The Watermill
Arnold Zable
Ranging from remote provinces in China and Cambodia to pre- and post-war Yiddish Poland, Kurdish Iraq and Iran, and Indigenous and present-day Melbourne, Arnold Zable’s quartet of stories depicts the ebbs and flows of trauma and healing, memory and forgetting, the ancient and the contemporary. And ever-recurring journeys in search of belonging.
REVIEWS and INTERVIEWS
ABC Radio Melbourne: Mornings (2:11:00)
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Newton Review of Books
andThe Watermill
‘Zable elevates history into near mythical tales of wonder.’
‘This is a man who truly believes in the power of stories.’
‘I can think of no other writer who describes the aching heart of humanity with as much wisdom and compassion as Arnold Zable. The Watermill brings gentle light to some dark places. Whatever ails the human race, Zable is surely part of the solution.’
‘Arnold Zable has given voice to all those thousands who lived through atrocity, war, oppression and horror.’
‘Though based on real historical moments, The Watermill reads like a novel, so skilful is Zable’s storytelling. The book is full of tales about displacement and survival; the author’s compassion polishes the grit in these extraordinary characters.‘
‘The Watermill is a book of echoes, in which stories set in different times and places resonate with each other.’
‘You may find this book one of the most uplifting, inspiring and moving you will read this year.’
‘Zable’s restrained, contemplative account of heavy times so recently passed offers both perspective and comfort in the midst of our current crisis…for every desolate tale, every stentorian individual or government act, there are accounts of humanity, resilience, and small kindnesses.’
