Annan Water [Paperback]

" Darkly mysterious and deeply compelling love story from a master storyteller. Highly recommended. - Inis "The style and structure, though spare and taut, still manages to allow room for interweaving fictions which, at times, are heartbreaking in their poignancy." - Irish Times Kate Thompson is always worth reading, and her Annan Water (Bodley Head, [pound]10.99) is yet another intriguingly different story.... a beautiful, self-harming new girl neighbour provides relief, however troubled, with the two teenagers almost but not quite re-enacting the tragic ballad upon which this well-written and deeply romantic story is based. - The Independent Kate Thompson writes beautifully. - The School Librarian"

Against a fascinating background of horse dealing and competitive riding, Kate Thompson` explores the dilemma of teenager Michael Duggan experiencing his first love affair and a strong but bewildering need for independence.

. Michael first sees Annie one morning on the banks of Annan Water, when he is out exercising two horses from his parents` stables. That first impression of her never leaves him. She triggers in him a desire to get to know and understand her and in doing so, to understand himself . Complicated by the fact that he is haunted by the tune and words of a song about the Annan Water, he finds there is no easy answer to the way he must go: to get to know Annie seems as impossible as interpreting the words of the song. Michael`s parents make endless demands on Michael`s skill as a rider and his innate sympathy for horses. (They had become a dealer`s yard, not a family'). Coupled with this he finds himself totally at odds with his companions and teachers at school. With its fascinating background of horse dealing, Kate Thompson enlarges the range of settings of her novels. But at its core lies a theme about which she feels deeply and of which she has repeatedly proved herself a master - she explores the need for the young person on the brink of adulthood to find independence and meaning in life. A gripping story unresolved until the very last page.

As he rides along the unknown green lane, Michael finds a brief respite from the pressures of school and his family's horse-dealing business. At the end of the lane he meets Annie, who brings colour and warmth into his troubled life. But is she, as she believes herself to be, bad luck?

Between her home and Michael's lies Annan Water, a deep and mysterious river. In its dark past, it seems as though the story of their love for each other might already have been told.

'. . . another intriguingly different story [from Kate Thompson] . . . with two teenagers almost but not quite re-enacting the tragic ballad upon which this well-written and deeply romantic story is based' INDEPENDENT

'The style and structure . . . are heartbreaking in their poignancy' IRISH TIMES

'Kate Thompson has shown remarkable insight into the dreams and disenchantments of young humanity' ROBERT DUNBAR

Kate Thompson is one of the most exciting authors writing for young people today for she is a born storyteller, highly original and thought provoking in her ideas. She has travelled widely in the USA and India and studied law in London. After living in County Clare, she moved to Kinvara in County Galway and there, three years ago, she discovered her passion for playing the fiddle. She is now an accomplished player and also has a great interest in restoring instruments.

Kate is the only author to win the Children's Books Ireland Bisto Book of the Year award four times - in 2002 for The Beguilers, in 2003 for The Alchemist's Apprentice, in 2004 for Annan Water and in 2006 for The New Policeman.

The New Policeman also won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2005, the Whitbread Book Award Children's category 2005, the Children's Book of the Year in the Irish Book Awards in March 2006 and has been longlisted for the Carnegie Medal.