Water from My Heart: A Novel

I’ve read most of what Charles Martin has written, but not this one so I was happy to find it at my local Library. Then I started reading it and my happy turned to uh oh because this book took me back to a place in my twenties that I didn’t want to revisit. If you read my memoir about the drug world you’d know why. This story is so perfectly told that I wondered where he got his info from? The main character Charlie is smart, handsome, and perceptive about other people and their motives and faults and he uses that to get what he wants to survive. He’s aware enough to realize he’s not motivated by money. He’s liking the game, the adrenalin rush and this leads him eventually into illegal activities like drug running. He’s show more always one step ahead, not letting many people in, or really opening his heart to love. But when he stops long enough, there’s this part of him that breaks through and lets him know there are consequences to his actions and that other people are getting hurt. As that part of him gets louder he starts opening his heart to a few people in his life especially two children who love and look up to him. When they get hurt he ends up searching for one of them in Nicaragua and comes face to face with the damage he has caused. This book asks the question is there hope when you can’t undo the wrong you caused? show less

I always enjoy reading books from this author. I have come to love his writing style. It is very poignant and descriptive. He does an excellent job of developing his characters and allowing the reader to feel the emotions . The places he writes about come alive with the picturesque style he is well versed in. Whatever topic the book is about is handled with real precision and he holds nothing back. This is another great book that takes you for a journey of self discovery for the main character who at times seems to focus on his flaws a bit much.

Charlie will take an adventure to find someone important to him, but along the way he revisits old hurts that will stir great emotion in him and guide him to a place of comfort and healing. It show more isn't easy to let go of your past, to be able to forgive yourself for the hurt you have caused others. As the character goes deeper into his journey, his walk will be heavy at times. I loved how the book reminded me that we cannot change our past, but we can make our future better. Letting go of things that have held us emotionally captive is hard but well worth the reward. To be free of something that has defined you negatively for so long is life changing. I loved the way the author also shared something personal at the end of the book. This is one book you will not be able to put down. The story will be one that will stay with readers long after the last page has been read.

I received a copy of this book from the Goodreads Free Giveaway for an honest review. show less

Charles Martin’s latest book, Water from My Heart, is a prime example of why I return again and again to this talented author. Finely crafted and told from the first person perspective of the main character, this novel takes the reader on a journey of moral and spiritual growth. I loved this book and really look forward to discussing it with my book club.

Charlie Finn is a man without a moral compass. From childhood he has been allowed and even encouraged to do what it takes to make money and to survive. From selling dope in high school, to playing poker in college and then legal plundering in corporate life, Charlie is never satisfied with the payoff. Living an island dream and helping to run a boutique drug organization, Charlie is show more finally confronted with the consequences of his choices. When he crosses paths with a woman who lives a life of integrity and compassion, Charlie wonders if he can ever be redeemed.

Charlie is an extremely complex character. Despite his many flaws, I connected with him immediately. A lost soul desperate to find meaning, his drifting through life is not so different from many people. As he tells his story through present time action and past recollections, the reader sees the struggles, the guilt and the longing that Charlie endures. As in all of Martin’s novels, secondary characters are well-developed and provide great compliments to the story. Rich description brings the setting to life. And the overall theme of redemption is naturally woven throughout the book.

Highly Recommended.

Audience: adults.

Great for Book Clubs. show less

Book clubs can make you go outside of your usual reading choices. This can be wonderful, allowing you to discover books that you would never have chosen on your own. There are several books I have found this way that I am the richer for having read. But just as you can find amazing books, you can also find duds. It's definitely a disappointment when the latter happens rather than the former, but it is a risk you take when you allow others to direct your reading for you. Charles Martin's Water From My Heart was, unfortunately, one of those disappointments although the group had quite a time teasing out all of our frustrations with the novel.

Charlie Finn is a drug runner. His childhood was terrible but he managed to overcome it and go to show more Harvard. Incredibly smart and successful, he ends up working for his wealthy girlfriend's father, a man with very little conscience. In his role in this hedge fund, he manages to buy a coffee plantation in Nicaragua, completely destroying the people who live and work there without a second thought. After realizing that Marshall, his boss/potential father-in-law, doesn't think he's good enough for daddy's little girl, he quits his job and bums around Miami until meeting his new best friend Colin, another fabulously rich person. He ends up working for Colin as a drug runner. Despite his unsavory job, he's a really good guy, a part of Colin's family, close with his children, and engaged to a lovely doctor. But then things go horribly wrong. Colin's son Zaul ends up on the run from bad guys. Maria, Colin's young daughter, is badly injured when Zaul's gambling buddies try to collect from him. And Shelly, Charlie's doctor fiance, dumps him because he's lied to her about his life. The only way that Charlie can begin to make good on everything he's done wrong is to go after Zaul and save him for Colin. As he tracks Zaul down to Central America, he meets Leena, her daughter Isabella, and the people of a small Nicaraguan town, who give him yet another chance to redeem himself and allow good to triumph.

