The Nature of Water and Air Discover Great New Writer’s Award Border’s Original Voices Selection A Pick of the Independent Booksellers “In her first novel, Regina McBride writes in a shimmering and hypnotic prose style… The story builds like a fugue. The Nature of Water and Air has an urgent melancholy about it- it casts an undeniable spell.”             -The New York Times Book Review "With it’s brooding Irish backdrop, lyrical language, and shrouded secrets, The Nature of Water and Air is a modern myth. Bottom Line: This saga casts a spell.”             -People Magazine “Finely wrought and deeply felt, the novel is a work of supercharged imagination, in which the presence of sea spirits, ghosts, and the dire workings of fate contribute to an atmosphere of brooding mystery.”             -Publisher’s Weekly

“Lyrical and sad, infused with fascinating folklore and the chill of the Irish landscape. A literary Maeve Binchy.”             -Library Journal “A fine debut, unsettling and magical.”             -Kirkus “What distinguishes The Nature of Water and Air… is the precision of the language, and the haunting power of the narrative.”             -Edna O’Brien “The Nature of Water and Air is an astoundingly rich and lyrical novel about mothers and daughters, secrets and delusions, and the salve of love.”             -Tillie Olsen “Magical, mythic, and haunting, The Nature of Water and Air is a story of terrible loss and defiant resilience, like the story of the Irish people. Filled with mystery and music, it is an astounding piece of storytelling that combines the dense lyricism of great poetry with the unflinching clarity of great prose.”             -Peter Quinn “McBride artfully evokes the brilliant beauty and the strange, brooding darkness that so often dwell together within the Irish soul.”             -Thomas Moran