The Heiress of Water: A Novel (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At 12, Monica Winters is forced to exchange her privileged life in El Salvador as the daughter of the beautiful and headstrong heiress (and amateur marine biologist) Alma Borrero Winters for a humdrum existence in Connecticut with her cuckolded father after unfaithful Alma and her lover are attacked by soldiers at a gathering place for Communist rebels. His body is recovered, but Alma is lost to the sea. Fifteen years later, disinherited by her mother's family, Monica, now a successful massage therapist, is hired by Will Lucero to give Yvette, his comatose wife, a massage. A series of improbable events lands the cast at a clinic in El Salvador where researchers claim to be able to revive comatose patients using the venom of the very cone snail, thought to be extinct, that Monica's mother spent her life searching for. As Will and Monica try to deny their attraction to one another, Monica begins piecing together the truth about her mother's family (and there are many, many things to discover). Though the scenes in El Salvador are vividly rendered, Barron clumsily handles the convoluted plot's ungainly twists, but her debut is intriguing in spite of its excesses. (Sept.)
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From Booklist

Secrets and lies drive the intricate plot of this first novel, which is both a gripping mystery and an intimate drama of love and betrayal. Growing up in a wealthy established family in El Salvador at the time of the civil war, Monica learns from her beloved mother, Alma, about the exciting science of the ocean, but after Alma drowns, Monica, 12, moves with her American father to Connecticut. Fifteen years later, she is a physical therapist, and one of her patients, in a coma after a car accident, might be helped by an experimental ocean-shell treatment offered in an El Salvador clinic. Why is Monica's father reluctant for her to return to where her mother died? When they do go back, Monica makes astonishing discoveries, past and present, that make her question, "Who was the fragile one after all?" In a contemporary version of the heroic quest story, Monica's search for home opens up a world of revolutionary politics, science, and passion. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (September 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061142816
• ISBN-13: 978-0061142819
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #682,770 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Spiritual Story, November 18, 2006

By	Anonymous "writetothefinish" (Savannah, GA) - See all my reviews

This is a love story, a bit of a mystery, and a journey of the soul. The opening is a little slow and bumpy but the book picks up momentum as the story unfolds with a plot that is both intricate and satisfying, a little like a good Spanish telenovela (and I mean this in the nicest way!). You just want to keep turning the page, and Barron delivers the surprises. Alma's parallel between the sea and immortality gains lyricism as her metaphor gains depth and detail with the unfolding story, setting this story firmly in the genre of spiritual fiction. The ending is both beautiful and emotional revealing the unusual sophistication of this debut writer. Especially interesting is how the author gets into the mind of a catatonic patient struggling to regain consciousness, adding another dimension to this layered tale. There are many beautiful images, romantic scenes, and emotional explosions in this story. All in all it is very satisfying.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read!, September 20, 2006

By	Diana-Lynn Schaible "DL" (Connecticut) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What an incredible start for first time novelist Sandra Rodriguez Barron. This book kept me intrigued from beginning to end----I couldn't put it down. Great read for book clubs. Eagerly awaiting Ms. Barron's next novel.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, November 12, 2006

By	Lauren Doyle (Fort Lauderdale, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

An inventive and beautifully written novel. I stayed up all night to finish The Heiress of Water just to see how it would end. I definitely recommend it.