Up Through the Water (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Like a razor-thin fish she sped to the top, pushed up toward a light near the surface: a small patch inside the silvery vision of..." (more)
Key Phrases: sea oats, John Berry, Silver Lake

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Darcey Steinke's first novel, now back in print, is an unusually assured and lyrical debut. Set on an island resort town off North Carolina, it tells of summer people and islanders, mothers and sons, women and men, love and its dangers. It is the story of Emily, a woman free as the waves she swims in every day, of the man who wants to clip her wings, of her son and the summer that he will become a man. George Garrett called it "clean-cut, lean-lined, quickly moving, and audacious. . . . [Steinke is] compassionate without sentimentality, romantic without false feelings, and clearly and extravagantly gifted." "Beautifully written . . . a seamless and almost instinctive prose that often reads more like poetry than fiction." -- Robert Olmstead New York Times Book Review; "Dazzling and charged . . . Darcey Steinke has the sensuous and precise visions of female and male, and of the light and dark at the edge of the sea." -- John Casey. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 162 pages
• Publisher: Washington Square Press (August 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671706470
• ISBN-13: 978-0671706470
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,933,587 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Promising First, May 16, 2000

By	Tim Peeler "tpeeler" (Hickory, NC United States) - See all my reviews

In this promising first novel, Steinke creates characters that are introspective and believable, an accomplishment in itself these days. Having vacationed at the outer banks of NC a number of times, I can tell you that this work transports you there. Steinke is efficient and poetic in her use of language, and her plot is loosely framed on the cycles of season and life with the time worn metaphor of water as rejuvenation somehow freshened through her young eye.

3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a good book , well written, September 14, 1999

By A Customer

This is Steinke's first novel.I believe she was in her mid-20s when she wrote it.It lack content or drama.She's a gifted,lyrical writer but when it comes to story-telling,she seemed to have neglected this aspect of her craft.I'd give this 3 stars for the writing only.The two main characters, the boy Eddie and his mother are the only two characters that can be call developed which is not saying much.The other characters are mere shadows.Steinke doesn't seem to have any specific plans for the development of her plot which is non-existent.A good try for a young author though.