Mick Little used to be a shipbuilder on the Glasgow yards. But as they closed one after another down the river, the search for work took him and his beloved wife Cathy to Australia, and back again, struggling for a living, longing for home. Thirty years later the yards are nearly all gone and Cathy is dead.

Granta Best Young British Novelist and Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Mick Little used to be a shipbuilder on the Glasgow yards. But as they closed one after another down the river the search for work took him and his beloved wife Cathy to Australia and back again struggling for a living longing for home. With devastating vision Ross Raisin brings to life the story of an ordinary man caught in the outer reaches of modern existence suffering the loss of a great love. Waterline paints a captivating portrait of the alienation of lives lived quietly all around us and of one man s existence dissolved through grief and the long journey home." 'There are rare novels that embed themselves in your sensibility so profoundly you can imagine conversations arising between characters that never occurred on the page . . . A work of grace: a human being rendered by a triumph of ventriloquism and empathy' Alan Warner Guardian 'Spectacular' Time Out 'A poignant shocking wry shaming yet profoundly generous and cunningly crafted classic ... If you're looking for the definitive novel for our times this is the strongest candidate I've read for ages' Scotsman 'Raisin is a novelist of terrific ability and great verve' Philip Hensher Sunday Telegraph