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Customer Reviews of The Weight of Water

Is this really the edge?
I'm kind of at a loss as to how to start-this was definitely a unique book. I don't think I've read another quite like it. The author took a true murder story and built this novel around it, adding a parallel story of a current day character. I liked that. Although the transitions (or lack thereof) between the murder plot and the modern plot were quick and without warning, I did finally get used to it. The book kept me interested - I did look forward to picking it back up. I didn't, however, see the main character as being "pushed to the edge," nor did I see the climax on the boat as being something that she, ultimately, was responsible for. I felt a little betrayed by the very ending - I didn't feel that such a dramatic conclusion was necessary. I would suggest for anyone considering reading this book, that they check up on the actual historical accounts of the Smuttynose murders. It adds to the experience of reading the book, knowing that some of the characters were real people.

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Enjoyable and well written.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The plot and ending were a bit disturbing, but it was an interesting read and I couldn't put it down. I have not previously read Anita Shreve, but I will read her again. She writes beautifully. I found it interesting the way she switched between past and present to keep two stories going. I couldn't wait to find out what happened in the end.

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COMPELLING...ABSORBING...SUSPENSEFUL...
This is an exceptionally well-written tour de force about complex emotions. Written is clean, spare prose, it is two stories in one, each with its own voice, demanding to be heard. It is, without a doubt, a book to remember.

It tells the story of Jean, a news photographer who sets out on a sailboat to a remote island off the coast of New Hampshire, accompanied by her husband, Thomas, her five year old daughter, Billie, her brother-in-law, Rich, and his girl friend of several months, Adaline. The purpose of her visit is to photograph the scene of a nineteenth century double murder that saw two Norwegian, immigrant women hacked to death, which murders were much ballyhooed at the time as the crime of the century.

While there, she discovers an uncatalogued translation of the personal journal of the ostensible lone, female eyewitness, Maren Hontvedt, who seemed to have survived the carnage. Written in a somber and ruminative tone, the journal of Maren's life and of the events that led up to the carnage forms a core of the story. Maren's journal provides a framework for looking at the angst of Jean's present, which is haunted by passion, jealousy, and betrayal. It is through Maren's story that Jean herself comes to terms with her own personal tragedy.

Alternating between Jean's unraveling present and the secrets of the past, the book provides a compelling, absorbing and suspenseful narrative, keeping the reader in its thrall. The two juxtaposed dramas come together in a primal and tragic climax. Those who read this book will find themselves haunted by it.