Starred review from October 8, 2012
Galveston, Tex., a place indelibly marked by the hurricane of 1900, which took well over 6,000 lives, is the setting for Black’s fine debut. In present day, after the death of her six-year-old daughter and the collapse of her marriage, a broken Clare Porterfield returns to her island hometown after a decade away. She’s been invited to choose material for a photo exhibition funded by the prominent Carraday family, whose patriarch, the Jay Gatsbyesque Will, has deep ties to Clare’s mother, Eleanor. As children, Will’s son, Patrick, and Clare were inseparable, their youthful exploits in and around the Porterfield house gradually tending toward the illegal, but a tragedy involving Patrick sent Clare away from home. Although Clare returns to look at photos of the island’s history, what she really seeks is what remains of her wounded self. As Clare searches for the elusive Patrick, the true object of her desire, island characters divulge truths to which she was never privy. As Galveston’s past comes to light, so, too, does Clare’s—and it’s so full of woe it nearly drowns the story. Nevertheless, Black mythologizes this landscape, evoking its essence and that of its inhabitants, creating a novel that is far more than the sum of its parts. Agent: Mollie Glick, Foundry Literary + Media.

November 1, 2012
In this contemporary Southern gothic, a young artist returns home to Galveston, Texas, and uncovers a century's worth of sordid secrets. Clare hasn't been back to Galveston since she was sent away at 14 to live with her grandmother. Now married (though she knows that won't last long) and mourning the accidental death of her daughter, Clare is on the island to organize a photo exhibit for the historical society. But the novel, like Clare, is consumed with the past. Growing up on Galveston, an old pirate island with a reputation for dangerous charm, Clare lived in the historic Porterfield House, lovingly maintained by her unlovable father. In front of this house sits the Carraday Mansion, still the residence of the powerful Carraday family. Patriarch Will Carraday gave Clare her first camera as a child and is sponsoring the exhibition, asking Clare to rummage through the family's personal archive. Clare splits her time between searching for Patrick Carraday, Will's son and once upon a time the person who made her world, and the truth about Stella Carraday, the mysterious ancestor who allegedly died during the great flood, found naked and hanging from the chandelier. The truth about Patrick proves more elusive. As children and teenagers, they were inseparable, she a willing accomplice to all of his delinquent inclinations. But even the heir to the Carraday fortune can't overcome some scandals, and after a suspicious fire kills a girl, Clare is sent to the Midwest and Patrick to Europe. Clare has nothing but questions: Why is Patrick avoiding her? How long have her mother and the married Will been having an affair? What really happened to Stella? For someone who prefers the distance of a camera to a conversation, Galveston may well keep her secrets. But then the atmospheric novel, framed by Clare's reticence, explodes in a thunderclap that exposes all the old wounds: incest, murder and the secret of Clare's paternity. Black's tempered pace and moody vulnerability creates a rich debut: both sensitive and sensational.

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July 1, 2012

Photographer Clare Porterfield returns to her hometown of Galveston, TX, after a number of years. Her marriage crumbling in the wake of her daughter's tragic death, Clare is seeking something she is unable to define. She finds herself in thrall to wealthy banker Will Carraday, whose longtime impact on her own family she's just beginning to realize, while trying to find resolution with Will's son Patrick, who was involved in an incident when they were teens that led to her leaving Galveston. VERDICT While Black's depiction of the culture and history of Galveston can come only from deep personal knowledge, the novel's structure is somewhat problematic; the main story thread is set in 1990 for no apparent reason, with no real sense or flavor of the time period. This reviewer guessed the book's big secret a full 100 pages earlier than Clare did, and thus was impatient with her until she figured it out. And first-time novelist Black falls victim to a rookie mistake, imposing an abrupt, unnecessary, somewhat implausible dramatic ending.--Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2012
Black's first novel is an atmospheric exploration of the island of Galveston, Texas, and the intertwined histories of two families who reside there. After the death of her daughter, grief-stricken photographer Clare Porterfield returns home to Galveston to construct an exhibit of historic photographs. Prepared to lose herself in the project, Clare instead finds herself drawn into the complicated relationship her family has with the Carradays. She learns patriarch Will has been having a decades-long affair with her mother, Eleanor, while Clare's own desire to seek out Will's son, Patrick, her childhood companion and crush, is thwarted at every turn. Clare is soon absorbed in a century-old mystery as she tries to piece together the fate of Stella Carraday, who supposedly perished in the hurricane that struck the island in 1900. As she uncovers the secret of Stella's fate, she is forced to confront truths about her own past as well as her grief over her daughter's death. A slow burn that rewards the reader with several shocking reveals and twists toward the end.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

"The Drowning House marks the emergence of an impressive new literary voice. Elizabeth Black's suspenseful inquiry into dark family secrets is enriched by a remarkable succession of images, often minutely observed, that bring characters, setting, and story sharply into focus."