Flat Water Tuesday
Irwin, Ron

RRP
A$22.99

The son of a working-class cabinet-maker, Rob Carrey arrives on the prestigious Fenton School's campus with a scholarship to row...and a chip on his shoulder. Generations of austere Fenton men have led the four-man rowing team, known as the God Four, to countless victories - but none more important or renowned as the annual Tuesday-afternoon race in April against their rival boarding school, Warwick.

But first Rob must complete months of preparation driven by their captain, Connor Payne's, vicious competitive nature. Payne is a young man so plagued by family pressure and unwillingness to lose, that the lines between dedication and obsession are increasingly blurred, and as the Warwick race nears, the stakes steadfastly rise, tempers and lusts are fueled, and finally no one can prevent the horrible tragedy that befalls one of them.

Now, fifteen years later, Rob is an accomplished documentary filmmaker. Returning home from a recent shoot in Africa, he arrives in New York City to clear out his shared apartment, and end his heartbreaking relationship with his film editor and girlfriend, Carolyn. But when a phone call from one of the God Four compels him to attend the 15-year reunion at Fenton, no part of Rob's past remains sequestered for long.

Author Information

Ron Irwin has been the writer in residence for the University of Cape Town's prestigious MA in Creative Writing program, where he has taught since 1999. He has also worked as a freelance documentary filmmaker and journalist. Ron holds a Masters in Literary Studies and a Masters in Creative Writing, both from the University of Cape Town. He grew up in Buffalo, New York, where he learned to row, and attended boarding school and college in New England, where he was a member of a number of winning crews. Ron is currently lecturing in the University of Cape Town's Centre for Film and Media Studies and divides his time between South Africa and the United States.