Synopses & Reviews
From the critically acclaimed author of
Moon Tide comes a mesmerizing novel of love and violence, family and betrayal.
The Season of Open Water is the passionate, searing story of a young woman coming of age in a New England seacoast town that is swept up in the dangerous trade of rum-running.
It is October 1927. Bridge Weld is nineteen, headstrong and beautiful, working in her grandfather Noel's boatbuilding shop. When Noel is approached by a local bootlegger to refit a boat for smuggling, he feels in his gut that he should not accept the work, yet he takes the job for the money it offers and for the chance it gives him to build a future for his beloved granddaughter, Bridge, and her brother, Luce. What Noel doesn’t count on is that Luce will be lured into the rum work himself and will try to pull Bridge into it with him.
But Bridge has embarked on a different course. Caught up in a passion for Henry, a veteran of World War I, Bridge is propelled beyond the confines of her known world, and ultimately she must choose between the man who loves her and the brother to whom she has been loyal all her life. As Bridge strikes out on her own, Luce's fierce attachment spirals out of control.
Exquisitely written, haunting in its rendering of place, The Season of Open Water is a superb novel about a family and the lawlessness of the heart, a love story that explores the often inescapable connections between violence and desire.
From the Hardcover edition.
Synopsis
WINNER OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION
October 1927. Bridge Weld is nineteen, headstrong, beautiful, and a petty thief. She is working in her grandfather Noel’s boatbuilding shop when Noel, a hardened seaman, is approached by a local bootlegger to refit a boat for smuggling. He takes the job for the money it offers—and the chance to build a future for Bridge and her brother, Luce. Noel invests his windfall profit in the soaring stock market, but does not count on Luce, a born risk-taker with a ruthless streak, venturing into the violence of the rum-running trade himself. Bridge embarks on a different course: She falls in love with Henry Vonniker, a World War I veteran, and an outsider from a higher social class. Caught up in her passion for Henry, Bridge moves beyond the bounds of her known world, and Luce’s fierce attachment to her spirals out of control.
The Season of Open Water is a mesmerizing tale of love and adventure centered on a blue-collar family forever changed by the lure and corruption of the American Dream.
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About the Author
Dawn Clifton Tripp lives in Massachusetts. She is the author of
Moon Tide.
From the Hardcover edition.