Overview

"""I was hungry, seeing myself starving for want of something I could not define. I sought it constantly, sought it at every turn, searched every face I met for hints of it, looked everywhere I could conceive. I lost time trying to slake this unquenchable thirst, trying to satisfy an endlessly burning hunger. But in the end I knew precisely what I had been after all along. It is the folly of the young, part of their particular curse, to be so unaware, to be blind as well as hungry. To be in exile from themselves and not know they are away."" Haunted by lost loves and limping through a lifeless career, Conor Finnegan's discontent mirrors the restlessness of his grandfather Liam, caught as a young man in the crossfire of the Irish Civil War. Drawing from Liam's wisdom and courage, Conor seeks to reinvent his character and reclaim passions made numb by neglect and loss. Through the Waters and the Wild addresses the timeless questions, ""Where shall I go now? What shall I do?"""

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9781646632084

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Reviews

In his new novel, Through the Waters and the Wild, Greg Fields proves himself a remarkable lyrical writer in the tradition of Pat Conroy and Ann Patchett. This book takes up the story of Conor Finnegan, the protagonist of Fields's first novel Arc of the Comet. Having experienced lost love in his personal life and dashed dreams in his professional career, Conor searches for meaning, a woman to love, and goals worth pursuing. Fields's prose is eloquent, his complex twists of plot captivating, and the sensibility with which he ends his story masterful. With Through the Waters and the Wild, Greg Fields has firmly established himself as a major American novelist. -Ray Carson Russell, Author, Philurious College Blues Irresistible lyrical prose! In Through the Waters and the Wild, Greg Fields masterfully tells the story of modern-day Conor Finnegan's loss and heartbreak and his ultimate quest for meaning in life. His grandfather, Liam, who survived the Irish Civil War and emigrated to America to start fresh, becomes a beacon of hope and leaves an indelible imprint on Conor's spirit. Fields writes with passion to show us how the power of love, family bonds, and resilience can ultimately change one's destiny. -Kathleen Reid, author of Sunrise in Florence A superb effort by Greg Fields. Through the Waters and the Wild brings alive descriptive scenes that jump off the page and into the mind like a painting. The soliloquys leave the reader experiencing the aches of first loves lost and the joys of love gained. The threads of the story, masterfully woven and lyrically written, combine the best elements of literary fiction. A pleasure to read from start to finish. -James Ballard, Author, Poisoned Jungle Greg Fields weaves a tale of two separate life journeys-different in time, place, and generation, but motivated by the same driving desire for self-discovery, awareness, and fulfillment. A tale masterfully and beautifully told. -Steve Jam, Author, A Seventh Sense Hauntingly beautiful. One of those stories that is slow to read because it's marked by so many moments of putting the book down, pondering your own life, wondering how those words were able to see through you so thoroughly. Hauntingly. Beautiful. -Andrew Welch, Author, Field Blends Greg Fields delivers a rare quality of writing and storytelling with a tapestry of insight on the human condition. A treatise of self-awareness and journey of personal growth. This is the book that fills your cup and finds its way to your permanent shelf to revisit like an old friend. Fields's sensory writing is as spectacular as it is fluid. The narration is pitch perfect as the reader is guided invisibly into the fictional world with palpable realism. His use of literary devices is both stealthy and well balanced. A book you want to read out loud to your dearest. The plight of love, loss, honor, and redemption from despair and depression. -James Masciarelli, Author, Beyond Beaufort The story has the smell and flavor of Irish soil in it, and as I read I almost felt the dampness of the ground. . . . The Irishness of the characters shines through. Sometimes we can't get out of our own way. -Elaine Readon, Poet and Essayist, The Heart Is a Nursery for Hope In Through the Waters and the Wild, Greg Fields, a master composer of the human spirit, cleverly kidnaps your imagination and propels it on an adventurous and highly emotional rollercoaster that spans time and space. From the cold shores of Ireland to the mean streets of Boston and beyond, Liam Finnegan seeks a life of liberty, happiness and love. Years later, his grandson Conor desires the same, but success for him is elusive. Realizing he is living in a hubristic dream state from his youth, Conor, just like his grandfather, must turn his life around or face a lonely and empty future. -Scott A. Porter, Author of Here They Come Through the Waters and the Wild creates complex, yet relatable characters that are explored, analyzed, and understood deeply in connection with the depth of human nature. A truly beautiful and moving tale of the hardships that life throws our way, and how we as humans make it through hardships. Fields's second novel appeals to any reader looking for a truly fantastic story of love, change, and the harsh yet wonderful realities of life. -Emily Keefer, Author, The Stars on Vita Felice Court Reflecting the depths of the grey Irish sea and sky, Greg Fields's latest novel, Through The Waters And The Wild, pours richness into the barren soils of the early 1900s Ireland. Somewhere in the intersecting values of grey, deep where the shadows of black swirl in with the hope of white, the story of Liam Finnegan's courage to hold to the fading sense of who he is crafts his embrace of a new future in America. Fields's framed narrative weaves the tales of generations from farmer to Capitol Hill, illuminating the grit and grace given to those of us who strive, suffer losses, and find ourselves at one of life's roadblocks. With skilled precision, Fields treats his readers with imagery nodding to the connections we recognize. Words like 'So it had begun, this confounding dance between partners hearing the same music, interpreting it quite differently, and never touching' reflect the human experience of searching for a soul to recognize. Through the Waters and the Wild explores the rebuilding of dreams in order to shed a light on love's hope that rims a heart seeking communion with life. -Sharon Krasny, Author, The Iceman Awakens

Author Information

Greg Fields is the author of Arc of the Comet, a lyrical, evocative examination of promise, potential and loss, published by Koehler Books and released in October 2017. The book was nominated for the Cabell First Novelist Award, the Sue Kaufman First Fiction Prize and the Kindle Book of the Year in Literary Fiction. Inspired and informed by the expressively literate styles of Niall Williams, Colm Toibin and the best of Pat Conroy, Through the Waters and the Wild explores themes of exile and redemption in prose described by Owen Thomas, award winning author of The Lion Trees, as 'wonderful, compelling and luminous.' Greg is also the co-author with Maya Ajmera of Invisible Children: Reimagining International Development from the Grassroots. He has won recognition for his written work in presenting the plight of marginalized young people through his tenure at the Global Fund for Children, and has had articles published in the Harvard International Review, as well as numerous periodicals, including The Washington Post and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. His short nonfiction has appeared in The Door Is A Jar and Gettysburg Review literary reviews. An accomplished and well respected editor as well, Greg lives in Manassas, Virginia. He may be reached at www.gregfields.net.

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