Sweet Water
A Novel
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3.6 • 706 Ratings
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- $3.99
Publisher Description
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train, and the critically acclaimed author of Bird in Hand and The Way Life Should Be, comes a novel about buried secrets and the redemptive power of forgiveness—includes a special PS section featuring insights, interviews, and more.
Cassie Simon is a struggling artist living in New York City. When she receives a call from a magistrate in Sweetwater, TN, telling her she has inherited sixty acres of land from her grandfather, whom she never knew, she takes it as a sign: it’s time for a change. She moves into the house where her mother, Ellen, was born—and where she died tragically when Cassie was three.
From the moment she arrives in Sweetwater, Cassie is overwhelmed by the indelible mark her mother’s memory had left behind. As she delves into the thicket of mystery that surrounds her mother’s death, Cassie begins to understand the desperate measures the human heart is capable of.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
In this utterly absorbing novel, an aspiring sculptor pounces on the chance to flee her listless and loveless big-city life for a fresh start in an old house in Sweetwater, Tenn. But as Cassie soon discovers, the roomy country home comes crowded with ancient lies and devastating secrets. Christina Baker Kline, author of the bestselling Orphan Train, does a beautiful job capturing the inner lives of the two women at this story’s heart: the inquisitive Cassie and her standoffish maternal grandmother. As the mystery surrounding her family’s turbulent past tightens its chokehold, Cassie must hold fast to her personal truths.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Kline's first novel is a captivating read. When a grandfather she never knew bequeaths her a house and 60 acres of land in Sweetwater, Tenn., a restless young artist leaves New York to recover her past and rethink her future. Cassie Simon's mother Ellen died when Cassie was only three; raised in Boston by her grieving father, she never knew her maternal relatives. Unprepared for the thick veil of mystery that surrounds them, Cassie is especially bewildered by her brusque grandmother, whom rumor credits with hiding a terrible secret about Ellen's death. In alternating sections told from their respective points of view, Cassie and her grandmother fight their separate battles to cope with the truth about the tragedy. Kline perfectly renders each woman's voice: Cassie's, probing and often uncertain, propels the narrative and creates an appropriate level of psychological suspense; the grandmother's quavers with the weight of memory as Cassie's search forces her beyond family myth to a painful and perhaps dangerous truth. The result is a powerful, immensely readable tale of loyalty and betrayal, family and memory, made fresh by Kline's often beautiful and always lucid prose. Literary Guild alternate; Reader's Digest Condensed Book. ( June )
Customer Reviews
Boring to me.
I’m sorry to say I thought this book was boring, hardly anything ever happened. I kept hoping it would get better, but it didn’t. I just couldn’t wait to finish it.
Sweet Water
I really enjoyed reading Sweet Water by Christina Baker Cline. I liked the way the story was told by two of the main characters. The story line evolved nicely but I was a little surprised at how suddenly the novel ended. I really wasn't ready for the story to end and wanted to read more although it ended the way it should have. I will definitely read more of Christina Kline's books. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review it.
Flat
I expected a better ending. Things built and slowly fizzled.