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The Weight of Water | 
 enlarge | Author: Anita Shreve
Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Category: Book
List Price: £3.90
Buy Used: £0.01
You Save: £3.89 (100%)
Used (32) from £0.01
Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 839138
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 304
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.5 x 4.2 x 1
ISBN: 0316782505
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780316782500
ASIN: 0316782505
Publication Date: March 2001
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
Wonderful November 21, 2007
Net (United Kingdom)
Shreve has such a beautiful way with words and often writes about very haunting and troubling subjects: This book falls exactly into this category. A tale of two women, Maren's story was the one I followed with more interest but Jean's was also compelling and made more so at the end of the book when the full facts are known. The conclusion of each woman's journey wasn't a surprise to me but nevertheless it was enjoyable if not really sad. This was yet another example of Shreve's talented ability to tell a story in an uncluttered yet intense way (my favourite still remains to be Fortune's Rocks). My only criticism is that I would have liked to have known more about what happened to Maren after the murders, but otherwise it is very much worth reading.
 Weight of Water August 2, 2006
ramblerose (UK)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
In "The Weight of Water" we are given the story of two women's lives, set many decades apart but linked by the same sense of despair. The historical angle of Maren's story meant that I was fascinated by the chapters describing her life, more so than those in which we learn about Jean. Anita Shreve's vivid descriptions of life in Norway in Maren's time, as well as life facing those who emigrated to the US, brought Maren and her family to life. I found that the contrast between the `modern' and the `old' worked brilliantly, with Jean's more familiar, colloquial style giving the reader a break from the formal prose of Maren.
The story alternates between Maren's account of the murder committed in her time, which she set down in writing and Jean has now uncovered, and Jean's description of her own expedition to the murder site. Both women have problems within their family and the emotional pain suffered by both is palpable. The picture Shreve paints of the island on which the murder takes place in the past, and which Jean now visits to research the history, is truly bleak.
There is no real twist in the tale (it is fairly obvious how Maren's story will end and the events Jean faces are not a surprise either) but this predictability in no way diminished my enjoyment of this book. As with many of Shreve's novels, it is the quality of the descriptive writing that give this book its value. I recommend it highly.
Moving contemporary story January 16, 2005
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is another Shreve delight. Subtle and moving prose grabs the reader and doesn't let them go until the traumatic and poignant end. I do think, however, that it would have been better just to have the contemporary tale, and leave out the historical parts. I didn't get much out of the story of Maren and was always rushing to get back to Jean. For that reason, I give it 4 stars instead of 5. Worth a read though!
Cleverly plotted but sometimes clumsily interwoven January 13, 2004
www.bibliofemme.com
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
The Weight of Water is beautifully written but leaves many frustrating questions unanswered. A contemporary story about two couples and a child in a sailboat off the coast of New Hampshire is intertwined with the tale of a 19th century double murder which took place on a nearby island. Told from two perspectives - a photographer investigating the murder, and the century-old diary of the only survivor of the attack - the dual narrative is cleverly plotted but sometimes clumsily interwoven.
The Historian
Beautifully interwoven but... November 4, 2003
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
The way in which Anita Shreve has interwoven the present day happenings of Jean, her husband Thomas and their daughter Billie, with those of another century (concerning Maren Huntfedt, her husband John and their respective siblings) is absolutely superb. Despite this, however, I failed to become as involved with the characters as in the author's other books. I was a little more interested in Thomas, having read of him before in another of Anita Shreve's novels, 'The Last Time They Met', which took place after events in 'The Weight of Water'. As always, however, this book was very beautifully and poignantly written, with the tiniest human observations called to mind, making me (whether I liked it or not) acknowledge feeling or thinking those things at least once in my life. This is what makes 'The Weight of Water' worth reading.
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