內容簡介
內容簡介 2018年「曼布克獎」初選名單入圍 【曼布克獎初選入圍小說 】在一座與世隔離的小島上，住著葛雷斯、莉亞、絲凱三姊妹，和她們的雙親「母親」、「國王」，國王總是告訴她們為了隔離世界的險惡才把她們帶到這個島上住。平常國王會為女孩們設計一些很殘忍的儀式，例如把她們縫進麻布袋中、用棉布做成面具罩在姊妹們臉上，但有一天國王突然消失了。母親成為了新的領導者，但她追崇傳統，依舊照著國王奇異的儀式教導著姊妹們，國王離開了，但他在姊妹們身上造成的傷痛、陰影，卻會永遠跟著女孩們。某天，兩個男人和一個男孩被沖上小島的岸邊，母親趕緊把女孩們帶開，恐嚇這些訪客以期他們離開小島，但男人們終究將手伸向這些女人們的身體。國王以前總是告訴女孩們，男人非常邪惡，他們可以想都不想就弄斷妳的手臂，姊妹們面對男人，雖然害怕，心中卻有另一個聲音出現，她們也都是自己慾望的俘虜。女孩們在國王的教誨和自己渴望愛的慾望間掙扎著，漸漸地她們發現，國王對待她們的方式，源自國王害怕失去控制力的恐懼，女孩們要甩開所有男人的束縛，才能真正看見自己。Hypnotic, dreamlike and compulsive, a blazing literary debut for fans ofHot Milk, The Girls andThe Vegetarian'Immensely assured, calmly devastating' Katherine Angel, author of Unmastered'Bewitching' Guardian'A work of cool, claustrophobic beauty' Eli Goldstone, author of Strange Heart Beating'Eerily beautiful, strange [and] unsettling' Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the TrainImagine a world very close to our own: where women are not safe in their bodies, where desperate measures are required to raise a daughter. This is the story of Grace, Lia and Sky, kept apart from the world for their own good and taught the terrible things that every woman must learn about love. And it is the story of the men who come to find them - three strangers washed up by the sea, their gazes hungry and insistent, trailing desire and destruction in their wake.The Water Cure is a fever dream, a blazing vision of suffering, sisterhood and transformation.'Eerie, electric, beautiful. It rushes you through to the end on a tide of tension and closely held panic. I loved this book' Daisy Johnson, author of Fen'Creepy and delightful - it has a pinch of Shirley Jackson, a dash of chlorine, and an essence all of its own' Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of Harmless Like You'Otherworldly, brutal and poetic: a feminist fable set by the sea, a female Lord of the Flies. It felt like a book I'd been waiting to read for a long time' Emma Jane Unsworth, author of Animals
