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WORK TITLE: Something in the Water
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 2/8/1987
WEBSITE:
CITY: London
STATE:
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
NATIONALITY: British
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born February 8, 1987.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Actor and writer.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Based in North London, Catherine Steadman is a British actor and writer of psychological thrillers. As an actor, she debuted in Mansfield Park, and in many other shows including The Tudors, Victoria, and as Mabel Lane Fox in Downton Abbey. She was also in theatrical West-end shows of The Face, Oppenheimer, and Witness for the Prosecution, all of which she was nominated for acting awards.
As a writer, Steadman has released her debut novel, Something in the Water, in 2018, which became a New York Times bestseller. In a honeymoon gone tragically wrong story, newly wedded documentary filmmaker Erin and investment banker Mark are vacationing on the tropical island of Bora Bora. The story opens with Erin digging Mark’s grave, and through flashbacks from Erin’s point of view, readers learn that Mark has lost his job and this may be the last vacation they take for a sometime. While scuba diving, the couple finds a duffle bag full of riches, and must make a life-changing decision. They seem to have chosen badly, because soon they are being stalked by scary Russians and by Inspector Andy Foster, a Special Operative for Counterterrorism at Interpol. Meanwhile, one of Erin’s documentary subjects, a prisoner named Holli, has just been released and has joined her Islamic extremist boyfriend, and police believe that Erin may know what Holli’s next plans are. A Publishers Weekly reviewer noted that while not all the plot threads are successful, “daring choices, such as opening with a scene of the desperate Erin digging a grave,” make Steadman a successful writer.
A critic in Kirkus Reviews praised Steadman’s use of unreliable characters, wry voices, exquisite pacing, and twisting plot, saying that the book demands to be made into a film. The critic called the book “A darkly glittering gem of a thriller from a new writer to watch.” In Xpress Reviews, Lisa O’Hara found the plot interesting but a bit unbelievable, and “Erin and Mark’s motivations are sketchy, and a number of threads remain loose at the end,” which can be unsatisfying to readers. An online contributor to the Lit Bitch explained that Erin and Mark are not likable or trustworthy characters, even though the novel as a whole was believable and interesting, adding “this was a great read. I often would put myself in Erin’s shoes and would do the ‘what would I do if I were in her place’ game and I loved that.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 2018, review of Something in the Water.
Publishers Weekly, March 26, 2018, review of Something in the Water, p. 94.
Xpress Reviews, June 15, 2018, Lisa O’Hara, review of Something in the Water.
ONLINE
Lit Bitch, https://thelitbitch.com/ (May 17, 2018), review of Something in the Water.
Catherine Steadman
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Catherine Steadman
Born
February 8, 1987 (age 31)
England
Occupation
Actress & Author
Years active
2006–present
Catherine Steadman (born February 8, 1987) is an English actress and author, best known for playing Mabel Lane Fox in series 5 (2014) of ITV drama Downton Abbey. Her debut novel, the psychological thriller, Something in the Water was published in June 2018 by Simon & Schuster UK and Penguin Random House USA.[1][2]
Contents [hide]
1
Career
2
Filmography
3
References
4
External links
Career[edit]
Steadman trained at the Oxford School of Drama[3] and made her screen debut playing Julia Bertram in the ITV adaptation of Mansfield Park opposite Billie Piper, James D'arcy, Rory Kinnear & Michelle Ryan.[4] Since then she has appeared in television dramas such as the CBC/Showtime co-production The Tudors playing Joan Bulmer, Holby City, Law & Order: UK, Missing, Lewis, Quirke alongside Gabriel Byrne, Fearless opposite Helen McCrory, and Victoria. Most notably she played Nurse Wilson in the ITV drama Breathless, Maggie Lewis in Tutankhamun and Mabel Lane Fox in the 5th series of Downton Abbey. She has also appeared in several comedy series such as The Inbetweeners, Fresh Meat, Trying Again and Bucket.
On stage she has appeared in the West-end in shows such as Polly Stenham's award winning That Face opposite Matt Smith & Felicity Jones, which was nominated for a special cast Olivier Award,[5] the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Oppenheimer, opposite John Heffernan, for which she was nominated for a 2016 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and she played the titular role in the West-end revival of Witness for the Prosecution, opposite David Yelland, which was nominated for a 2018 Laurence Olivier Award for best revival.
She can also be seen in the films Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Richard Curtis' About Time, Dust, Princess Kaiulani, Astral, and Outpost: Black Sun.