The theme of redemption is very strong and Charlie is given every opportunity to right all his wrongs. If his conscience so much as pricks him, he is given the opportunity to fix it. All of the characters here are one-dimensional and the plot, outlandish just in summary, is given over with ridiculous coincidences. Martin draws all of the poor people Charlie comes across as uniformly noble and good. Everyone, good and bad, reaps what he/she sows in this novel. It might be nice if life actually worked this way but it doesn't. Nuance and realism are missing entirely in the telling of this tale. Add the unrealistic outcomes of every character's story line to the sloppy, oftentimes hokey writing and this is a treacly mess.e

Because this was a book club book, I was taking notes on it but had to stop when I realized that noting each and every inconsistency (Charlie spends weeks in Nicaragua--and not with ex-pats either--and never learns any Spanish? If he's able to conduct all the business which he's flown down for remotely, why on earth did he need to fly down at all? Leena can figure out what the US company did to ruin her father but didn't know a bank could call in a loan? Massive mudslides destroy just about everything in the area but the coffee and mangoes survive because they are too vital to the plot to wipe out? A 5 gallon bucket is large enough to carry a chunk of rock that has entombed two intertwined people? For that matter, the mud that entombed them has become rock in less than two decades? And so on.) was just making me angrier and angrier at the time it was taking to read this book. Perhaps there was a seed of something there since so many other people have loved this book (although not in my book club, I feel compelled to add) but the writing was poor, cliched, and heavy-handed and I just couldn't get beyond that. show less

Amazing to me is how many readers of this book finish with the need to reflect -- probably due to the powerful afterword by author Charles Martin, who describes the true story behind his novel. At the core is a deeply conflicted character, Charlie Finn, orphaned early in life, who grows up lacking a moral compass and doing whatever he wants without regard for others. Eventually, he lands in Bimini, befriends an island legend and becomes a wealthy drug runner for his best friend, Colin, and a de facto member of Colin's family. Then, of course, disaster strikes his adoptive niece (Maria), and Charlie heads to Nicaragua to find Colin's spoiled son, Zaul. Violently ill from food poisoning, Charlie is rescued and nursed back to health by show more Paulina. She makes him want to be a better man and deserving of her. A story, filled elements of love and joy, hardship and heartache, missteps in life, survival, and redemption. 4.5 stars, but not for sissies. show less

Charles Martin has been given an incredible gift from God in that he see's humanity so clearly. His writing is deep, raw, and real. If it doesn’t pull a plethora of emotions from you I would be very surprised.

If you don’t want to know whether or not this book ends happily or sadly don’t read further (just read the book because it is incredible!).

SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNING

In Water from my Heart Charles Martin artfully draws the reader down to the very pit of the protagonist Charlie's life. The beauty though is that he doesn't leave you there. Light shines through circumstances and more importantly the people that are placed in Charlie’s life.

I found myself greatly desiring to have the show more character of Paulina, Raul, and Alejandro and the contentment and pride of those who lived in poverty but not squalor. Even more, the work ethic, patience, and acceptance of the people of Nicaragua was thoroughly inspiring but those qualities also drove a thorn into my heart. I have been given much but I am not nearly that content while I spend more than they make in a day on a cup of coffee (you will see this analogy used more than once in the book).

Charlie felt mired in a lifetime feeling of dirtiness. Wisdom shown him by those stronger than him, the literal wallowing in the dirt, and the pride of those who are poor but not squalid stood as a looking glass to him. Love allowed him to accept what he saw.

The book ends with a chapter called “On Digging a Well”. This is the true story regarding the inspiration for the book. Don’t read ahead…leave it for the end. It brought me to tears in a good way.

I received an advanced reader copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest and unbiased review. My thanks to the author and publisher.

For all of my reviews please see my blog at: https://blessedandbewildered.wordpress.com show less

I’m definitely in the minority on this one. It was obvious from the get-go that this book and I were not a good fit, and I didn’t feel particularly satisfied at the conclusion. I found the plot drawn out, especially the first half, and the story-line a bit incredulous. I had to work to get through this one --- cumbersome and plodding with the plot shifting from past to present.

On a positive note – there were some powerful scenes with rather intense drama. I was very moved by the scene between Shelly and Charlie on the beach. There was also a message of hope and redemption, and a romance and relationships that tie it all together.

I’m a big fan of this author, but this one just failed to pull me in. My rating – 3.5 stars.