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This is the second library book I’ve borrowed in a row that has the phrase ‘female rage� in the blurb (after Spoilt Creatures) and perhaps I should have realised that one was enough. The Drownings is a frustrating book with a tendency for the narrative to over-explain itself rather than letting the characters� words and actions stand on their own. It’s strongest in its details. Serena’s youth swimming career is beautifully rendered, and I quickly started looking forward to the chapters that flesh it out. There’s also Serena’s uneasy relationship with her influencer cousin Zara; I enjoyed the balance here, the push and pull between the two. In both strands, there’s a lot of tension that’s lacking in what is supposed to be the book’s main plot, about a campus protest movement. While the characters feel authentic in smaller, more personal scenes, the broader themes are shallow and unconvincing. There’s a moment in this book when the ‘daughters of the witches you couldn’t burn� thing is mentioned and dismissed, presumably as an acknowledgement of how such slogans have come to be seen as trite and insufficient; but for me, such a glibly feminist storyline occupies exactly the same space.