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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you like Patricia Highsmith, this book is for you.,
By
This review is from: Water Lily (Hardcover)
This book is one of psychological suspense, and the beginning chapters alternate between two characters, named Ralph and Runa.
Ralph is an Englishman, who has come to Japan to find a wife. He is an odd fellow (to say the least), and what he is really looking for is a passive, attractive woman who will agree to be his wife in exchange for his taking care of them back in England. So far, all of the women from the agency he has selected have all turned him down, (he gives everyone the willies, including the reader,) and he is getting despondent, and anxious. He had been previously married to a woman named "Apple" from Thailand, whom he met and married under similar circumstances. We know from Ralph, that this woman is no longer around, and that he felt she became insolent and not the passive doll he met in Bangkok. The circumstances of her disappearance is ominous, to say the least. Runa is a young, attractive Japanese woman who worked as a teacher. She is fleeing Japan because she had an affair with a young student, and that affair had been exposed. She doesn't feel guilty, or feel any remorse, she is more concerned with not getting punished. She is trying to get to China to visit her friend, a woman she only knew for a few months when they were both teenagers. If she can't find this friend, she has no where else to go. And of course, we know Ralph and Runa are going to meet each other... Here's the thing, if you don't like books with disturbing or unlikeable characters, this book is not for you. Like the characters in a Patricia Highsmith novel, Runa and Ralph are arguably sociopaths, and disagreeable at the very least. There are no heroes to root for, and neither of these characters are particularly sympathetic. But I enjoyed the tension, and the writing, and I found this to be a page-turner. Again, highly recommended for those who enjoy Patricia Highsmith, and for those who like books of psychological suspense.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An Interesting Work,
This review is from: Water Lily (Hardcover)
The underlying theme in Susanna Jones's Waterlily seems to be that no matter how far you run, you cannot run from your true self. Ralph and Runa, the lead characters in the novel, are both in search of a new life. Ralph has traveled from England to Japan in order to find a bride. He has lost the woman he brought home from Thailand and his loneliness and self-doubt lead to his wish for a new companion. Because of their reputed docility and beauty, Ralph longs for another Eastern Blossom similar to his first bride. At first, his hopes are high, and he feels great affection for the women the Japanese agency introduces to him. Unfortunately, the women do not feel the same affection in return, which leaves Ralph despondent. The saving grace is a picture of a woman he corresponded with in China, so he sets up a meeting with her and boards the boat that will take him to this new country. Runa has ended up on the same boat, for different reasons. She began an illicit, and illegal, affair with one of her students. They are happy for many months, until someone discovers the affair and threatens to make the information known to those in the school and surrounding community. In desperation, Runa devises a plan. She runs to her sister, steals her passport and heads to China. A friend of hers from school days lives there and will be able to get her a new identity. On the boat from Japan to China, the characters of Ralph and Runa come together. They meet while unwittingly drawn into a fight by two other passengers, whom they end up somewhat befriending. Ralph feels that Runa (using her sister's name and attempting to use her identity) could be the woman he is looking for and Runa believes that Ralph is a way out of her current situation. The reader wishes that each is the answer to the other's problems, but knows that in the end, these two characters coming together is not a good thing. Susanna Jones does an excellent job in making these characters real and gets us to feel sympathy for what should be unlikable characters. Despite Ralph's view of women, we want him to overcome his fears and find happiness. With Runa, we want her to realize that she is not trying to escape some unseen enemy, she is escaping herself. If only both characters could see into and beyond themselves, they would not set themselves up for the inevitable disastrous conclusion. Jones is able to bring the reader into the story, and into her characters' minds, with a few well-chosen words. She weaves a spell for the reader, bringing them into the action and the story itself. Jones spent many years in Japan and now lives in Brighton.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Dull ride,
By
This review is from: Water Lily (Hardcover)
Others have described the plot. The idea is neat but things don't seem to go anywhere (at any decent pace either). The story of the teacher seeing the student was interesting, but Ralph, the man looking for a wife - whew - that was pretty boring. I am an avid reader of every type of writing. I really found this the most horrible book I have read in awhile. I was pretty disappointed.
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