debra
debra asked:

CAN ANYONE EXPLAIN THE TITLE???? PLEASE!!

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Emma I had a brilliant thought about the title, but then I debunked it.

The only paragraph I liked in the book was this one:
They sat on a flat rock and ate their snacks and Sam asked if it was true that there were houses under the water. Lee called him an idiot for even thinking this and Cooper explained that there had once been villages down there, and that all the reservoirs had been made by flooding the valleys. They looked at him to see if he was joking. The world didn’t always sound right when it was first explained.

Then, I suddenly thought, THAT'S IT! That's the meaning of the title! Reservoir 13 was never mentioned... THIS TOWN is Reservoir 13... the town where nothing happens and people are drowning in this mire...

Anyway, turned out that Reservoir 13 is in fact mentioned. Richard and Cathy go for a walk to it, whoever the fuck they are. It was a brilliant theory, while it lasted, I'm sure you agree.
Mark I read an interview with the author where he said essentially he just liked the sound of it. I do like Emma's theory below though! And like Karen, I was assuming that Reservoir 13 is where the girl's body would turn up. It seems like it doesn't really have much meaning at all.
Paula I didn't read the book, rather I listed to an abridged audio broadcast. In that, reservoir 13 was definitely mentioned, although briefly. Furthermore, there was also mention of other numbered reservoirs. (There's one portion where it's written that the characters can see reservoir 7, I think it was. But it did make me question how there could be more than one reservoir so close to each other. They must be very small. In fact, 13 does drain dry, apparently seasonally.) So presumably that's simply how the area reservoirs are named, and 13 happens to be the one near this village.
Karen I had the feeling, since Reservoir 13 was never really mentioned (at least I think it wasn't, the book is going out of my retrievable memory) that that is where the girl's body was. The only person who knows the reason for the title is the author and he's not telling . . .
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