Katia Ariel
Paperback 2023
What happens when, in the middle of a happy heterosexual marriage, a woman falls in love with another woman?
The Swift Dark Tide is a story of selfhood and desire, of careful listening to an ungovernable heart. Part memoir, part love letter, The Swift Dark Tide is also a chronicle of life by the sea, journeying between Melbourne’s St Kilda and the Black Sea town of Odessa. Katia Ariel introduces us to a lineage of soulful, strident women and beautifully nuanced men. She invites us into home and heart to witness love, loss and joy, motherhood, daughterhood and the urgent wildness of the body.
A lyrical memoir of family, inheritance and queer becoming. Ariel writes with the eyes of a poet and the heart of a true romantic. Her sentences are crystalline marvels, gifts to be savoured and held up to the light. — Yves Rees, author of All About Yves
Alive with passion and pain, exquisitely metaphorical, Ariel’s memoir is a stunning feat of honesty. Immerse yourself in Ariel’s richly poetic world and savour its visceral impact. — Katherine Brabon, author of The Shut Ins and The Memory Artist
The Swift Dark Tide is that rare thing: an unforgettable memoir. — Nigel Featherstone, author of My Heart is a Little Wild Thing and Bodies of Men
About the author
Katia Ariel is an author and freelance book editor from Melbourne, Australia. She was born in Odessa, Ukraine. Katia teaches in the School of Culture and Communication at Melbourne University. The Swift Dark Tide is her debut memoir.
Gazebo Books
Gazebo Books is an independent publisher of contemporary literature from Australia and beyond. Visit www.gazebobooks.com.au
Media enquiries: Catherine Cavill, 0428 990 884