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Emmi Itäranta

Memory of Water: A Novel Paperback – June 10, 2014

by Emmi Itäranta (Author)

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An amazing, award-winning speculative fiction debut novel by a major new talent, in the vein of Ursula K. Le Guin.

Global warming has changed the world’s geography and its politics. Wars are waged over water, and China rules Europe, including the Scandinavian Union, which is occupied by the power state of New Qian. In this far north place, seventeen-year-old Noria Kaitio is learning to become a tea master like her father, a position that holds great responsibility and great secrets. Tea masters alone know the location of hidden water sources, including the natural spring that Noria’s father tends, which once provided water for her whole village.

But secrets do not stay hidden forever, and after her father’s death the army starts watching their town—and Noria. And as water becomes even scarcer, Noria must choose between safety and striking out, between knowledge and kinship.

Imaginative and engaging, lyrical and poignant, Memory of Water is an indelible novel that portrays a future that is all too possible.

Print length

272 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Harper Voyager
Publication date

June 10, 2014
Dimensions

0.7 x 5.3 x 7.9 inches
ISBN-10

0062326155
ISBN-13

978-0062326157
UNSPSC-Code
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“An emotionally nuanced study in morality, which draws its suspense from love, choices, and the mark that everyone leaves on the world.” -- Helsingin Sanomat - Finland newspaper

“An exceptionally fine debut novel in which all elements come together in a controlled and well-considered manner. At the same time, the novel is fascinating and addictive.” -- Turun Sanomat - Finland newspaper

“Where Itäranta shines is in her rejection of conventional plots and in her understated but compelling characters. The work is a deceptively tranquil examination of a world of dust and ashes where the tenacious weed of hope still survives.” -- Publishers Weekly(starred review)

“The writing is gorgeous and delicate in this dystopian award-winning debut, which is unique in both its setting and the small scale that Finnish author Itäranta employs.” -- Library Journal (starred review) on Memory of Water

“Itäranta’s lyrical style makes this dystopian tale a beautiful exploration of environmental ethics and the power of ritual.” -- Washington Post Book World on MEMORY OF WATER

“[Memory of Water] is simultaneously a coming-of-age story, a fantastic adventure, and a bold warning about a future that is all too real.” -- Portland Book Review on MEMORY OF WATER

From the Back Cover

The award-winning speculative debut novel, now in English for the first time!

In the far north of the Scandinavian Union, now occupied by the power state of New Qian, seventeen-year-old Noria Kaitio studies to become a tea master like her father. It is a position that holds great responsibility and a dangerous secret. Tea masters alone know the location of hidden water sources, including the natural spring that once provided water for her whole village. When Noria's father dies, the secret of the spring reaches the new military commander . . . and the power of the army is vast indeed. But the precious water reserve is not the only forbidden knowledge Noria possesses, and resistance is a fine line.

Threatened with imprisonment, and with her life at stake, Noria must make an excruciating, dangerous choice between knowledge and freedom.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Voyager; 1st edition (June 10, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0062326155
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0062326157
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.7 x 5.3 x 7.9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #258,778 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #854 in Military Fantasy (Books)
- #2,138 in Dystopian Fiction
- #4,417 in Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
281 ratings

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Emmi Itäranta

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Emmi Itäranta is a Finnish author who writes fiction in Finnish and English. Her award-winning debut novel Memory of Water (2014) has been translated into more than 20 languages and a film adaptation, The Guardian of Water, is in the works. The novel was shortlisted for the Philip K. Dick Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the Golden Tentacle Award as well as being included in the Otherwise Award honor list.

Itäranta has also published two other novels, The Weaver (2016) and The Moonday Letters (Finnish edition Kuunpäivän kirjeet in 2020). The awards won by her books include Kalevi Jäntti Prize for young authors, Young Aleksis Kivi Prize, Kuvastaja Award for the best fantasy book published in Finland, Tampere City Literary Award and Tähtivaeltaja Award for the best science fiction book published in Finland.

Itäranta lived in the United Kingdom for 14 years before relocating back to Finland in 2021. She now lives in Tampere, Finland, and continues to write in two languages. Her novels have been characterised as lyrical eco dystopias and compared to the works of Sheri S. Tepper, Ursula K. Le Guin and Margaret Atwood.

Customer reviews

5 star		50%
4 star		36%
3 star		9%
2 star		3%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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daniel howard

I like the book but I'll likely not finish

Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2021

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She's a good writer and I find the story interesting...

That said I'm through page 25 and annoyed. In the last sentence I read, one of the characters is complaining about how the "people of the past world" (i.e. us living now) "didnt care about them" (them being the people in her post apocalyptic, water deficient world)...

