The Waterline
By Joseph Olshan

This novel begins with two young boys playing at the edge of a lake, and one drowns. That event influences everything to come for the survivor—his relationships, his fear of love, his failure to trust. I read the book a long time ago, but one thing has stayed with me: the way a trauma in childhood—though the memory is so blurred and disjointed—can affect us deeply without our even realizing it.