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A riveting and deeply involving story of irresistible emotions and irrevocable actions, by the author of Eden Close. A century after two women were murdered in a fit of passion on a small island off the coast of New Hampsire, another woman goes to the island to shoot a photo essay about the crime--and finds herself gripped by uncontrollable passions of her own.
Shreve’s novels draw on her diverse experiences as a teacher and journalist: she began writing fiction while teaching high school, and was awarded an O. Henry Prize in 1975 for her story, “Past the Island, Drifting.” She then spent several years working as a journalist in Africa, and later returned to the States to raise her children. In the 1980s, she wrote about women’s issues, which resulted in two nonfiction books -- Remaking Motherhood and Women Together, Women Alone -- before breaking into mainstream fiction with Eden Close in 1989.
This interest in women’s lives -- their struggles and success, families and friendships -- informs all of Shreve’s fiction. The combination of her journalist’s eye for detail and her literary ear for the telling turn of phrase mean that Shreve can spin a story that is dense, atmospheric, and believable. Shreve incorporates the pull of the sea -- the inexorable tides, the unpredictable surf -- into her characters’ lives the way Willa Cather worked the beauty and wildness of the Midwestern plains into her fiction. In Fortune’s Rocks and The Weight of Water, the sea becomes a character itself, evocative and ultimately consuming. In Sea Glass, Shreve takes the metaphor as far as she can, where characters are tested again and again, only to emerge stronger by surviving the ravages of life.
A domestic sensualist, Shreve makes use of the emblems of household life to a high degree, letting a home tell its stories just as much as its inhabitants do, and even recycling the same house through different books and periods of time, giving it a sort of palimpsest effect, in which old stories burn through the newer ones, creating a historical montage. "A house with any kind of age will have dozens of stories to tell," she says. "I suppose if a novelist could live long enough, one could base an entire oeuvre on the lives that weave in and out of an antique house."
Shreve’s work is sometimes categorized as “women’s fiction,” because of her focus on women’s sensibilties and plights. But her evocative and precise language and imagery take her beyond category fiction, and moderate the vein of sentimentality which threads through her books. Moreover, her kaleidoscopic view of history, her iron grip on the details and detritus of 19th-century life (which she sometimes intersperses with a 20th-century story), and her uncanny ability to replicate 19th-century dialogue without sounding fusty or fussy, make for novels that that are always absorbing and often riveting. If she has a flaw, it is that her imagery is sometimes too cinematic, but one can hardly fault her for that: after all, the call of Hollywood is surely as strong as the call of the sea for a writer as talented as Shreve.
I sit in the harbor and look across to Smuttynose. A pink light, a stain, makes its way across the island. I cut the engine of the small boat I have rented and put my fingers into the water, letting the shock of the cold swallow my hand. I move my hand through the seawater, and think how the ocean, this harbor, is a repository of secrets, its own elegy.
I was here before. A year ago. I took photographs of the island, of vegetation that had dug in against the weather: black sedge and bayberry and sheep sorrel and sea blite. The island is not barren, but it is sere and bleak. It is granite, and everywhere there are ragged reefs that cut. To have lived on Smuttynose would have required a particular tenacity, and I imagine the people then as dug in against the elements, their roots set into the cracks of the rocks like the plants that still survive.
The house in which the two women were murdered burned in 1885, but when I was here a year ago, I photographed the footprint of the house, the marked perimeter. I got into a boat and took pictures of the whitened ledges of Smuttynose and the black-backed gulls that swept and rose above the island in search of fish only they could see. When I was herebefore, there were yellow roses and blackberries.
When I was here before, something awful was being assembled, but I didn't know it then.
I take my hand from the water and let the drops fall upon the papers in the carton, dampened already at the edges from the slosh. The pink light turns to violet.
Sometimes I think that if it were possible to tell a story often enough to make the hurt ease up, to make the words slide down my arms and away from me like water, I would tell that story a thousand times.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve Copyright © 1997 by Anita Shreve
Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Anonymous
Posted July 6, 2008
Wonderful, heart-wrenching, gripping story. The way the narration intertwines makes it even more intriguing and mesmerizing. The prose reads like poetry and this has become one of my favorite books.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 19, 2006
This was a wonderful story that dipped from the present to the past, and excavated an old mystery - one that actually occurred.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 8, 2013
Main character was selfish and unsympathetic, as well as irresponsible. Historical story was more engaging, but it just felt like too much work to slog through it all. Then with the expectedly "unexpected" twist at the end she lost me entirely - Main reaction was annoyance. Not a satisfying investment of time.
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Posted November 23, 2012
One of the best stories ever! A must-read!
