An unimaginable apocalypse. A young girl whose parents are lost. An old woman who doesn’t want to leave her house. But without each other, neither of them will survive.

Pam is in her mid-seventies, widowed, and hiding from the world behind a caustic sense of humour. Her health is declining, and she’s afraid of dying alone, but her more pressing concern is the waterlogged garden.

When Pam’s ten-year-old neighbour is foisted upon her, and she discovers Charlotte is also interested in horticulture, a tentative friendship begins to unfurl. 

But the puddles in the garden become pools, and then sinkholes start opening up the earth. With no help coming, Pam and Charlotte can only shelter in place for so long – eventually, they know they have leave.

The Water Takes is a work of astonishing literary imagination with the urgent page-turning propulsion of a thriller. Full of surprises and revelations and a sense of humanity that is never cliched or sentimental, The Water Takes will make you laugh and cry – and it will stay with you forever.