Red Water tells the story of the disappearance of a seventeen-year-old girl who vanished one September Saturday in 1989, after a fishermen’s festival in a small town on the Dalmatian coast. The police investigation yields no results, while surrounding political events — the fall of a system, social changes, and war — overshadow the girl’s disappearance, which slowly fades into oblivion. Her family — father, mother, and twin brother — are the only ones who continue searching for the missing Silva. Red Water spans 27 years, following the fates of those entangled in the disappearance, from family members and suspects to inspectors of the communist militia. Through their destinies, the novel captures three decades of life in Croatia.
Jurica Pavičić is a professor of history and literature, as well as a renowned Croatian novelist, screenwriter, short story writer, and journalist. He gained literary acclaim with his short stories, thrillers, and crime novels. In his prose, he blends social analysis with a dark vision of human nature and complex moral dilemmas. He has won numerous literary awards. His novel Red Water (published in 2017) received, following its French translation in 2021, the Le Point prize and the Grand Prix de la littérature policière for best European crime novel.
He debuted in literature with the social thriller Alabaster Sheep in 1997. Quoting Palestinian director Elia Suleiman, Pavičić often says his stories deal with “unfinished houses and unfinished business.” Critics frequently compare his stories to those of Alice Munro and Raymond Carver.
Since 1990, he has worked as a film critic and columnist for various newspapers (Slobodna Dalmacija, Vijenac, Zarez, Nedjeljna Dalmacija, Jutarnji list). He has received a number of significant awards for his columns and critical writing.