Memory of Water

Starred review from April 7, 2014
In a backwater Scandinavian community lucky enough to have survived the catastrophic transformations in Earth’s climate in the near future, Noria Kaitio dreams of becoming a tea master like her father and his forefathers before him. This dream is threatened when change comes to the village in the form of Commander Taro, a ruthless New Qian functionary who quickly discovers that the Kaitio’s unassuming tea house hides secrets worth killing for. Confronted with histories suppressed by the autocratic world government, and burdened with the guardianship of a hidden spring in a drought-plagued world, Noria considers bold action, but can she act before Taro’s noose closes around her neck? The basic components of Noria’s world—calamitous climate change, oppressive world governments, grasping officials—are quite familiar, and in lesser hands this would be just another unremarkable dystopia. Where Itäranta shines is in her rejection of conventional plots and in her understated but compelling characters. The work is a deceptively tranquil examination of a world of dust and ashes where the tenacious weed of hope still survives. Agent: Elina Ahlback.

May 15, 2014
Delicate medium-future fable that first appeared in Finland in 2012.Global warming has destroyed the old world and its order. Wars were fought over energy resources and water, rendering Norway and Sweden uninhabitable. Now the empire of New Qian rules Asia and much of Europe. In the far north of occupied Finland, where even in winter the temperature rarely drops below 50 degrees and water shortages are endemic, 17-year-old Noria Kaitio studies under her father to become a tea master. Not only must Noria learn the ceremony, with its underlying philosophy and ethics, but she must be introduced to her father's greatest secret: the location of the hidden spring from which the water for the teahouse derives. The region's military chief, Maj. Bolin-a family friend and frequent guest-has been protecting the teahouse, but as water shortages become ever more acute, Bolin's successor, Cmdr. Taro, proves less accommodating. After soldiers dig up the grounds and trash the teahouse, finding nothing, Noria's mother leaves to take up a position at a university in China, hoping Noria will join her. Meanwhile, Noria's friend Sanja, a young woman with an extraordinary talent for fixing broken junk recovered from ancient landfills, recovers what she fails to recognize as a CD player. In the same landfill, Noria finds a disk, which they are able to play and whose contents hint at an extraordinary and dangerous secret. After her father dies, Noria makes plans to learn the truth.Itaranta's fine debut is lyrically rendered, vivid and engaging despite a bit too much philosophy and a less-than-satisfying ending.

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Starred review from May 15, 2014

Noria Kaitio's home in the far future Scandinavian Union is hardly recognizable after climate change resculpted the physical landscape (it hasn't snowed in a century) and China's domination of much of the globe has reshaped the political world. Because Noria's father is the local tea master, her family has a larger water ration than most of her neighbors, who face constant shortages. The tea ritual also brings important people from the ruling military regime to her home from as far away as the capital in New Qian. Although it is unconventional to train a girl to perform the tea ceremony, Noria's father teaches her the rituals and shares with her a dangerous secret. VERDICT The writing is gorgeous and delicate in this dystopian award-winning debut, which is unique in both its setting and the small scale that Finnish author Itaranta employs. A larger world, with huge problems, is hinted at but not shown. Because the reader stays with the beautifully realized character of Noria and the village she inhabits, the tension is high even though the pacing remains measured.

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