__NOTOC__ ''The Drowning Girl: A Memoir'' is a 2012 novel by American writer

Caitlín R. Kiernan Caitlín Rebekah Kiernan (born 26 May 1964) is an Irish-born American published paleontologist and author of science fiction and dark fantasy works, including 10 novels, series of comic books, and more than 250 published short stories, novella ...

, set in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

. The story's protagonist and

unreliable narrator An unreliable narrator is a narrator whose credibility is compromised. They can be found in fiction and film, and range from children to mature characters. The term was coined in 1961 by Wayne C. Booth in ''The Rhetoric of Fiction''. While unr ...

, India Morgan Phelps (also known as Imp), has

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social wit ...

. It has been described as an "eerie masterpiece of literary horror and dark fantasy" containing elements of

magical realism Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to: * Magical (horse) Magical (foaled 18 May 2015) is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who excelled over middle distances and was rated in the top twenty racehorses in the world in 2018 and ...

. It has also been described as semi-

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

. The novel has been translated into a number of languages, including French, German, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian, and Turkish.

Synopsis

''The Drowning Girl'' follows the story of India Morgan Phelps, an

struggling with hereditary

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

. India states that she has decided to write down the bizarre events that occurred two years ago (the entirety of the novel is written as a fictionalized

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

). Early in the novel, she befriends her eventual roommate and lover, a

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

woman named Abalyn Armitage. India works at an art supply store, but she is also a painter and a writer. One night, India picks up a

hitchhiker Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free. Nomads hav ...

named Eva Canning, whom she finds stranded and naked on the side of the road, although India is unable to pinpoint whether she met Eva in July or November. Eva stays with India only for a short while (much to Abalyn's chagrin) before the mysterious woman takes off on her own, but apparently continues to stalk India. This sparks India's obsession with Canning and her past. India's obsession eventually causes Abalyn to leave her. India often deals with traumatic events by writing short stories. Some of them relate to Eva Canning, while others revolve around a mysterious artists Phillip George Saltonstall and Albert Perrault, as well as a painting titled "The Drowning Girl," which India saw on display at a museum as a child. After running into Abalyn and her new girlfriend, India begins to lose her grasp on what is real and what isn't. As a result of her inability to tell fact from fiction, her growing obsession with Eva Canning, and Abalyn's abandonment, India suffers a mental breakdown. India stops taking her medication, stops eating, and neglects phone calls from concerned people such as Abalyn, her therapist, her boss (who fires her), and her aunt. India begins to paint and write obsessively until Abalyn finds her half-dead in her apartment. With the help of Abalyn, India discovers that Eva Canning's mother (also named Eva) was part of a cult lead by a woman known as Jacova Anjevine, who committed mass suicide with her followers by walking into the sea some years prior. Eva was apparently the only survivor of said mass suicide. India believes that Eva might be a ghost or a sea-dwelling creature of some sort in a human disguise, but the story is vague as to whether India actually encounters any supernatural phenomena. India eventually does meet Eva Canning, and the two have a bizarre sexual encounter during which Canning appears to morph into a fish-like creature. Eva confesses to India that she wishes to go to the sea to be with her mother, which India obliges by taking her to the beach, at which point Eva walks into the water. India sits on the shore for a long time. India reunites with Abalyn, and it is implied they are still together at the end of the novel. Eva's body washes up on the shore sometime after.

Awards

Won

* James Tiptree, Jr. Award * Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Novel

Nominated

Nebula Award for Best Novel The Nebula Award for Best Novel is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy novels. A work of fiction is considered a novel by the organization if it is 40,000 words or longer; a ...

Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel The Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel is a literary award given annually by '' Locus Magazine'' as part of their Locus Awards. Winners References External links The Locus Award Index: FantasyThe Locus Award: 2011 winnersExcerpts and summaries ...

(finalist) *

Shirley Jackson Award The Shirley Jackson Awards are literary awards named after Shirley Jackson in recognition of her legacy in writing. These awards for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror and the dark fantastic are presented a ...

—Novel * Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature *

British Fantasy Award The British Fantasy Awards (BFA) are awarded annually by the British Fantasy Society (BFS), first in 1976. Prior to that they were known as The August Derleth Fantasy Awards (see August Derleth Award). First awarded in 1972 (to ''The Knight of ...

– Novel *

World Fantasy Award for Best Novel In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drowning Girl, The American science fiction novels Dark fantasy novels 2012 American novels 2012 LGBT-related literary works Fiction with unreliable narrators James Tiptree Jr. Award-winning works Novels set in Providence, Rhode Island LGBT speculative fiction novels American LGBT novels Novels with transgender themes 2010s LGBT novels Works by Caitlín R. Kiernan LGBT-related horror literature Weird fiction novels Roc Books books Bram Stoker Award for Novel winners

Synopsis

Awards

Won

Nominated

See also

References