The Girl in the Water
A novel by Joseph Howse, published by
Nummist Media (2022)
Four teenagers and a feral cat navigate life in the Soviet twilight
of the 1980s, against a broad backdrop of civilizations in decline.
The Girl in the Water is the first in a series of connected
novels examining innocence, experience, oppression, and choice in a fractured
modern world. The series is called Next Year’s Snow and the
author is currently working on the second novel, The Circus and the
Atom.
“Where can I order it?”
Read All About It
The novel has garnered praise as both a lifelike family drama and a literary
statement in the tradition of the Russian classics.
🇺🇸 The Girl in the Water has won the 2023 Independent Press Award for Literary Fiction. The judging committee, consisting of US book industry experts, scored it as the best work of literary fiction among entries from small and mid-sized publishers around the world.
Gabby Olczak, organizer of the Independent Press Award and host of The Gab Talks, has featured the novel in an interview with Joseph Howse.
🇨🇦 The Girl in the Water has been honoured in the 2023 IAN Book of the Year Awards as the category winner for Outstanding Multicultural Fiction and as a finalist in Literary Fiction. The IAN Awards represent excellence in writing and design, as judged by a panel of reviewers, authors, publishers, and editors. Entries come from small and mid-sized presses around the world.
🇺🇸 The Girl in the Water has won the 2023 IPPY Awards Bronze Medal for Best Regional Ebook (Fiction). This “Regional” category is for stories that convey a deep sense of a real-world place. Judges included editors, designers, reviewers, booksellers, and librarians who are experts on the North American market.
🇺🇸 The Girl in the Water has been commended as a Distinguished Favorite in the 2023 NYC Big Book Award for Literary Fiction. The judging committee, consisting of US book industry experts, rated it as an outstanding work of literary fiction among entries from small, mid-sized, and large publishers around the world.
🇺🇸 The Girl in the Water has placed in the 2024 Eric Hoffer Book Award as an Honorable Mention in E-Book Fiction. The judges commented on the novel being a “well-paced story … pulled forward by the strength of writing, well-drawn characters, realistic history, and an ultimate sense of hope.” Also in this competition, the novel was shortlisted for the Grand Prize, was a finalist for the Montaigne Medal (for the most thought-provoking books), and was a finalist for the da Vinci Eye (for superior cover art). The Hoffer Award honours salient, independent books in memoriam of American philosopher and longshoreman Eric Hoffer.
🇬🇷 The Girl in the Water was a finalist in the 2023 Eyelands Book Awards, an international literary competition organized by publishers, authors, and translators in Greece.
🇺🇸 The Girl in the Water was a finalist in the 2022 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards for Multicultural Fiction. Finalists were picked by the editors of Foreword Reviews magazine.
🇺🇸 The Girl in the Water was a finalist in the 17th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards for New Fiction. Judges included publishers, editors, authors, and book designers. They selected finalists on the basis of superior writing and design, among entries from small and mid-sized publishers around the world.
🇺🇸 The Girl in the Water has advanced to the Top 100 of the 8th Annual Launch Pad Prose Competition, which seeks stories with potential for screen adaptation. Further results will be announced on August 16, 2024.
🇿🇦 Lebo Serache, host of SABC Morning Live, has welcomed the novel’s South African launch in an interview with Joseph Howse.
🇨🇦 Allison Lawlor, “The Book Shelf” columnist for The Chronicle Herald and the SaltWire Network, has featured the novel in an interview with Joseph Howse.
🇳🇿 ★★★★½ “a captivating story that sheds light on the complexities of human nature in times of great change … A must-read for anyone interested in the impact of historical events and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity.” —Benji Allen, Waikato Independent
🇺🇸 ★★★★½ “Joseph Howse evokes the literary styles of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky … Howse’s novel feels Russian, from its ornate structure to its social commentary to its wry humor. The author has composed a book like Tchaikovsky would a symphony; tight, disciplined, yet bubbling with unspoken passion and near-magical allegory.” —Rob Errera, IndieReader
IndieReader has also featured the novel in its “Best Reviewed Books of the Month” (December 2022) and in an interview with Joseph Howse.
