The debut book by the English writer, critic, and author of our bestseller "The Lonely City." Laing journeys along the River Ouse in Sussex, where Virginia Woolf drowned in 1941, exploring the relationship between history and landscape and examining the role of rivers in human life. Ultimately, all roads lead to the Ouse — where the story begins and where the journey ends.

The book offers a profound exploration of how ghosts never leave their beloved places. Laing lifts various stories from the marshy banks of the Ouse — from the brutal Barons' War in the 13th century to the "dinosaur hunters" of the nineteenth. She recalls Shakespeare, Homer, Iris Murdoch, and Kenneth Grahame, author of the riverside classic "The Wind in the Willows." Laing examines the role of rivers in human life, tracing their intricate flow through literature and mythology.

Yet, the most central of all the ghosts remains Virginia Woolf, Laing's constant companion on this journey. Thus, the book can also be read as a biography of this unique English writer: a tribute to the fluidity of her life and literary process — "for despite the tragic end, it seemed she, like divers, possessed the gift of seeing what lies beneath the surface."