A Single Breath

February 10, 2014
In this lackluster romantic suspense/gothic romance mélange, tragedy strikes when Eva and Jackson Bowe visit the windy, rocky coast of Dorset, England, for a birthday celebration with Eva’s mother. Though he is an experienced fisherman and swimmer, Jackson is swept out to sea­­ and, after scouring the water all day in dangerous conditions, the Coast Guard calls off the search and Jackson is presumed dead. Eva and Jackson were married for less than eight months—and had known each other for little more than that—and Eva’s grief at her husband’s death is all-encompassing. In her need to understand, she travels to Jackson’s home in Tasmania to meet his family and search for closure. Instead, Eva finds herself in the midst of a tortuous family situation that only adds to the confusion surrounding Jackson’s death. Clarke (Swimming at Night) valiantly tries for grand passion and high drama, with lamentable results. Agent: Judith Murray, Greene and Heaton.

February 15, 2014
In an intensely emotional story of love, loss and deception, a recently widowed woman reaches out to her late husband's family in Tasmania and discovers she never really knew the man she married. Newlyweds Eva and Jackson are visiting her mother along the English coast when Jackson slips out and goes fishing early one morning and drowns. Eva is devastated. She and Jackson, a native of Tasmania, met two years ago aboard a flight to London, and they were married eight months ago. She's a midwife and he worked as a brand marketer for a drink company, and his love gave her a sense of completeness. Now Eva's loss is so deep, she yearns to be near those who knew him best--his father, Dirk, his brother, and friends who grew up and worked with her husband. Flying to Tasmania, Eva first meets with Dirk, who spends much of his time in an alcoholic haze and doesn't exactly embrace her presence. Although disappointed, Eva travels to Wattleboon Island, off the coast, to meet Saul, Jackson's estranged brother. Once again, she gets the cold shoulder as Saul remains closemouthed about his brother and tries to hurry her off the island. When Eva has a sudden fainting spell, though, Saul ends up taking her to the local hospital and allows her to stay in a shack that belongs to his friend. She extends her visit to the area, suffers another devastating loss and finds herself becoming attracted to Saul. Through a fluke meeting, she also finally gets what she seeks--stories about her late husband's life--but they're not at all what she expects, and she discovers her husband's deception is more pervasive than anyone realizes. Clarke (Swimming at Night, 2013) skillfully envelops readers in a delicate, romantic story tinged with intrigue and set in a breathtakingly exotic locale. Although the many revelations in the final chapters sometimes stretch the otherwise tight plot, the author creates an entertaining narrative.

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March 15, 2014
When Eva Bowe's husband, Jackson, is swept off a jetty while fishing in England, she travels to his native Tasmania to mourn and seek comfort from his father, a man she has met only through phone calls and letters. What she finds is an aging alcoholic who, for reasons he will not cop to, never supported her and Jackson's marriage and an estranged brother, Saul, whose life path is uncannily similar to Jackson's. Against his father's wishes, Saul puts Eva up in a shack on his beachfront property, where he teaches her how to free-dive, and they slowly acknowledge their mutual attraction. As Eva uncovers the truthor pries it from Saulshe must also reconcile her memories of the man she fell in love with and the man she is learning Jackson actually was. But the bombs keep dropping, threatening Eva and Saul's tentative connection. The plot twists are goodtoo good to spoiland there is just enough of Tasmania's rough wildness to transport the reader. As in Swimming at Night (2013), Clarke weaves secrets and betrayals and the inner journey of a quiet, appealing Everywoman.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)