The Memory of Water [Paperback]

Karen White (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 4, 2008

On the night their mother drowns, sisters Marnie and Diana Maitland discover there is more than one kind of death. There is the death of innocence, of love, and of hope. Each sister harbors a secret about that night-secrets that will erode their lives as they grow into adulthood.

After ten years of silence between the sisters, Marnie is called back to the South Carolina Lowcountry by Diana's ex-husband, Quinn. His young son has returned from a sailing trip with his emotionally unstable mother, and he is refusing to speak. In order to help the traumatized boy, Marnie must reopen old wounds and bring the darkest memories of their past to the surface. And she must confront Diana, before they all go under.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The enduring ties between two estranged sisters drive the darkly engaging latest from White (Learning to Breathe). Marnie Maitland, an Arizona school teacher, returns to her South Carolina Lowcountry hometown after a 10-year absence at the request of Quinn, the ex-husband of Marnie's sister, Diana. Quinn believes Marnie can help Gil, the nine-year-old nephew she's never met, who has refused to speak since a sailing accident almost claimed Gil and Diana's lives. As Marnie begins to bond with Gil (and with Quinn), she instinctively senses that Diana's simmering anger toward her is tied to the childhood sailing accident that killed their mother but spared the two girls. Marnie remembers little of the accident, which is cloaked in mystery, as is Diana's obsession with the Maitland curse (related to a murky blasphemy from previous generations) and the mental illness that runs in the family. As Marnie tries to get at the truth, the first-person narrative is tersely handed among the four leads. Careful plotting, richly flawed characters and a surprising conclusion mark this absorbing melodrama. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Marnie Maitland returns to the South Carolina Lowcountry after years of self-imposed exile. As children, she and her sister, Diana, were deeply damaged when their mother took them sailing in a storm and drowned. Now Diana’s son is left mute after an eerily similar accident. Marnie, a special-needs teacher, has come to help her nephew recover. Faced with the evidence that her sister has inherited their mother’s self-destructive illness, Marnie is forced to remember that terrifying night and to reconcile the rift their mother created. In this moving novel, White explores the bond between sisters, the link between artistic genius and mental illness, and the keen hold a place can have on a person. She vividly describes the lush Lowcountry and the pull of the sea. A chilling revelation, a love story, and a bittersweet ending add to this gripping tale. --Aleksandra Walker

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 315 pages
• Publisher: NAL Trade (March 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451223039
• ISBN-13: 978-0451223036
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,302 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I grew up being a voracious reader and it was a natural step to turn my interest to writing. I have published 16 award-winning and bestselling novels including my 2012 release, SEA CHANGE, which debuted on the New York Times bestseller list at number 12.

I write what others have termed "grit-lit"--southern women's fiction, as well as a contemporary paranormal mystery series set in Charleston, South Carolina. All of my books are set in the US South, and feature a female protagonist at a crossroads in her life.

I live near Atlanta, Georgia with my husband, two children, and the cutest six-year-old Havanese dog, Quincy, whom readers may recognize as General Lee in the Tradd Street series.

My newest release, AFTER THE RAIN (a revamped version of the book originally published in 2003), was released by New American Library, a division of Penguin Publishing, on December 31, 2012. My next book, THE TIME BETWEEN, will be my hardcover debut and will be published in June, 2013.

For more about me and my books, please visit my website at www.karen-white.com or follow me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/karenwhiteauthor.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 42 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best I have read this year... July 11, 2008

By Barbara McArthur VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

What a pleasure to read a novel that has it all together - characters that are real and easy to see, a setting that draws you in and wants to keep you there, and a plot that keeps you wondering right up to the last minute. This was not a book I plowed through at breakneck speed. I was savoring it too much - it's one of those ones you really don't want to end. The surprising thing I learned when I completed the book was that Karen White doesn't live anywhere near the water - and she has never sailed! You will swear that she is sitting in an oceanfront cottage writing this story - with her sailboat tied to her dock. Bravo, Karen, for all your research. The rich detail of the characters, home, town and sailing experience, is perfection!

Karen has a wonderful facility for leaving a trail of information that eventually adds up to a plausible conclusion. I love those "Aha!" moments and the pleasant re-thinking one goes through as the pieces fall into place. This is my first Karen White book, so I now have the pleasure of looking forward to reading the others!

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Haunting tale April 7, 2008

By Deborah Haupt

Format:Paperback

When I read Karen White's The Memory of Water it was like watching an artist paint, with every word she writes you can actually see the landscape she describes come to life.
It was a haunting tale of mental illness and about those who survive it and those who don't.
A bewitching tale of love and loss and love found at last, about the story of sisters and a love that only sisters can share and understand.
This book is a must read for any of you out there that love great fiction.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars strong family drama March 6, 2008

By Harriet Klausner #1 HALL OF FAME

Format:Paperback

After being away from her hometown for almost a decade, Arizona school teacher Marnie Maitland returns home to McLellanville, South Carolina. She only came back to the Low Country because her former brother-in-law Quinn begged her to help her nine-year-old nephew Gil whom she has never met.

As Marnie and Gil connect and to a lesser degree she with Quinn, her sister Diana resents her intruding in the life of her son and for that matter hers. Marnie realizes her sibling is angry with her and assumes the reason is the boating accident when they were kids that killed their mother while they survived. Whereas Marnie recalls little of that fatal day, Diana has tied the accident to the "Maitland Curse" that has haunted the family for decades.

THE MEMORY OF WATER is a strong family drama due to the four prime players feeling real especially their flawed interrelationships. The story line smoothly changes viewpoint between the quartet so the audience sees different looks at the same event or issue; especially how the sisters interpret their mother's death. With a final plausible yet surprising twist, readers will be LEARNING TO BREATHE while waiting for her next tale.

Harriet Klausner