The Weight of Water
Anita Shreve
(Reviewer - Coletta Ollerer)
1997 Little Brown & Co.
ISBN: 0316789976

Two stories forged into a single narrative about trust & betrayal, the destructiveness of passion, the deep-woven bond of family & the resonance of guilt.

Guest Reviewer Coletta Ollerer writes:

Jean, the narrator, recounts the events of an historical bloody homicide which took place on one of the Isles of Shoals off the coast of New Hampshire in the 19th century. She is a photojournalist who was hired to take pictures for an article about the event. The victims were immigrants from Norway, Karen & Anethe. A third woman, Maren, is said to have escaped the slaughter by hiding in a secluded cave on the island. “If it so please the Lord, I (Maren) shall, with my soul and heart and sound mind, write the true and actual tale of that incident which continues to haunt my humble footsteps, even in this country of my birth, far from those forbidding, granite islands on which a most unforgivable crime was committed against the persons whom I loved most dearly in all the world.” (p.39)

There are really two stories told in parallel: that murderous episode & the events of Jean's current personal life. The author jumps from the 19th century to the 20th by switching from past tense to present tense without a break in the page. This was a bit confusing at first but, once understood, it added to the fascination.

Rich, the brother of Jean's husband, Thomas, & the owner of a sailboat offered to take Jean, Thomas, their daughter Billie & along with his girlfriend, Adeline on a brief excursion to the island. The plan then was that the remainder of the party stay offshore while Jean took the dinghy for the short jaunts necessary to take pictures for the article. The people on this small vessel & their experiences together there constitute one part of the story. “We are four adults and one child forced to live agreeably together in a space no bigger than a small bedroom, and that space almost always damp. The sheets are damp, my underwear is damp.” (p.7)

The other part of The Weight of Water is the unfolding occurrences of the murder Jean has gleaned from local athenaeum archival materials, an engrossing side by side tale.

More from Anita Shreve:
All He Ever Wanted
Sea Glass
Resistance
Strange Fits of Passion
Eden Close & many more!
(05/09/04)

Coletta
2005©Coletta Ollerer
A RebeccasReads.Com Associate Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio:
I have always enjoyed writing. As a teenager I submitted to magazines like Seventeen, & was politely rejected. As a young mother, I had several poems published in The Chicago Tribune. Born in Chicago in 1932, I still live in the area. Since I retired, I have had some success on the Internet with my book reviews, stories & poetry. I enjoy historical fiction mostly, but will read anything uplifting, informative & fun. When I'm not reading & writing, I'm making jewelry, sewing needlepoint, & painting.