Elias Rodriques

When Daniel hears about the death of his high school girlfriend back in Florida, he considers returning for the first time since he left there. Now out of the closet and living in New York, Daniel’s life seems settled, but he has many ghosts to confront in Florida, and that is the gist of All the Water I’ve Seen is Running. Debut author Elias Rodriques deftly weaves together Daniel’s present with a sort of stream of consciousness memory that makes All the Water interesting and emotional — even if the memories sometimes get a bit muddled. There are his memories from childhood and high school, family history from his mother’s stories, and even some Jamaican folk tales. Rodriques jams a lot in, considering the bulk of the novel takes place over a few days, and at times it feels like a bit too much — always better when he returns to Daniel. All the Water is an interesting and well-written novel about memory, family, race, and grief, but bring some patience for the meandering parts.… (meer)