The Memory of Water, Karen White

Kate’s Library

Title:  The Memory of Water
Author:  Karen White
Pages:  315
Genre:  Fiction
Source:  Kindle
Why I picked it up:  It was on my list, and available for a free download 
What you’ll love:  Nice setting.
What will bug you:  It’s pretty easy to figure out the twists at the end.

Free books!  So excited to have found that NH Downloadable Books site!  I get to knock a book off of my wishlist and it’s on the kindle so it’s so easy to read while feeding the baby!

When they are little girls, Marnie and Diana Maitland are part of a sailboat accident during which their mother drowns.  Each girl grows up with secrets surrounding this traumatic event.  After being separated by distance for many years, Marnie returns to the South Carolina Lowcountry after receiving a phone call from Diana’s ex-husband; Diana and their son were involved in a sailboat accident.  Diana will not talk about the event, and their son refuses to speak at all. Marnie stays to help her nephew but needs to revisit her own past in order to do so.

This book was pretty good.  I finished it fairly quickly, so it was not a really difficult read.  I thought the descriptions of the Lowcountry were really beautiful; a place I’d like to visit.  The story was interesting enough, but far too predictable.  I had guessed the twists at the end about halfway through the story.  It felt like the story could have been told in way less than 315 pages.  Each section pretty much ended with some variation of “so-and-so doesn’t know what really happened.  I do.”  If everyone just spoke to each other the story could have been told in a neat 150.

There were waaaay too many ocean/boat references.  They were everywhere!  ”His face was as white as a sail.”  Come on.  It got a little lame.  I’m noticing that even my amazon store description of the book uses a water reference.  ”And she must confront Diana, before they all go under.”  Too much.

…and while I’m kind of bitching I’ll add that when I think of a bad memory I do not display physical evidence of the event.  For example, when I think about the time my car was overheating in August and I had to drive home with the heat blasting on a 98 degree day, I do not break a sweat.  The characters in this book would remember the cold ocean surrounding them and start physically shivering.  Does this really happen?

All in all it was an interesting book to read but I’m glad it wasn’t too long.  Not a favorite, but not a bad book either.  I’d say try it out if it sounds interesting to you, but certainly don’t go out of your way to get your hands on it.  It was enjoyable while I was reading it, but I’m kind of glad I got it from the library.

Kate’s Library
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