I'm aware of climate change and the importance of environmental issues. I find much about our present society sad and in need of changing. But...I don't need beaten over the head with it...

This kind of passage smacks of the pseudo liberalism thriving in the US today. Does Emmi Itatanta realize the only reason she is able to even consider people in the future is that she doesn't have to spend every minute of every day not dying? This certainly doesn't mean that philosophical thought and moral allegory is unimportant, but what I've gotten out of her novel so far is the same level of intellectual acumen that I would expect from a college freshman who has never worked.

The book didn't need to be a referendum on climate change and western lifestyle. It could have been a great story that subtlety highlighted these points. Too bad.

10 people found this helpful

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Global Prof

A Masterful and Highly Creative Depiction of a Very Dry Future

Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2017

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This haunting, spare dystopia gripped me from start to finish. I loved all of the watery metaphors, the strong similes, and the poetic language, plus the way the author wove elements of the tea ceremony into a future with almost no water. I'll probably remember the dreamy mood of this book more than any plot specifics.

By "dreamy" mood, I mean passages like this one: "Silence is not empty or immaterial, and it is not needed to chain tame things. It often guards powers strong enough to shatter everything." Or this one: "Memory has a shape of its own, and it's not always the shape of life... Memory slips and slides and shatters, and its patterns are not to be trusted." Or: "We are children of water, and water is death's close companion. The two cannot be separated from us, for we are made of the versatility of water and the closeness of death. They go together always, in the world and in us, and the time will come when our water runs dry."

I enjoyed that this was written by a Finnish author, and set in a future Scandinavia. The description of a world of constant drought was terrifying, but seemed all too realistic and plausible these days. The descriptions of technology from the current time were amusing.

Mostly, I appreciated the careful attention the author gave to each and every sentence, polishing her prose so that every line shined.

12 people found this helpful

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Ceesie

Simple Poetry and Meditation

Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2021

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I didn’t know a work of fiction could be such simple poetry. And I definitely wasn’t aware it could be a deep meditation on life, death, and connection (and the effect secrets have on that).

Emmi elevates what is possible through storytelling, reaching heights few authors ever can.
I’ve read well over 1000 books in my life.
This book is amongst a rare few that have transformed me. Made me somehow more. I return to it often.

I’ve bought copies for everyone I’m closest to. That’s how much this book haunts me (in the best of ways).

Read it.
It’s rich yet simple. Short enough, yet immersive. Moving and transforming… yet comfortable and familiar!

The author knits together the ancient past with a potential future through the act of ceremony and (tea) ritual.

3 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

So beautifully written, heart wrenching, and so very possibly earth's future.

Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2021

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I was captured by the beautiful language that told this deeply sad story. I feel that it might well present a picture of earth's future. In spite of huge obstacles the young women in the story found something to hope for, something to believe in. I loved this book and have already recommended it to two people that will love and respect the book as I have. Thank you very much for this gift.

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Spoon

This is Where We May be Going

Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2015

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A future world, which appears to be ours, has almost run out of fresh water. Civilization is barely hanging on, technology is controlled, and China appears to rule the world (at least the parts we see in this book). Global warming has taken it toll on societies and on the environment, and access to water is highly regulated. Trash heaps are the source of precious metals and wonders from the ages before, such as CDs and tape recorders. Medical care sucks. A young Tea Master and her father in Scandinavia are protecting a small source of water from the occupiers of their village, secretly using it to make the best tea around and to help their fellow villagers.

This isn't a dark dystopian novel like many in recent years, but dystopian nonetheless. The characters are well-written, the prose is well-done, and the reader can't help but get sucked into the angst and anguish as these people try to make something of their lives. This is a somewhat slow read, but definitely worth the read.

The ending leaves open the possibility of a sequel (or perhaps just another novel in the same world), which I would look forward to. Curious to see if other parts of the world are also under China's rule (other than just Europe and Asia).

3 people found this helpful

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Virginia

This was skillfully and beautifully written, with strong world-building and a well-rounded main ...

Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2018

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This was skillfully and beautifully written, with strong world-building and a well-rounded main character. It was really not my jam, though - I found the story pretty slow and the ending both anti-climactic and unsatisfying (eliminating the epilogue might have helped). Reading this drove home that I do not want to be reading dystopias at this point. I can just read the dang news.