🇿🇦 Caxton Network News has featured the novel in its “pick of new titles” (July 2023), syndicated to newspapers and magazines across South Africa.
🇺🇸 “Howse excels at drawing textured portraits of multi-faceted women. … The Girl in the Water is a major achievement in a debut novel: a story populated with unforgettable characters who occupy the reader’s mind long after the book is back on the shelf.” —BlueInk Review
🇺🇸 “Howse’s novel is dense and detailed but alive with feeling, insight, and Nadia’s stirring, stinging, poetic thoughts. It juxtaposes in-depth, almost reportorial portraiture of a society’s decline with the fresh exuberance of youth, plus the terror and possibility of what might come next, when history itself … offers little reason for optimism.” —BookLife Reviews
🇺🇸 ★★★★ “Intentional and poetic, … the book excels because of its close-up focus on Nadia and her loved ones. Nadia is a lively, sympathetic heroine, and the people around her are engaging in each moment. Her glimpses at the world around her are sensitive and self-aware, and she, her friends, and her family members honor the people who live through difficult times with them. Among their ranks, shy romances bloom into relationships, friendships evolve, and families continue to love one another despite the keen drama around them.” —Chloe Clark, Foreword Clarion Reviews
🇺🇸 “OUR VERDICT: GET IT … Nadia’s journey is a memorable one. She comes of age in places as diverse as Estonia and Ukraine, which, while beset by Soviet malaise, abound with colorful characters.” —Kirkus Reviews
🇺🇸 “RECOMMENDED … This is a winning story with a great deal of heart and a more than satisfying conclusion.” —Philip Zozzaro, The US Review of Books
🇳🇿 “[The characters’] caring for one another and the people around them in need was quite lovely. Those values of family and support remain strong even in quite a bleak time.” —Nicky Walker, Radio New Zealand Nine To Noon
🇳🇿 “Howse’s prose is wonderfully written. Through the narrative he is able to create realism in the descriptions and authentic moments between people. … Centering on the dialogue, Howse uses language well and is able to present the vocabulary of each of the characters with a sense of authenticity. … [The novel] demonstrates more than just the vivid description of a time in our world’s history where oppressed people overcame incredible obstacles. It also celebrates life, and all that is to be gained through the experiences of togetherness and connection.” —Chris Reed, NZ Booklovers
🇿🇦 “I am sure it will be well received by young adults. … We read to understand, to try to get under the skin of others, and The Girl in the Water does help one find touch points, connections, and a greater empathy for ordinary people, like Nadia. Where are those girls now, girls who, like me, were 16, 17, in 1986? Are they refugees, soldiers, and are they even alive?” —Vanessa Levenstein, Fine Music Radio Book Choice
🇺🇸 “A resilient coming-of-age story … The author includes emotional, compelling scenes with every character, as each one has been dealt a vastly different hand of cards. … It feels very down-to-Earth and includes necessary comical moments throughout. I did not know much about the events or places in this book before, but after finishing it and doing a little extra curiosity research, I’m thankful to have learned something new in such an engaging way.” —Audrey Davis, Independent Book Review
🇬🇧 “A coming of age narrative held against the backdrop of the last days of the Soviet Union … This setting and context of the book feels authentic and it is clear that a lot of research has been carried out in order to add dimension to the story. The sense of change in the setting reflects the coming-of-age themes in the characters’ narratives. … I think that this book would appeal to those interested in character driven family dramas and relationship stories, and may appeal to those interested in modern Eastern European history.” —LoveReading Ambassador
🇺🇸 “Of special appeal to fans of coming-of-age and family life novels, laced with humor, memorable characters, and an inherently interesting, narrative driven, storyline, ‘The Girl in the Water’ is unreservedly recommended as an addition to personal reading lists and community library Contemporary General Fiction collections.” —Midwest Book Review
“Somehow it feels like the last summer on Earth. … There are wrynecks and Geiger counters, speaking to the mute and masked masses of mankind.” —Joseph Howse, The Girl in the Water
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Discuss It
Any good story can be read in multiple ways, in part because readers bring their own experiences and book-learning from beyond the pages in hand. Thus, it is the author’s hope that no two conversations about this novel will be the same. Even so, reading groups may wish to download our book club guide to find some possible starting points for their discussions.
