I'll read anything Irwin writes after this.' - Michael Koryta, New York Times bestselling author of The Prophet It will call other books - A Separate Peace, The Art of Fielding - to mind but stands alone as an original and powerful work. Ron Irwin writes with confidence and skill and authenticity in this exploration of identity and the poisonous fuel of ambition. ' Flat Water Tuesday is the best debut novel I've read this year, a compulsively readable dark drama that weaves multiple toward one marvelous denouement. 'All you ever wanted to know about the world of competitive rowing is contained in the pages of Ron Irwin's new novel, whose hero is not only a prodigious oarsman but the lover of two memorably realized women.' - J.M.

Rowing plays a critical element in the book, but even those who are uninterested in the sport will find themselves gripped by this compelling story of coming to terms with the past.' - Booklist Rob is a flawed but ultimately sympathetic man who habitually flees from situations that he can't handle emotionally. The characters are well drawn and complex. Irwin debuts with movingly rendered literary fiction about love and loss, youth and maturity, ambition and its cost.An elegy to love and loss and reconciliation.' - Kirkus 'Irwin's story on love, loss, and tragedy marks his as a distinguished new voice.' - Publishers Weekly But when a phone call from one of the God Four compels him to attend the reunion at Fenton, no part of Rob's past remains sequestered for long and nothing about his future is certain.Īs much about the sport of rowing as it is a novel of finding oneself, not once, but again in mid-life Ron Irwin's Flat Water Tuesday is a testament to the pride and passion of youth, and an ode to the journey of forgiveness. As the race nears, the stakes rise, tempers and lusts are fueled, and no one can prevent the horrible tragedy that befalls one of them.įifteen years later, Rob returns home from a film shoot in Africa to end a heartbreaking relationship with his girlfriend, Carolyn.

Generations of austere Fenton men have led the rowing team, known as the God Four, to countless victories - but none are as important or renowned as the annual Tuesday-afternoon race against their rival, Warwick.īut first Rob must complete months of preparation driven by their captain, Connor Payne's vicious competitive nature. Rob Carrey, the son of a working-class cabinet maker, arrives at the Fenton School with a scholarship to row and a chip on his shoulder. A stunning novel of boarding school, family secrets, deep and passionate love, and the brutal pain of sports training.

Flat Water Tuesday by Ron Irwin