Meltwater

Meltwater is a homage to the power of storytelling, chronicling a woman’s unique journey to find her 'self'. This journey is made difficult by the fact that Elizabeth has thirteen different 'selves', all part of her, all created to bury shocking memories of abuse.

Related with evocative immediacy, narrator Beatrice uncovers stories from Elizabeth’s early life, traversing moody, physical, and emotional landscapes. Vivid and visual vignettes are set against the brooding backdrop of the Southern Alps, the brittle cold of the Central Plateau, and the volatile, volcanic slopes of Mt Taranaki, to where Elizabeth finally escapes, hoping for a new start.

Once there, disquieting incidents shatter her mind, forcing interim asylum care—a place of silence, sorrow, and loss. Even so, after leaving hospital and ultimately achieving the stability she desires, unsettling shadows still infiltrate the present.

With therapist guidance, Elizabeth must choose: leave her story suspended in a glacial state, or make the torturous journey with her alters to the tower of forgotten memories. She has no choice; with that first step, her story, frozen in time, has begun to melt. There is no turning back.

Yet, an ultimate mystery persists, and Elizabeth is haunted by this unknowing. Will the final story free her?

Poignant, cruel, chilling, yet life-affirming, written with lyrical, edgy grace.