RED WATER

The mysterious disappearance of a young woman shadows several people in her life for decades.

Pavičić’s award-winning novel, first published in Croatia in 2017, unfolds like a true-crime story, with precise attention to timelines and small details. In “Part 1: Silva Disappears,” 17-year-old Silva Vela vanishes from the village of Misto on a September morning in 1989, with the crisis presented through the viewpoints of her mother Vesna, father Jakov, and twin brother Mate. The police are brought in, suspects are questioned, and Jakov hires a private detective, all to no avail. "Part 2: Diverging Paths," covering the next 20 years, expands its perspective to include several other characters, including two of the original suspects in Silva’s disappearance. Adrijan Lekaj, who was actually arrested, serves in the tragic Bosnian War, continues to wonder about Silva, and has a strange, random encounter with fellow suspect Mario Cvitković. As family members soldier on, the sweet sadness of remembering Silva hovers. Mate marries, Vesna approaches the end of her teaching career, but “they never found her.” Gorki, the young policeman who moved away after being originally assigned to the case, returns to Misto and finds it much changed. Silva’s disappearance is a lens, or arguably a metaphor, for the nation’s recent dark history. In Part 3, “Silva Returns.” Exactly how is left for the reader to discover. "Part 4: Red Water” offers a final twist on the story through a new character and a poignant look back at Croatia’s last 30 years.

A brilliant cocktail of mystery and recent history, compellingly told.