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Posted July 23, 2012
Half way through this book, I knew I had made a mistake paying $10. This was the most confusing book I have ever read. Half the time I didn't know what time period the author was writing about. It was back and forth, back and forth. The past events were so intertwined with the present that I made no connection with any of the characters. What role did Adeline play other than her sexual relationship with Rich and flirting with Thomas? Jean and Thomas were so mismatched in their marriage, totally opposite personalities. The character of little Billie was the only thing that made this story bearable. Anita Shreve totally missed the mark on this book. What I fail to understand is all the raving reviews in the first few pages. Are they referring to this book!"
Even if a book is not up to my style of writing, I'll still recommend it, but in this case I do not. This should be under the $5 and under book list.
PumpkinKV
Posted August 29, 2011
So during the Hurricane Irene, I thought let me pick up this book and start reading it. I belong to a book club and this was required. I tried 3X and I still could not get into it. I am sorry but I really have a tough time with this author.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This book wasnt terrible but for me I could have done without the 2 stories. It annoyed me going back and forth back and forth and most of the part of the murders I just didnt read, it was boring too me untill they actually started talking about the murders, I would have rather read about the "real life part" and left out the boringness of the woman talking about her life and how she came to the island.
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Posted August 15, 2009
I liked this book despite the emotional heaviness. It drew me in from the very start and was difficult to put down. The story and emotions stayed with me for days after I finished.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Very poignant story with interesting characters. A great read for book clubs and conversation.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anita Shreve has done a great job by combining different styles and the way she creates a weave in story telling.
A Must Read.
Anonymous
Posted April 8, 2006
I really enjoyed this book. I havnt read any other of Anita Shreves books but im planing on it. I loved how you could really tell the difference between Jean and Maren, they were two completly different people. I was happy with the way the book was set up, like it was two different books all in one but very related to eachother. For me the ending to both the womens stories was unexpected, but very good! I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a good read.
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Posted February 11, 2006
While I struggled to get through the book, it did deliver at the end, leaving me in a state of shock. I feel it's worth the time put into it, as long as you finish.
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Posted November 20, 2005
Anita Shreve is an incredibly talented author and The Weight of Water is her best book. I have read this book numerous times and each time I am enthralled. I highly, highly recommend this book.
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Posted November 23, 2005
This book was a difficult book to get through. Some areas of the book were interesting however most of the book was slow.
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Posted August 22, 2005
I kept reading hoping something would make it worth it but it just didn't deliver the thrill that I was expecting. Overall, there was just way to much boring background then there were a couple of pages of suspense and then that was it.
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Posted October 11, 2005
It took alot to finish this book. Normally, I can finish a book in two, maybe three days, tops, but this one has me dragging it out. I wish I would have read the online reviews before buying this book.
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Posted April 8, 2005
Having grown up near the islands, the first thing that came to mind after reading this book was, 'What was the purpose of even claiming this novel had anything to do with the historical events?'. To anyone, save the paranoid, the historical facts weave as close to an open and shut case as there could ever be. In modern terms, the case was a slam dunk for the prosecution, and Wagner couldn't have been more easily convicted if he confessed. Instead of telling the true story of the murders, Shreve instead dismisses the proponderance of evidence against Wagner and asks us to believe that it is more probable that Maren was in love with her brother, and killed her own sister. She also ignored descriptions of the actual persons and re-creates each as a character that no where near resembles what is known about the true individual. Karen, for example, was highly thought of by Celia Thaxter, whome Karen worked for, and was described as a very affable person. John was a good husband, and he and Maren were known to be very much in love. Anethe was admired by all who knew her. Instead of telling the true story, Shreve changes the facts and demonizes the innocent victims while exhaulting the cold blooded killer as some sort of martyr. If Shreve actually believes this could be true, then she obviously did not do all of the research she claims to have done. Although this may appeal to some chronic armchair conspiracy theorists, it actually smears the reputation of good, albeit long dead, people, and eploits their tragedy to sensationalize it. My question to her would be, 'Why not simply change the names, not mention the actual murders, and promote the story as it really is; as pure fiction?'. Besides the problems I have with her shameful exploitation of this tragedy, the book has two other major shortcomings. First, Thomas is such an unsympathetic character, that one can scarcely believe any love could have ever existed between he and Jean. Furthermore, the ending, which was obviously meant to have an unexpected plot twist, instead seems completely off the wall and it is too hard to believe that such things could occur.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 25, 2004
I have a one month old, but this story was so riveting I couldnt put it down. i found time to read at every nap. I love Anita Shreves' books, and this one definently kept me glued till the end.
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Posted October 30, 2003
I have to say that I am completely in love with this book...the writing style is beautiful and haunting and had me hooked from page one! The words sing off the page...
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Posted September 1, 2003
This book really is a good one, personally this is the 3rd book I have bought by her, and it wasn't my favorite. I didn't like it in the beginning, but I kept reading, and then started to enjoy it. It's weird how things turn out, it makes you think a little.
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