The Drowning Girl

For the Roy Lichtenstein painting, see Drowning Girl.
The Drowning Girl: A Memoir

Cover of 2012 Penguin paperback
Author Caitlín R. Kiernan
Country United States
Language English
Genre Science fiction/dark fantasy
Publisher Roc Books (Penguin)
Publication date
 6 March 2012 (2012-03-06)
Media type Paperback
Pages 352
Awards James Tiptree, Jr. Award (won)
Bram Stoker Award for Novel (won)
Nebula Award for Best Novel (nom.)
Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel (finalist)
Shirley Jackson Award (nom.)
Mythopoeic Award (nom.)
ISBN 9780451464163
Preceded by The Red Tree (2009)
Followed by Blood Oranges (2013)

The Drowning Girl: A Memoir is a 2012 novel by Caitlín R. Kiernan, set in Providence, Rhode Island.[1] The story's protagonist and unreliable narrator, India Morgan Phelps (also known as Imp), is a schizophrenic.[2]

It has been described as an "eerie masterpiece of literary horror and dark fantasy" containing elements of magical realism.[3] It has also been described as semi-autobiographical.[4] The novel has been translated into a number of languages, including French, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian, and Turkish.

Synopsis

The Drowning Girl follows the story of India Morgan Phelps, an unreliable narrator struggling with mental illness. Early in the novel, she befriends her eventual roommate and lover, a transgender woman named Abalyn. India works at an antique store, but she is also a painter and a writer. The entirety of the novel is written as a fictionalized memoir.

One night, India picks up a hitchhiker named Eva Canning, whom she finds stranded and naked on the side of the road, although India is unable to pinpoint when or how the encounter took place. Eva stays with India only for a short while before the mysterious woman takes off on her own, sparking India's obsessive investigation into Canning's past.

Over time, India begins to lose her grasp on what is real and what isn't, and her relationship with Abalyn rapidly deteriorates. As a result of her inability to tell fact from fiction, her growing obsession with Eva Canning, and Abalyn's eventual break-up with her, India suffers a mental breakdown. India stops taking her medication, stops eating, and begins to paint and write obsessively until Abalyn finds her half-dead in her apartment.

With the help of Abalyn, India discovers that Eva Canning's mother was part of a cult who committed mass suicide by walking into the sea some years prior, and that Eva was the only survivor. India believes that Eva Canning might be a ghost or a sea-dwelling creature in a human disguise, but the story is vague as to whether India actually encounters any supernatural phenomena.

India eventually does meet Eva Canning, and the two have a bizarre sexual encounter during which Canning appears to morph into a fish-like creature. Eva confesses to India that she wishes to go to the sea to be with her mother, which India obliges by taking her to the beach, at which point Eva walks into the water and disappears.

Eventually, some female human remains are discovered inside the body of a shark.

Awards

Won

Nominated

References

  1. ↑ Elizabeth Bear (January 13, 2012), "The Drowning Girl review", Elizabeth Bear blog
  2. ↑ Downs, Alison (March 1, 2012), "The Drowning Girl", The Booklist 108 (13): 53(subscription required)
  3. ↑ Cassada, Jackie (March 15, 2012), "Science Fiction/Fantasy, March 15, 2012", Library Journal 137 (5), retrieved 2013-05-13
  4. ↑ Elizabeth Donovan (February 22, 2012), Rhode Island Voices: Caitlin Kiernan, Kingstown, Rhode Island: North Kingstown Free Library, retrieved 2013-05-13
  5. ↑ 2012 Tiptree Award Winner announced, James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award Council, retrieved 2013-05-13
  6. ↑ 2012 Nebula Awards Nominees Announced, SFWA, February 20, 2013
  7. ↑ 2013 Locus Awards Finalists, Locus Science Fiction Foundation, retrieved 2013-05-13
  8. ↑ Nominees for the 2012 Shirley Jackson Awards, Shirley Jackson Awards, May 2013, retrieved 2013-05-13
  9. ↑ 2013 Mythopoeic Award Finalists Announced, Mythopoeic Society, May 14, 2013, retrieved 2013-05-18
  10. ↑ 2013 World Fantasy Award Nominees, World Fantasy Board, 2013, retrieved 2013-09-10
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