LoveReading4Kids Says
LoveReading4Kids Says
Polly and her brother Joel live in Brighton in 2032 – when it is too hot to go out for vast parts of the day, and the government has to issue alarms to keep people indoors and out of danger. After a swim at midnight – that goes very wrong – the two are sent away to stay with Aunt Jessie – who lives on the shores of Truthwater Lake – a vast reservoir that has been dried up by the lack of rain, and the heat.
Whilst at the lake Polly accidentally ends up in 1952 – before the village under the lake was flooded to make the reservoir. She experiences the very different life of a village that no longer exists, the social mores of the time and the privations that existed in 1952 (being so close to WWII). Whilst she can’t talk to Joel about it, she learns a great deal about determination, friendship, and channel swimming!
This is a change of style for Carroll, as she is known as the Queen of Historical Fiction – but here we have a look to the future through the lens of the past. The story is full of friendship as well as the vitally important message that we should tread lightly on the earth to preserve it for the future.
Fans of Emma Carroll will lap this up – and, by taking a slightly different tack, I hope it will bring lots of new readers to her books. A thought provoking read.
Tricia Adams
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About
The Tale of Truthwater Lake Synopsis
On one side of the underwater street is the remains of a house . . . It's beautiful here, and eerie, a lost kingdom, a ghost village . . .
It's the near-future and Britain is having yet another heatwave. Of course, the government have put in the normal curfews for this kind of weather, and shops are forced to shut again. For Polly, it's the sort of heat that makes her do wild, out-of-character things just to cool down. Like face her fear of deepwater. Essential when she and her brother have been sent to their aunt's eco lake-side house for the summer.
But Truthwater Lake is beginning to dry up. As the water level diminishes, a lost village emerges. Swimming over the rooftops at midnight, Polly dives down and is suddenly able to breathe, to hear church bells and bird song . . . Polly has discovered an underwater gateway . . . to the past!
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9780571332861 |
| Publication date: |
6th April 2023 |
| Author: |
Emma Carroll |
| Publisher: |
Faber & Faber |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
304 pages |
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Press Reviews
Emma Carroll Press Reviews
‘Carroll is a natural storyteller . . .Historical fiction at its finest.’ The Bookseller
‘One of the greatest historical fiction writers of our time.’ Carlie Sorosiak
‘Emma just gets better and better and BETTER.’ Scott Evans, The Reader Teacher
‘Spellbinding.’ School Reading List
‘Trademark Emma Carroll, with a strong and relevant message and a pacy, twisty plot. A book full of gutsy charm!’ Lesley Parr, author of The Valley of Lost Secrets
‘A brilliant author.’ Independent
Author
About Emma Carroll
Emma Carroll is a secondary school English teacher. She has also worked as a news reporter, an avocado picker and the person who punches holes into filofax paper. She recently graduated with distinction from Bath Spa University's MA in Writing For Young People.
Emma lives in the Somerset hills with her husband and two terriers.
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Chosen as a Book of the Month by Nicola Penfold - Emma Carroll takes us thirty years into the future and a summer of record-breaking temperatures. Polly lives by the south coast and is spending her summer holiday shut up indoors because of new government curfews to keep people out of the hot sun (flashback to July in the UK!). Following a late-night forbidden swim that goes horribly wrong, Polly and her brother Joel are sent away to visit their aunt, who lives on the shore of a reservoir.
Modern fears about climate change and the influence of social media are framed by dives into the past. 1952 is a very different world, but has its own threats, including the risk to Nellie’s beloved village of being flooded for a proposed reservoir. There’s a lovely message about being true to yourself, even when it takes exceptional bravery. Also the enduring power of a cold-water swim!
As with all Emma Carroll books, this is gorgeously told. The characters voices chattered brightly through my head as I read, and I couldn’t stop turning the pages. I must mention the incredible artwork, on the cover, dustjacket and endpapers, by Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini. This should be on all the Christmas lists!
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