A family afloat in grief: Aram Mrjoian’s "Waterline" captures the complex beauty of diaspora and survival

The Armenian Weekly

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A family afloat in grief: Aram Mrjoian’s "Waterline" captures the complex beauty of diaspora and survival

In this deeply moving debut, a close-knit Armenian American family grapples with the aftermath of losing one of their own. Outside Detroit on the island of Gross Ile, the Kurkjians receive news that Mari, the eldest of their youngest generation, has swum into the depths of Lake Michigan with no intent of returning to shore—the consequences of which drag out a deeply rooted pain passed down from generations before. More than a century earlier, Gr…