[ About The Woman in The Water ]
At the heart of the classic novel Rebecca lies a mystery …
Pearl Day has always lived in the background – companion to her childhood friend, the dazzling and unpredictable Lady Eleanor Nicholson. Their bond was forged at Alderleigh, Eleanor’s crumbling country estate, but now they share a sleek London home where Eleanor’s life of indulgence is spiralling into chaos.
When Eleanor shoots her lover in a drunken rage, Pearl becomes the key witness in a scandalous murder trial. But she knows more than she’s revealed – and with Eleanor behind bars, she sees a chance to escape her quiet desperation. Their connection, once rooted in friendship, is now warped by grief, envy and power. And Eleanor’s reach is long.
Set between 1930s London and the windswept Cornwall coast, this taut, gothic thriller dares to answer one of literature’s abiding questions: in Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, who is the woman in the water?
[ My Review ]
The Woman in the Water by Henrietta McKervey published March 5th with Hachette Ireland and is described as a ‘twisty, atmospheric thriller’.
Inspired by Daphne du Maurier’s classic novel Rebecca, Henrietta McKervey provides the reader with a very imaginative narrative as she unearths the identity of the woman buried as Rebecca in the de Winter family crypt. Setting her novel against the backdrop of Edward VIII’s abdication in 1936 adds an extra layer of authenticity and credibiity to the story.
‘I have read Rebecca many times and always wondered as to the identity of the body taken from the sea that Maxim de Winter claims, two months after her disappearance, is that of his missing wife. This body is then laid to rest in the de Winter family crypt. A year later, Rebecca de Winter’s body is recovered from the cabin of her yacht by divers investigating a wreck nearby. When Rebecca’s body is found, there is no mention of where the misidentified stranger’s disinterred corpse will be moved to. The woman disappears from the narrative, a mystery unsolved. I found myself thinking often about this poor unclaimed creature and imagining what her story might have been.‘
– Henrietta McKervey
Pearl Day and Lady Eleanor Nicholson are old childhood friends, After their paths diverged many years previously, both have lived very different lives. Pearl struggled to stay afloat and experienced some difficult times while Eleanor lived quite a bohemian lifestyle of partying and excess. When a companionship position became vacant with her old friend, Pearl accepted the role. Pearl was very much aware of Eleanor’s wild reputation, but this knowledge also stood to her as she managed Eleanor’s day-to-day demands. Eleanor was an embarrassment to her parents. Being financially dependent on them, following the collapse of her marriage, Eleanor seemed to continuously disregard their requests, living a chaotic debauched lifestyle while often considering herself the wronged party.
In her younger years, Pearl had been very close to Eleanor’s family, spending much of her youth at Alderleigh, Eleanor’s family’s country residence. A tragedy in the Nicholson family ripped their world apart and Pearl, often with great clarity, thinks back to the days before this incident and the wonderful life she had planned for herself. But now Pearl is more practical and knows that working with Eleanor will allow her some freedom while also giving her the opportunity to make a better future for herself.
When Pearl is awoken late one night to a scream she discovers Eleanor in shock with blood on her hands and her lover in a heap, dead on the floor. When the police arrive on the scene, Pearl is soon identified as a key witness and the relationship between the two friends alters immediately. With Eleanor jailed until the trial, Pearl is terrified of what her future holds. Pearl was a confidante of Eleanor so she was very much aware of the social circles Eleanor navigated in but now Pearl carries a secret, one that could save her or get her into serious trouble. Pearl is confused about the correct course of action but soon the decision is taken out of her hands.
Eleanor’s trial is instantly picked up by the media, with journalists scavenging for any titbit of information they can get their greedy hands on. Pearl feels trapped in London so when an opportunity opens up for her to leave town she grabs it. With high stakes and lots of seedy characters, Pearl is up against it. Eleanor Nicholson may have been a lady, but her high-jinx over the years put her in the path of some very dubious characters, all out for themselves, all looking for a fast buck. Can Pearl ever escape to the life she dreams?
As the story unfolds, Henrietta McKervey takes the reader from London to Cornwall, with a mix of colourful characters and plenty of twists. However, I wouldn’t describe The Woman in the Water as a gothic thriller but more of an Agatha Christie style murder mystery. Paying homage to Rebecca (the novel) with this intriguing backstory is a fun and enjoyable approach to a literary conundrum. With a highly original inspirational concept at its core, The Woman in the Water is pure escapism, a good old-fashioned romp of a tale. Fanciful and highly entertaining.
[ Thank you to Hachette Ireland for a copy of The Woman in the Water in exchange for my honest review ]
[ Bio ]
Henrietta McKervey is the author of the acclaimed novels What Becomes of Us, The Heart of Everything, Violet Hill and A Talented Man. She has a Hennessy First Fiction Award and won the inaugural UCD Maeve Binchy Travel Award. Her Travel Award project, an exploration of the 31 Sea Areas of the Shipping Forecast, featured on BBC Radio 4.
She has programmed the ECHOES festival and International Literature Festival Dublin, and contributes to the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Independent and the Brendan O’Connor show on RTÉ Radio 1.
