the personalities are developed and their thoughts revealed'. Sunday Telegraph
'Jones writes touchingly and convincingly...vividly evoking Runa's despair as her journey turns to nightmare'. Easy Living
'Jones's calm, measured prose spares us the details to good effect...cool, unfussy and with a twist in every tale'. Independent on Sunday