An English irrigator draws on modern technology and ancient water-reverence to save a drought-stricken Australian boomtown in this lyrical, evocative but somewhat overwritten Australian bestseller set in the late 19th century. Raised by his father to be a "drowner," or irrigator, Will Dance goes to England to further his studies in engineering and, in Bristol, falls in love (at the public baths) with masseuse and aspiring actress Angelica Hammond. Together the lovers travel to western Australia, where Will brings water to a burgeoning gold-mining town overrun with typhoid fever. At a safe distance from its limpid leitmotif, the novel comes into its own, as Drewe gives readers a glimpse into the lives of three townspeople: an American mortician and aspiring poet; a mysterious photographer; and the typhoid nurse who poses for him.