Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of The Memory of Water

The Memory of Water
The Memory of Water
Author: Karen White
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Book Type: Paperback
reviewed on + 30 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


This was a pretty lousy book. Poorly written and poorly researched.
The basic plot is about sisters separated for years after a traumatic boat accident kills their mother and almost kills them. The younger sister returns to their childhood home to help with her nephew, who has gone mute after another sailing accident almost kills him and his mother, the elder sister.
The entire book is first person, jumping around between the characters, including a young boy who has become mute after a trauma. There was little discernible difference in the voices of the vastly different characters - the thought processes of the young boy seemed identical to that of his mother or aunt or father, who were similarly interchangeable.
The big secrets - like what happened the night of the two sailing accidents that set the plot in motion - are obvious to the reader from the get go.
The characters are inconsistent in their likes/dislikes and characterizations - for instance, the mother alternately loves sailing, hates sailing, is good at it, is terrible at it.
Plus, the sailing details were just bad. If the author doesn't know how to sail herself, she shouldn't have written a book that pivoted on sailing.