The Salmon Pool

The Salmon Pool is the story of one man’s life and his mission to clear the name of his father who, although drunken and violent, was not guilty of the murder of his daughter for which he was hanged. Ned Archer succeeds in escaping from his background only to find his life collapsing in ruins for the second time as he is forced to flee his country and the woman he loves to seek a new life in the United States and Panama. He wins and then loses the second love of his life before passing through the traumas of the First World War. All the time the memories of his past are driving him to uncover the truth about his father and the death of his younger sister. As the story builds towards its climax he finds himself in danger of losing both of the women he loves and cutting himself off from his only son. Only in the final catharsis of war and the terrible revelation of how his sister met her end does Ned begin to exorcise his personal demons and glimpse the tranquillity that has eluded him throughout his life.