A haunting love story about the thrills and terrors of the deep

I found the beginning of Storm and Grace by Kathryn Heyman to be mystifying but was somehow compelled to read and enter its deeper waters.

As the title suggests the story has two main characters whose lives become so very almost inextricably intertwined. However, the relationship is far from an equal one with Grace, who has scars on her wrists and who is a university student in her final year, becoming so enamoured of Storm, the legendary deep sea free diver and then record holder, that she willingly gives up her own aspirations and place of residence, seeing herself only as part of Storm.

What could be more romantic than a beautiful powerfully built bronzed man who lives on a sublime Pacific Island, supported by a team of devoted men who are skilled and there to support him in his quest for a better and better deep sea dive record? He glories in his own fame and in his journalistic followers. While visiting Sydney he meets Grace who has been sent to interview him. He is besotted by her. His pursuit of her is determined and convincing.

Kathryn Heyman cleverly establishes that Grace is intelligent but also vulnerable, while at the same time being far from a weak person.

The subtle innuendos dripped into the story by the author keep the reader suspended and just as Grace learns the skill of deep sea free diving and the necessity of holding her breath so does the reader. Grace initially willingly succumbs to Storm’s every wish or direction both in their personal lives, where and when she trains, what she eats, who they see and especially in the bedroom. Grace fails to see that she is at the complete command of Storm, he is so good to her. As Grace dives deeper and deeper to break her own record and to please Storm, she starts to realise that she is in precarious waters.

The story is written from the heart of Grace. The author creates a poetic rhythm, full of feeling and eloquent descriptive terminology that falls into place so easily. Just one example is, “ Now, with him watching from above, his clear blue eyes right there, right on the border between cloth and skin, she is again torn between the desire to adjust the triangle of fabric, to hide, to be hidden, and the need to be seen.”

Is this book a romance, a psychologic thriller or a mystery? To me, it is all of these genres. It also has an interwoven touch of folklore and fantasy. There is an urgency, a feeling of apprehension that makes it impossible to put this book down. This is a powerful read with a sense of foreboding that lurks in the background but comes progressively to the fore and just as Grace gets deeper and deeper so does the reader, Kathryn Heyman’s silent unseen audience. The exploding last pages will stay with you for some time.

So frequently I have found the written claims or description written on the cover of a fictional book do not live up to the actual contents. Not so in Storm and Grace. I feel my own words cannot compare to the writing on the back cover and I quote, “Brilliant, mesmerising, incendiary and haunting, Storm and Grace  explores the dazzling thrill of the deep, and the terrors that lie in its shadows.”

Give yourself a little indulgence and purchase this book, share it with friends, male or female, young, middle-aged or elderly.

Storm and Grace by Kathryn Heyman is available now from Dymocks. Click here to learn more.