Dreaming Water

A poignant novel exploring two of the richest and most layered human connections that exist: mother and daughter and lifelong friends.

“Beautifull written, effused with both sadness and hope, Tsukiyama’s novel cannot fail to move readers.” —Booklist (starred review)

Hana is suffering from Werner’s Syndrome, a disease that makes a person age at twice the rate of a healthy individual; at thirty-eight, she has the appearance of an eighty-year-old. Hana’s mother, Cate, is caring for her while struggling with her grief at losing her husband. Hana and Cate’s quiet, orderly days are shattered when Laura, Hana’s best friend from childhood, arrives unannounced with her two loud and energetic daughters . . .

Gorgeously written and deeply moving, Dreaming Water is the haunting story of a mother’s courage, a daughter’s strength, and a friend’s love.

“Gail Tsukiyama is a writer of astonishing grace, delicacy, and feeling. Her lyric precision serves not only to leave the reader breathless but to illuminate suffering and redemption with clarity and power.” —Michael Chabon, author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction