Synopses & Reviews
"I wonder this: If you take a woman and push her to the edge, how will she behave?" The question is posed by Jean, a photographer, who arrives on Smuttynose Island, off the coast of New Hampshire, to research a century-old crime. As she immerses herself in the details of the case — an outburst of passion that resulted in the deaths of two women — Jean herself enters precarious emotional territory. The suspicion that her husband is having an affair burgeons into jealousy and distrust, and ultimately propels Jean to the verge of actions she had not known herself capable of — actions with horrific consequences.
Everywhere hailed for its beauty and power, The Weight of Water takes us on an unforgettable journey through the furthest extremes of emotion.
Review
"With the skill of a master shipbuilder, Shreve carefully fits her two stories together, tacking back and forth between the increasingly twisted murder mystery and the escalating tensions unleashed by the threat of a dangerous shipboard romance. Written with assurance and grace, plangent with foreboding and a taut sense of inexorability, The Weight of Water is a powerfully compelling tale of passion, a provocative and disturbing meditation on the nature of love." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Shreve...moves the action along deftly...the level of writing is far above the typical best-seller treatment of similar themes." Library Journal
Review
"Shreve, an award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction, has crafted a tour de force that will beguile readers with its depth, passion, and power....Shreve's story is at once powerfully affecting and indescribably sorrowful, exploring the tenuous nature of happiness, the frailty of the human psyche, and the catastrophe of unthinking impulse. A masterfully written, riveting must-have for all collections." Booklist
Review
"Shreve (Resistance, 1995, etc.) deftly juxtaposes a strained modern marriage and a century-old double murder....[A] highly readable yarn and a complex, convincing exploration of the ramifications of jealousy." Kirkus Reviews
About the Author
Anita Shreve is the acclaimed author of 16 previous novels, including Rescue, A Change in Altitude; Testimony; The Pilot's Wife, which was a selection of Oprah's Book Club; and The Weight of Water, which was a finalist for England's Orange prize. She lives in Massachusetts.