The flood : novel

The book that began Ian Rankin's phenomenal career. Mary Miller had always been an outcast. Burnt in a chemical mix as a young girl, sympathy for her quickly faded when the young man who pushed her in died in a mining accident just two days later. From then on she was regarded with a mixture of suspicion and fascination by her God-fearing community. Now, years later, she is a single mother, caught up in a faltering affair with a local teacher. Her son, Sandy, has fallen in love with a strange homeless girl. The search for happiness isn't easy. Both mother and son must face a dark secret from their past, in the growing knowledge that their small dramas are being played out against a much larger canvas, glimpsed only in symbols and flickering images - of decay and regrowth, of fire and water - of the flood. Mary Miller Is An Outcast, Believed By Some To Have Occult Powers, And Is The Mother Of A Bastard Son, Sandy. Mary Finds Herself Caught Up In A Faltering Affair With A Local Schoolteacher While Sandy Falls In Love With A Strange Gypsy Girl. As The Action Moves Towards A Tense And Unexpected Climax, Both Mother And Son Are Forced To Come To Terms With The Past, In The Growing Knowledge That Their Small Dramas Are Being Played Out Against A Much Larger Canvas, A Drama Glimpsed Only In Symbols And Flickering Images - Of Decay And Regrowth, Of Fire And Water - Of The Flood. When she was ten, Mary Miller was pushed into the hot burn--a torrent of warm-chemical run-off from the local coal mine. Her hair turned white and she was subsequently regarded with a mixture of fear and fascination by her God-fearing community. Years later she is a single mother and is having a faltering affair. Her son Sandy has fallen in love with a homeless girl, but the search for happiness isn't easy, and both mother and son are gradually being forced to come to terms with a dark secret from Mary's childhood Mary Miller had always been an outcast. As a young girl she had fallen into the hot burn - a torrent of warm chemical run-off from the local coal mine. Fished out white-haired and half-dead, sympathy for her quickly faded when the young man who pushed her in died in a mining accident just two days later. A single mother and her son cope with relationships and the fallout from events in her childhood