Book Review: At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen

After making utter fools of themselves during a New Year's Eve party that ushered in the year 1942, Maddie and her husband Ellis are cut off by her in-laws. Her father-in-law, a former army Colonel, is already disappointed in Ellis because he got out of fighting in the war due to being color blind, and her mother-in-law despises Maddie. Left with nothing, Ellis convinces Maddie and their friend Hank to help him on an adventure to prove himself to his father.

At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen takes us on this adventure to Scotland in search of the Loch Ness Monster. The three travel across the ocean through the middle of the war and land in Scotland, weary and out of their element. Staying in a small inn in a small town, the men expect to be pampered as they always have, but Maddie begins to make connections with the people who work in the inn.

I enjoyed this unusual story, particularly because of the characters. Each is a complex individual with positive and negative traits, although for some these weren't quite as balanced as others. I especially liked the women of the inn, Meg and Anna. Maddie spends a lot of time reflecting on her situation and her marriage as the men go off to hunt the monster. There's a bit of mystery around not only the monster but also the different characters.

While this is historical fiction, and there is a war going on, it's more of a story of one woman's journey to find meaning in her life. It's a bit slow at times, and a bit over the top at other times. But overall, it is a unique story with interesting characters and a bit of a mystery to unravel.

My Rating: 3.5/5

Read an excerpt from At the Water's Edge
Visit the author's website

This review was written based on a copy of At the Water's Edge that I received from Random House through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This post includes Amazon Affiliate links. If you click on one of these links and make a purchase, I will receive a very small commission and your price remains the same.

Comments

Getting back to blogging

It seems that blogging has dropped to the bottom of my list for the past year, and was pretty low for the year or two prior to that. I love to read, and am continuing to do so, but as my regular readers know I haven't been around much. My last blog post was almost a year ago!!

There are many things that have taken me away from blogging. Work has been much more challenging and interesting these past few years, but that means I really don't want to get back on the computer when I get home at night - or on the weekends.

Family life has been more busy with kids having multiple activities in the evenings, leaving little time to just hang out and write about the books that I read.

I will admit to a bit of a Facebook addiction, which means way too much time spent scrolling through my newsfeed instead of doing something more productive. This is one of the things I'm working on and hoping that this will free up some time for getting back to the blog.

Overall, life is good. Work is …

Book Review: The Bookman's Tale by Charlie Lovett

Peter Byerly is distraught over the loss of his wife nine months ago. He has retreated to their cottage in the English countryside, hoping to return to his love of collecting and restoring rare books. But when he opens a book about Shakespeare forgeries and finds a Victorian watercolor of a woman who looks just like his wife, Peter is soon on a search for the origin of the painting and the truth about Shakespeare's real identity.

The Bookman's Tale: A Novel of Obsession by Charlie Lovett is a wonderful journey for anyone who loves books. It follows Peter's search in 1995, which turns into a bit of a thriller at times. But Lovett also takes the reader back in time a bit so we can learn the story of his relationship with his wife and how he came to be a bookseller. He does a beautiful job of expressing Peter's feelings about the rare books he encounters, and his feelings are contagious.

And then he takes us back even further to the history of one particular volume, whos…

Book Review: The Secret Lake by Karen Inglis

When Stella and Tom move to a new home in London, they are sad to have left their friends behind. But soon they have a mystery to solve. Their neighbor's dog, Harry, keeps disappearing. Where is he going and why is he always wet when he comes home? As they investigate the area in the garden where Harry seems to come and go, they discover a hidden tunnel that takes them back to their garden ... almost 100 years ago.

The Secret Lake by Karen Inglis is a wonderful children's book that reminds me of the adventurous stories I read as a child. I saw other reviewers say something similar. I'm not sure what it is about the way the story is told, but it is reminiscent of children's books from many years ago, yet it will definitely appeal to the kids of today.

Stella and Tom have an adventure in the past that leads to new friends and discoveries. While it's a time travel story, it doesn't have a lot of fantasy elements (although there are some moles that act a bit unusua…

My Book Retreat

Search This Blog