Water Wings - Kristen Den Hartog

A first novel that heralds a bold new writer, Water Wings is at once a disturbing glimpse of the underbelly of small-town life, and a big-hearted journey into the mysteries of girlhood.

Darlene Oelpke is getting married, again. After a string of failed relationships, beautiful, vampish Darlene has finally chosen a second husband - inexplicably, Reg the Shoe Store Man. Her grown-up daughters, Vivian and Hannah, are home for the occasion, and find themselves immersed in memories of their girlhood both thrilling and tragic. And as they revisit the landscape of their youth - the river, the forest, their worn-out green house - they uncover long-buried secrets, as well as deep ties to one another.

The sisters recall the death of their father, killed in a bizarre boating accident when they are still young. Vivian, then an imperious teenager who wields her intelligence like a weapon, does her best to keep the memory of their father alive, particularly for little Hannah, whose recollections are as changeable as the face of the river that silently snakes through the town. But Hannah will have to come to terms with more than one death, as she learns that sinister people can inhabit the most benign places.

With a dazzling cast of characters that includes a nymph-like cousin named Wren (born with webbed hands and an affinity for insects) and a plethora of hairy "uncles" Water Wings is a story of gentle humour and uncommon delights, told with colossal talent and charm.