5 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

SusannahB

A Strange but Oddly Absorbing Dystopian Story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 23, 2021

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A strange but oddly absorbing dystopian novel set in a time when the world has been devastated by global warming and fresh water is strictly rationed. Noria Kaitio, the daughter of one of the last true tea masters, is entrusted by her father with the whereabouts of a secret freshwater spring hidden within caves not far from her rural home. When her father dies, Noria is the only person who knows where the source of fresh water is and having promised her father to keep the secret and preserve the source, she soon falls prey to intense guilt when she witnesses the suffering of the people close to her when the severe lack of water puts their lives in danger. However, if she breaks her promise and reveals her source, not only will the authorities commandeer the supply, but Noria could face imprisonment and worse.

As already commented this is a strange story and one with not a huge amount of plot; it also doesn’t provide the reader with enough information about what had happened to the world in the past and how society is operating in the present time. That said, I was immediately pulled into this novel from the very first page and, like Emmi Itaranta’s ‘The City of Woven Streets’ (which I would also recommend), this beautifully described story kept me interested and involved from beginning to end.

4 Stars.

One person found this helpful

William C. Powell

A memory that will linger long

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 16, 2015

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What a find! Amazon's correlation algorithms triumph and find a book that is a cut above the typical YA dystopia.

It's also going to be a difficult one to review without spoilers - there are several classic books I'd love to compare it with - favourably - and I can't, because that would give the game away.

In an interim post, I referred to the book as a trap closing. I read the book knowing almost from the start that some key characters were not going to make it to the end. The hints are strong, they are there for the reader to pick up, and if you miss those, you'll miss a lot of the tension.

The novel is set in a future time, post ecological failure, and a lot of technology has been lost, and its incomprehensible remnants are to be found in landfill sites. Here the two protagonists find hints that some of the world might not be so bleak, beyond the borders of a thinly-disguised Chinese hydraulic empire. If you're not familiar with the term - see wikipedia .

Being set in a true hydraulic empire, there is very little chance of internal rebellion succeeding - the very stuff of life is controlled by the elite - only a sufficient alternative supply can power a rebellion. Water crime is punished by death. The novel shows how these two combine to create intolerable pressure on ordinary people to become complicit in acts that they would ordinarily find abhorrent - it is a strength that the characters in the novel are flawed and anguished, rather than entirely virtuous or entirely evil.

Thus the novel builds its tension not through action, but by balancing the need to escape to discover if the lost lands have recovered, and the need for slow, careful preparation, limited also by the slow pace at which information about the lost lands can be uncovered. Against this backdrop, the military steadily increase their oppression of the populace, driving collaboration and betrayal through the need for water. You can see the trap closing, yet you can also see why the protagonists are forced to remain within the jaws 'just a little longer, then we'll flee'.

The slowness of the novel might be a sticking point for some - it took a while for it to become apparent where the novel was going. The novel is quite short, too. It feels like you're almost at the halfway mark before the journey-pattern becomes defined.

Technology thoughts. Perhaps a bit too pat, the way the CDs and the technology to play them get unearthed. The pods - used for sending messages - it took a while for me to understand the rules for pods (how the were used, what they could and could not do).

I've left the best till last. The language and the poetry thereof really lift this out of the commonplace. You can pick your own favourites, but I love the way writers like Bradbury, Zelazny and Simak can build concoctions of mood and image with their word mastery. Emmi Itäranta could hold her head up in such company.

It's not perfect, but it's dam' good and as my thoughts turn to candidates for the SFWA Norton (the "YA Nebula"), this is one I'll push.

F. Karavasili

Not Atwood not Ishiguro

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 27, 2019

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My expectations were high when reading the blurb, as good as or better than top speculative fiction authors.
But I was disappointed because it was too gentle, not dark enough, a future too close to comfort maybe.
And a lack of water? That is too obvious and going to happen. For speculative fiction, dark and unnerving, I recently read David Edwards Something To Tell You. Using The Higgs Boson particle as the culprit is more exciting than water. And now I also realise I am 99.9% empty space, so I really enjoyed the questions it asked about me, myself.

Lucy Carr

Too many things are just glazed over.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 20, 2015

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed the general theme of the book and thought that the language & the way the book is written really enveloping and descriptive. However, I ended up feeling disappointed. There were many opportunities to develop the story further and develop Noria more but it just becomes repetitive. Because it is written in first person, we do not get to really hear about what is going on with other characters & other themes. Uprisings and punishments are glazed over, which, given that these are the reasons behind the tightened military control and the ending, means we don't feel anything for Noria. In my opinion, too much time spent on empty words while leaving important events untouched.

stripey

Post apocalypse story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 28, 2018

Verified Purchase

I downloaded this as a free sample. So just on the short introduction I would think that this book is aimed at the young adult market and as such not really my thing.

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