Rating: 
Summary: SAD
Review: I guess the title The Weight of Water clearly implies the conclusion and the weight of the tale (or tales), but I feel a little shell-shocked from having just finished this novel by Anita Shreve. She is clearly a gifted writer and knows how to spin a story. This book combines two stories of families forced into tight confinement. Jean, her husband, Thomas who is a poet whose best work is well in the past, her daughter Billie, Thomas' brother Rich and his girlfriend Adaline are sailing to Smuttynose Island off the coast of Maine so Jean can take pictures for a journal story about a century old murder of two women who lived on this island. Jean discovers an eyewitness account by Maren the survivor of these murders. She lived on Smuttynose with her husband, her brother and his wife and her sister. Maren's story is interwoven with the modern story of Jean. Both accounts deal with misunderstandings between families, and past tragedies within families. I was unready for the ending of both stories and it changes somewhat how I feel about the book and who I would recommend it to.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Shreve's best.
Review: I've enjoyed several of Anita Shreve's books, but this one didn't quite work. Two separate stories are interwoven throughout the book. One is the first-person accout by a photojournalist, Jean, who has sailed to the Isle of Shoals with her husband, daughter, brother-in-law and his girlfriend in order to research the murder of two Norwegian immigrants that occured on the island of Smuttynose in the nineteenth century. The second is the translated diary of the survivor/witness of the murder. Jean's story never worked for me. All of the characters were so unappealing and boring that I really couldn't care less what happened to any of them. The underlying theme of grief, recriminations and regret is handled much better in Shreve's book "The Pilot's Wife." The diary was somewhat more engaging. Shreve is an English professor, and she has devised what appears to be a scholarly exercise for herself. The murders actually happened, and Shreve has used the transcript of trial of the man accussed of the crimes verbatim. From these historical bones she crafts her own plausible version of what happened. Even though this sounds like a promising basis for a story, its execution is surprisingly flat. Shreve does do a wonderful job of conveying the grueling and tedious nature of a fisherman's wife in the nineteenth century. The problem is that it is grueling and tedious to read about as well. As with the companion story, none of the characters were particularly interesting. I just couldn't buy Maren's obsession with her brother, and without that the rest of the story doesn't work.
Rating: 
Summary: My Favorite Book
Review: This book is so gripping! I love it because it is part non-fiction, in the form of an actual diary, which is set in the 1800's, and part fiction, which is present day suspense. I love all of Shreve's books, but this one held me and made me turn the pages quickly, wanting to know more.
Rating: 
Summary: Ishy , underdeveloped characters make book unloveable.
Review: Why are contemporary writers so obsessed with incest??? In order to make the readers believe that Maren could, even in her adulthood, maintain an unapologetic sexual obsession with her brother, Shreve puts her in a moral vacuum. It just isn't very believable that our protagonist could be some one who is described as very flat in affect, but still passionate/disturbed/polluted enough to murder most cruelly and love most lasciviously. Jean is similarly morally corrupt, willing to seduce a brother-in-law and, since the story is told from her perspective, indifferent enough to devote so little time to the death of her daughter. She is arrogant to believe that, since it can't possibly matter to her anymore that Maren is the Smuttynose murderer, it shouldn't matter to history or posterity, and takes it upon herself to destroy the evidence that would prove that. The loss of Billie was gratuitous. The kind of shock-jock shenanigan that makes you feel a publisher was standing over Shreve's shoulder saying, "Finish the damn thing -- quickly!" I admit the book was imminently readable, but it left me wanting to take a long hot shower to wash it away.
Rating:
Summary: Other work of author better received
Review: I really had a hard time with Weight of Water. Very choppy and hard to follow..had to re-read parts of previous chapters to find out where I had left off and where the story was going. However, the story was interesting. I read it for a book club and I really like Anita Shreve's other book, The Pilot's Wife. Try this one and you will see where her technical skill developed.
Rating:
Summary: Quick reading, but disheartening conclusion
Review: Overall I really enjoyed the book. I especially liked the style Shreve used to narrate the two stories. By switching narratators within chapters, I was able to enjoy the the rhythm of clues and discoveries presented by the author, without feeling a need to skip ahead. However, I was really frusterated that the story never explained why Maren's relationship with her brother began to deteriorate, even before Maren left Norway. There was also no resolution as to what happened to Maren after the murders. In all, the novel incorporated an intriguing mix between fact and fiction that held my attention. But the conclusion was rather abrupt and shocking, as the actions committed by Maren were not supported by the character and relationships developed by Shreve.
Rating:
Summary: Great Writting
Review: This book has a different writting approach than most I've read but all the same it is great. I didn't see how the woman was pushed to the edge but I could see her frustration. I great book with a unique writting style.
Rating:
Summary: Well Worth a Read
Review: This book, especially is you have visited the islands off the coast of Maine and New Hamshire will prove quite enjoyable. It's plot is both historically and currently very interesting. A perfect gift for the mystery reader.
Rating:
Summary: The Weight of Water
Review: I'd really give this book 4 1/2 stars...I found the story and characters fascinating and complex. I was interested in both Jean's and Maren's fate. I could almost feel Jean's jealousy and confusion. I loved how she jumped from the past to present -fact to fiction - it is Anita Shreve's speciality. The story piqued my interested in the SmuttyNose murders - which if you don't know - actually occurred on a disolate island off the New England coast in the late 1800's. The only thing I didn't like/understand was conclusion of Jean's story...???
Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: I have three gripes with this book: 1) Its annoyingly self-centered characters for whom you can't muster even a smidge of empathy, let alone sympathy; 2) the melodramatic tone of the modern-day storyline, which is completely unjustified by the humdrum events; and 3) the unnecessarily sordid, pandering climax to the murder mystery that is unrealistic in light of what we have come to know about the characters. I don't say things like this often, but this book is truly not worth reading. If you're wanting an introspective "women's" book that you can really chew on, read "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver or "The Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys.
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