Tide

Anna Richmond’s Tide is narrated by Imogen, a London museum curator whose seven-year-old son, Thomas, vanishes in the River Thames under horrifying and mysterious circumstances. The novel follows the immediate disappearance, the destruction of Imogen’s marriage, the uncertainty surrounding what she witnessed, and the long aftermath of a tragedy that is never conventionally resolved.

The novel opens with Imogen looking back on Thomas’s disappearance. She believes that something was waiting for him in the water long before they arrived at the river, although she also recognises the more frightening possibility that there was no fate or supernatural design at all: perhaps they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Before the tragedy, Imogen lives in London with Thomas and her husband, James. Their family appears comfortable, but the marriage contains deep tensions. James is warm, playful and devoted to Thomas, whereas Imogen is more emotionally reserved and heavily invested in her museum work. James works less and assumes most of the daily childcare. Imogen loves Thomas, but she struggles with the repetitive demands of motherhood and privately remembers that she originally did not want children. James effectively insisted that having children was necessary for their relationship.