Lenka Janiurek first encounters tragedy with the death of her mother when she is just nine. Involving a chaotic family, early success as a playwright, disastrous relationships, motherhood, and brushes with both extreme wealth and poverty, Janiurek’s rich and remarkable memoir is been a search for a kind of freedom, found in the comforting solace of swimming. Haunted by the despair, rage and addiction of men she has known best, she nevertheless explores and celebrates the beauty and pain of living life to the full. Watermarks is a stunning evocation of identity and alienation, and the restorative power of the natural world.