Stay Tuned
For more news and images about this novel and future works, follow Joseph online:
Ask About Publicity
🇳🇿 New Zealand media and event planners should enquire with
Fantail Communications, our publicist
in Auckland.
🇿🇦 South African media and event planners should enquire with
JDoubleD Publicity, our publicist in
Johannesburg.
For all other publicity enquiries, please
email Joseph Howse.
Ask About Rights
Publishers who may wish to translate The Girl in the Water should
enquire with DropCap,
our foreign rights literary agent.
For all other rights enquiries, please
email Joseph Howse.
Other Publications
Joseph Howse has also contributed fiction, poetry, and fine art photography to the
following publications and events.
🇬🇧🇫🇷 The Poetry Lighthouse Anthology (Volume II, Summer 2025) will include Joseph Howse’s poem “Cherry Seeds” as part of the shortlist for the 2025 Poetry Lighthouse Prize. Before being selected for the print anthology, the poem has also appeared online in The Poetry Lighthouse (August 24, 2024).
🇳🇿 Kōkako 42 (April 2025) has published Joseph Howse’s haiku “raspberry fenceline”.
🇺🇸 Cold Moon Journal (February 2025) has published Joseph Howse’s short poem “blink”.
🇮🇳 Triya (Basant/February 2025) has published two of Joseph Howse’s haiku, “apricot blossoms” and “silence”, with translations into Hindi.
🇨🇦 Haiku Canada Review (February 2025) has published Joseph Howse’s short poem “Aladdin”.
🇺🇸🇰🇷 Joseph Howse has done a reading of his poem “Snow, Wind, and Plums” for the inaugural World Sijo Poetry Day (February 7, 2025). The same poem has received an Honorable Mention in the 2024 Sejong International Sijo Competition for excellent English-language verse in the traditional Korean form of sijo. The contest was judged by eminent professors of Korean literature.
🇺🇸 tsuri-dōrō (Issue 25, January/February 2025) has published Joseph Howse’s senryū “homemade lasagna”.
🇨🇦🇹🇼 NeverEnding Story (December 9, 2024) has published Joseph Howse’s haiku “canned peaches” with translations into Chinese (Traditional and Simplified) by Chen-ou Liu.
🇳🇿 a fine line (New Zealand Poetry Society, Spring/November 2024) has published three haiku by Joseph Howse: “life left flickering”, “vacant dawn”, and “decades pass”.
🇳🇿 paint me (37th Annual Anthology of the New Zealand Poetry Society, November 2024) includes Joseph Howse’s haiku “apricot blossoms”. This piece has won Third Prize in the Society’s 2024 International Poetry Competition, Haiku Section.
🇺🇸 Cold Moon Journal (November 3, 2024) has published Joseph Howse’s haiku “silence”.
🇬🇭 The Mamba (Issue 16, Africa Haiku Network, September 2024) has published Joseph Howse’s haiku “a game of Owela”.
🇺🇸 Humana Obscura (Issue 9, Summer/June 2024) has published Joseph Howse’s photo “Montmorency Cherry Blossoms”.
🇺🇸 Litbreak Magazine (March 4, 2024) has published an excerpt, “Reflections”, from the drafts of Joseph Howse’s second novel The Circus and the Atom.
🇺🇸 Microfiction Monday Magazine (211th Edition, December 4, 2023) has published Joseph Howse’s story “Unbelievable”.
🇨🇦 CommuterLit (October 10, 2023) has published an opening excerpt from Joseph Howse’s first novel The Girl in the Water.