Filmography[edit]
Film and television roles
Year
Film
Role
Notes
2006
The Bill
Jessica Bentham
ITV
2007
Mansfield Park
Julia Bertram
ITV
Hippie Hippie Shake
Petra
Working Title Films
Holby City
Anna Richards
BBC
2009
Dust
Elodie
Independent Film
Princess Kaiulani
Miss Barnes
Matador Films
The Inbetweeners
Daisy
E4 (Episode: "The Duke of Edinburgh Awards")
The Tudors
Joan Bulmer
Season 4
Missing
Helen Harper
BBC
Law & Order: UK
Joanne Ellis
ITV
2010
An Old Fashioned Christmas
Matilda Bassett
Hallmark
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Ashley
BBC Films
2011
Outpost 2: Black Sun
Lena
Lionsgate
Once & For All
Woman
Music video
2012
Lewis
Polly Beatty
ITV
The Lost Buoys
Daughter
Music video
About Time
Tina
Working Title Films
2013
Quirke
Claire Stafford
BBC
Fresh Meat
Alison
Channel 4
Breathless
Angela Wilson
ITV
2014
Trying Again
Kate
Sky
Downton Abbey
Mabel Lane Fox
ITV
2015
Tutankhamun
Maggie Lewis
ITV
2016
Midsomer Murders
Corina Craven
ITV episode 19.1 "The Village That Rose from the Dead"
2017
Fearless
Dr Karen Buxton
ITV
Bucket
Gemma
BBC4
Victoria
Mrs. Forbes
ITV
2018
Astral
Claire Harmann
Catherine Steadman is an actress and writer based in North London, UK. She is best known for her role as Mabel Lane Fox in Downton Abbey and is currently filming on the new Starz television series 'The Rook'. She grew up in the New Forest, UK, and lives with a small dog and an average sized man. Something in the Water is her first novel.
Customers Also Bo
Steadman, Catherine: SOMETHING IN THE WATER
Kirkus Reviews. (May 15, 2018):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Steadman, Catherine SOMETHING IN THE WATER Ballantine (Adult Fiction) $27.00 7, 24 ISBN: 978-1-5247-9718-8
While scuba diving in Bora Bora, honeymooners Erin and Mark find something in the water that will test their marriage and imperil their very lives.
Simply begging to be filmed, British actress Steadman's debut novel has already been optioned by Fox 2000 Pictures. With unreliable characters, wry voices, exquisite pacing, and a twisting plot, Steadman potently draws upon her acting chops. Opening with Erin digging her husband's grave, the novel descends abruptly--how did the honeymoon end so disastrously? The timeline backs up to set Erin and Mark's roller coaster in motion. A documentary filmmaker, Erin has been working on a project exploring how prisoners envision their lives upon release. She has focused on three inmates: Alexa, an engaging 42-year-old incarcerated for helping her mother die; Holli, a sullen young woman imprisoned for setting a bus on fire during a riot; and Eddie, a charmingly dangerous local mob kingpin doing time for money laundering. While Erin presses on with her film, Mark, an investment banker, has lost his job, and prospects for a new one are dim. Although they've economized on their wedding, the honeymoon is meant to be a final splurge. What they find in the water, however, skews their moral compasses. Caught in a game they do not understand, Erin and Mark are swiftly beset by ominous Russian figures, mysterious text messages, and shadowy stalkers. Meanwhile, Holli has been released and disappears with her boyfriend, who appears to be associated with Islamic extremists in Syria. DCI Andy Foster, a Special Operative for Counterterrorism, questions how much Erin knew about Holli's post-prison plans. So Erin can add Interpol to the list of people surveilling her every move. As events tangle further, Erin and Mark careen to the edges of international espionage and domestic disaster.
A darkly glittering gem of a thriller from a new writer to watch.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Steadman, Catherine: SOMETHING IN THE WATER." Kirkus Reviews, 15 May 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A538294073/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=86074aa5. Accessed 30 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A538294073
Something in the Water
Publishers Weekly. 265.13 (Mar. 26, 2018): p94.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Something in the Water
Catherine Steadman. Ballantine, $27 (352p) ISBN 978-1-5247-9718-8
One minute London newlyweds Erin Locke and Mark Roberts are enjoying a honeymoon to die for--Bora Bora, five-star lagoon bungalow--and the next they're being sucked into a maelstrom that might actually get them killed, in this captivating if credulity-stretching debut from Downton Abbey alum Steadman (she played Mabel Lane Fox). What changes everything is the couple's discovery while scuba diving of a locked canvas duffel bag. Its contents would free both recently fired investment banker Mark and narrator Erin, who just started filming her first solo documentary (about three prisoners and their transitions postincarceration), from any financial worries--but almost certainly guarantee worries of a more lethal nature. Once the pair start down this perilously slippery slope, the threats and increasingly bad decisions accelerate with Bourne-like velocity, as do their lies to each other. Although not all of the plot gambles prove equally successful, daring choices, such as opening with a scene of the desperate Erin digging a grave, mark Steadman as a newcomer worth watching. Agent: Camilla Wray, Darley Anderson (U.K.). (June)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Something in the Water." Publishers Weekly, 26 Mar. 2018, p. 94. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A532997133/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=ee62b429. Accessed 30 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A532997133
Steadman, Catherine. Something in the Water
Lisa O'Hara
Xpress Reviews. (June 15, 2018):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Library Journals, LLC
http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/reviews/xpress/884170-289/xpress_reviews-first_look_at_new.html.csp
Full Text:
Steadman, Catherine. Something in the Water. Ballantine. Jun. 2018. 352p. ISBN 9781524797188. $27; ebk. ISBN 9781524797195. F
[DEBUT] This first novel from a Downton Abbey actress
(Mabel Lane Fox) is the story of Mark and Erin, a near-perfect couple who find something on their honeymoon to Bora Bora that changes everything. When Mark is fired from his investment banking job, Erin's career as a documentary filmmaker can't support them, bringing tension into their relationship. Erin's current project follows three convicts who are about to be paroled, and during the filming one convict's ties to a terrorist organization are revealed. In the meantime, Erin and Mark are involved in some shady business themselves and can't afford to have their affairs scrutinized. Told from Erin's perspective, the novel is the story of their relationship, their honeymoon discovery, and what it ultimately discloses about each of them separately and as a couple.
