The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve

Currently I’m out of town, so this review will be rougher than I’d normally post. It will also be the fastest written ever. Yes, very, very bad of me... you will start to think that I’m not taking this seriously. Yeah... like you are just starting to get that notion in your head... forget I said anything...

The Weight of Water is another in the series of books borrowed from the women at work. This one wasn't that bad though. I'm starting to think that I can trust the books I borrow from one person as we seem to have similar tastes when it comes to the normal fiction stuff. I doubt that I can get her into my weird stuff but that is okay. I'm not expecting miracles.

The main character, Jean, has been assigned to take pictures of the island Smuttynose, the scene of a horrible double murder that took place in the 1800's. Her marriage isn't the happiest at the moment and she suspects that her husband has or will cheat on her. As she researches what happened on that island so long ago, we see what can happen to someone who is pushed too far.

As for this book, it was quite compelling. It jumps back and forth from the present to the past which helped keep me on my toes. Anita Shreve writes in such a way as to very easily picture everything that is happening in a scene, as if I was watching a movie instead of a reading a book. What I'm trying to say is that the story is very visual and not a difficult book to pick up.

It is rather intense in places but not all that graphic, as it doesn't have to be since your brain can fill in everything that isn't explicitly written out. It is also very tragic but I didn't get that sense of loss that should be apparent. I would really like to discuss this point more but I don’t want to give the ending away. It is a good read but I’m not sure if I'd read anything else of her work. Might have to if we choose something of her's for the book club.