Customer Reviews

Trouble the Water

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(3)
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Trouble the Water by Nicole Seitz is a multi-layered story about the love between sisters and the power of God's healing love. Honor is rescued from a suicide attempt by several nannies in South Carolina's Low Country. Miss Blondell, an elderly Gullah woman, takes Honor under her wing and puts her in local dingbat Duchess' home. Duchess is known for her flirtacious antics with the men and showing her sixty year body in all its naked glory. Honor and Duchess make for an odd mix. Both suffer from depression and acting out, but each look at the placement as God's way of using them to help care for others. The story is told through several different points of view. Honor and Duchess each take turns telling their story, but Honor's sister Alice also gets a turn, as do Honor's letters to Alice. Honor is truly the heart of the story, but her chapters aren't the ones that tell you the most about her. It's the chapters from Alice and Duchess that really expose Honor for who she is: the angel who troubles the waters for their healing. Seitz writes this achingly beautiful story of healing and forgiveness with compassion and just enough humor to take the edge off of the sweetness.

The first Seitz book I read was actually her latest "Saving Cicadas". I loved it so much, I decided to read all her other books as well. Trouble The Water is by far my favorite of all her stories. Rich in characters and detail,it was so hard to put down. I told my husband it was a book I couldn't wait to finish but really didn't want it to end. A story about a life lived in secrets and redemption on an island of magic. As with all of her books, Seitz manages to pull out a twist when you least expect it. If you love tales of life's journey, sorrow, loss and joy, you'll love this book. I plan on giving it as a gift to my friends this Christmas!

This book is unique, uplifting, and well-written. Both the characters and the story draw you in from page one. The author deftly switches among narrators, locations, and dates. A lesser writer would have lost the reader, but Seitz is able to enrich the story instead. I highly recommend it.

This was one of those stories where you just wanted to be there and talk to the characters! I began reading on a weekend morning (when I was supposed to be doing my chores) and ended up reading all day. Read a chapter (or two or three), do a chore, read a chapter..... Really excellent read all the way through!

I found this book to be very well-written women's literature. And you'll notice that I used the term "women's literature" rather than "women's fiction." That's because this book is definitely character-driven; that is, the characters are more important than the plot. And I've had the privilege to meet Nicole Seitz, a woman with a gracious and humble spirit.

When you play a stringed instrument, there are certain types of chords called harmonics. When this type of chord is played - although it is actually several notes - it sounds like a single note. It actually sounds as if it played itself - almost otherworldly.

In literature, you may call the same concept resonance: when characters in a book come alive to produce a prolonged response in the reader. TROUBLE THE WATER is that type of book. As you are reading, you realize that the characters have struck a chord in your soul - a chord that resonates long after you've finished reading.

Nicole Seitz is an artist. Literary fiction lovers might want to check into her further.

Through a group of Gullah women, Seitz reveals the fascinating spirit, superstitions and cultural richness as she revisits the Low Country once again. Though Trouble the Water is not a sequel to Spirit of Sweetgrass Seitz revisits settings that are obviously as fascinating to her as to her readers.

This is the type of novel I love to curl up with and savor. Seitz brought three first-person point of view characters to life as they relived sorrow and shame, choices and consequences. Honor, Alice, Duchess and The Nannies live and breath through Seitz's words. And what stories they tell.

This is not an easy read. Christian fiction, yes, traditional, no. Seitz writes with realism including sin and consequences, hypocrisy and the damage done through it. There is no salvation prayer at the end and very subtle gospel sharing, so those who expect a strong gospel message within their Christian fiction may be disappointed. In addition, the superstitions and beliefs of the characters may stomp on some toes.

However, those who are hungry for honest, transparent stories about tragedy and sorrow, and hope and restoration need to look further into Seitz's novels.

I wasn't sure what to expect out of this novel, as southern lit doesn't necessarily sound like something I'm going to be captivated by. I adored it. I got into it pretty quickly because the dialect and setting were so interesting. And, of course, there's a bit of mystery in the lives of both the Duchess and Honor and I was interested in understanding these two sad women better. It all unfolds perfectly paced, with just a smidge of humor, beautiful language, and characters that you just really care about.

It's the sort of book that makes you want to treasure life, and also to fully feel and grieve the pain of your past. But hope is beautifully etched into this story, not overbearingly, just lightly enough so that you can feel it. And yes, I sobbed through the last 70 pages or so of the book.

Everything is beautiful about this book from the cover to the title to the final pages and the way it is all woven together. Highly recommended.

Truly a beautiful book that I could not put down. It was painful and sad, yet hopeful. The characters and the setting just pulled me into their own artistic and creative world, and left me feeling like I'd just viewed a masterpiece.

Isn't it wonderful how we find friends in the most unlikely places and under the least expected circumstances? Trouble the Water is a beautiful portrait of friendship between women who, although colorful and different in every way, find they share an undeniably common yearning: unconditional love. The pages of this novel are therapeutic--bringing healing through laughter, acceptance and forgiveness. I carefully tucked away in my heart the emotional bedside scene between the sisters Alice and Honor for future reference, and then immediately ordered copies for my closest of friends. Nicole Seitz has done it again. I highly recommend it.

LaVondilyn J. Watson
Author of The Presents of God
[...]

Not only is this second novel a poignant, heartfelt tale; it is great fun to read. Living in the SC Lowcountry it "spoke to me" in many respects. But, for those living elsewhere it serves as an enticement to visit our beautiful shores and marshes and learn more about the Gullah. The author did a splendid job in portraying love between sisters, love between friends, illness, and the fact that no woman is an island.

I look forward to her next book.