A debut novel wades into water's beauty and its deadly power

"Tara Menon grew up in Singapore; like most of her classmates, she visited Southeast Asian's beaches for holidays. Her family skipped the trip in December 2004, the year a massive tsunami struck the region, killing around 230,000 people. Eight years later, as a graduate student in New York, Menon lived through Hurricane Sandy, which left 254 people dead. 

In her debut novel, "Under Water" (Riverhead), Menon's protagonist ponders friendship, family, and grief, along with the consolations and devastations of water. As the book progresses, Marissa, who like Menon has moved to New York from an Asian childhood, takes in the drumbeat of warnings about Sandy's dangers while also recalling the strikingly sudden appearance of the tidal wave that will take her best friend, Arielle."

Read more from The Boston Globe here.