(New York, NY) - New in paperback, SHOOTING WATER by Devyani Saltzman (Newmarket Press, 292 pages, 16 b&w photos, $14.95 paperback, Pub date: October 9, 2007) is a captivating cross-cultural memoir that paints a fascinating portrait of a young woman as she reconnects with her estranged mother. Deeply personal in tone yet far-reaching in scope, this memorable debut chronicles her life-changing experience in exotic lands during the production of a controversial film.

At the age of nineteen, Devyani Saltzman was invited by her mother, award-winning filmmaker Deepa Mehta (Fire, Earth, Water), to join her in the holy city of Benares, India, and work as third assistant cameraperson on her new film about the fate of Hindu widows in 1938 colonial India.

Mother and daughter hoped that working together would help repair their relationship, strained since Devyani's parents divorced when she was eleven and she chose to live with her father. Following that difficult decision, Devyani spent years navigating between her parents' two religions, two cultures, and two traditions-belonging to both and to neither at once.

Their reunion, however, was short-lived when filming was suddenly shut down, the result of violent religious and political protests, which included death threats and Mehta's effigy being burned.

Only five years later, after production on Water resumed in Sri Lanka under a decoy title, would Saltzman and her mother have the chance to come to terms with their past, forgive each other and themselves, and start healing.

As it follows Devyani's journey into womanhood-from her encounters with political upheaval, to her infatuation with a fellow film crew member, to the emergence of a deeper understanding between mother and daughter-this compelling and beautifully written memoir goes beyond chronicling the journey of the Oscar-nominated film, to tell a universal story of love and redemption.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Devyani Saltzman received a degree in Human Sciences at Oxford University. She works as a photojournalist and freelance writer, and is based in Toronto. Shooting Water is her first book.
  

SHOOTING WATER by Devyani Saltzman Pages: 292 pp, 16 b&w photos ISBN: 978-1-55704-785-4 $14.95 Trade Paperback Publication Date: October 9, 2007

For review copies, author interviews, and further information contact: Harry Burton or Melissa Heller, Newmarket Press 18 East 48 Street, New York, NY 10017 Phone: (212) 832-3575, Fax: (212) 832-3629 hburton@newmarketpress.com mheller@newmarketpress.com www.newmarketpress.com