Verdict While the plot is interesting if a little unbelievable, Erin and Mark's motivations are sketchy, and a number of threads remain loose at the end, leaving readers hanging. Still, this has been getting some prepub buzz, so die-hard thriller fans might be interested. [See Prepub Alert, 1/8/18.]--Lisa O'Hara, Univ. of Manitoba Libs., Winnipeg
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
O'Hara, Lisa. "Steadman, Catherine. Something in the Water." Xpress Reviews, 15 June 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A543990849/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=787aa370. Accessed 30 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A543990849
Review: Something In The Water by Catherine Steadman
When this book came across my desk for review, the first thing that caught my eye was that the author was also an actress, most notably an actress in Downton Abbey.
I’m always intrigued by people with dual talents. Being an actress is difficult enough but then you add author in the mix and it seems almost impossible so when I see things like this that aren’t memoirs or autobiographies etc, I am always curious to see how the author’s talents translate from big screen to pages.
SOMETHING IN THE WATER stood out besides the fact that Steadman is an actress though…..it’s set in Bora Bora. I was instantly intrigued. It’s an island paradise. A place most certainly on my bucket list and for many people, a trip of a lifetime. Having a thriller set in paradise sounds delectable and like something I would want to read!
Erin and Mark seem to have it all: he’s a successful banker, she’s a documentary filmmaker on the brink of a professional breakthrough; they’re young and in love, about to embark on their dream honeymoon to Bora Bora. But when, after a blissful day of scuba diving, they discover a mysterious bag filled with incalculable riches, their subsequent choices trigger a sequence of events that will change their lives–and their marriage–forever (summary from Goodreads).
This book is marketed to fans of Ruth Ware, Paula Hawkins, and Shari Lapena. All authors I haven’t read before–so I didn’t have any expectations to gage my reading experience with, however, I would say this is up there with other domestic thrillers such as GONE GIRL. Paula Hawkins wrote THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN and while I have yet to read that one, I know enough of the story to say that fans of that book will likely enjoy this one.
From the get go, I was uneasy with the characters. We meet Erin digging a grave to bury a body. The opening is brilliant. I was hooked right away and wanted to know—‘how did we get here? How did we get from romantic honeymoon to burying a dead body?’
I loved how the intro kind of left of there and then took us back to the ‘beginning’. I mean it’s not every day that a professional woman is out somewhere digging a body, the reader instantly wants to know what happened. I was immediately on edge and wary of the characters. I wasn’t sure that I could trust any of them–or if I even wanted to.
This whole feeling carried on throughout the novel and I loved that about this book. I kept saying over and over as I was reading ‘NOOOOOO what are you thinking?!’. Now normally that would bother me about a character but in this case it was very realistic. I mean don’t we always hope that we will avoid temptation when it’s out right in front of our faces, but yet there is something inside us that just can’t walk away and say no? I thought this book portrayed a very realistic response to human temptation.
While I didn’t always like Erin or trust her and I never liked or even trusted Mark–the whole novel was believable and interesting. The relationship between Mark and Erin was clearly a shit show from the word go. I personally felt like she trusted him way more than she should from the beginning. He seemed a little too slick and had too many ready answers. He just seemed too extra and I thought she should have seen through some of his facade but I also think that’s what kept me reading. Again, it was like a train wreck that I just couldn’t turn my eyes from. As I said before, there were many ‘what are you thinking’ moments for me in this book which propelled the story forward.
For me personally I think this was a great read. I often would put myself in Erin’s shoes and would do the ‘what would I do if I were in her place’ game and I loved that. Sometimes I didn’t like my answers to that question which I loved. I love books that make you want to imagine yourself as the protagonist even if you don’t trust them or even like them and that’s what this book did for me.
Intriguing read and full of lots of compelling angles!
Challenge/Book Summary:
Book: Something In The Water by Catherine Steadman
Kindle Edition, 336 pages
Expected publication: June 5th 2018 by Ballantine Books (first published 2018)
ASIN B075HYDH8B
Review copy provided by: Publisher/author in exchange for an honest review
This book counts toward: NA
Hosted by: NA
Books for Challenge Completed: NA
Recommendation: 4 out of 5
Genre: mystery, crime, thriller
Memorable lines/quotes: