Shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1981, Ann Schlee’s evocative, heady novel creates a tension that is as compelling as it is mysterious, forcing her characters to confront each other as well as themselves over one hot summer abroad.

It is the summer of 1851 and Charlotte Morrison is on holiday with her brother and his wife. Charlotte may be a spinster aunt with a seemingly sparse life, but beneath that quiet respectability lie unsuspected depths.

Boating down the Rhine one day, Charlotte sights a fellow traveller who releases the hissing floodwaters of her subconcious. Dark and dangerous, they sweep Charlotte towards the watershed of her life, stretching her imagination to its limit.