Water Witches

from James:

A crisis of conscience is at the heart of this tale of a small Vermont town torn between maintaining its viewscape and protecting endangered catamounts and a ski resort expansion and jobs.

This is a good story with strong characters, including a family of water dousers (also known as water witches). The mystic/Earth Goddess bits are treated fairly and with just enough skepticism to keep the book grounded in the believable. The notion of a drought wrecking havoc on a place and environment could easily be set in the American West, but Bohjalian captures Vermont in a way that makes me want to re-visit the area.

Water Witches does read a little dated. A lot has changed in the 20 years since it was published; but, a lot hasn't. It's show more still resonates on this Earth Day. show less

Although this book was written 25 years ago, it is more relevant today than it was when first published. There are some mystical elements with the main character being a “dowser” or “water witch.” This provides the author his creative license to explore the effects of the environment on the community. Essentially, there is a case brought to trial to prevent the expansion of a ski resort, Powdered Peak, which would draw on the already lowering water levels in the nearby lake. Things seem to be moving along to get the permits despite the protests until the attorney representing the builders and his daughter, Miranda, see a family of catamounts below them on a gondola ride. It becomes a matter of conscience and accountability for show more Scottie Winston. Does he “ignore” the potential presence of wildlife where the company has invested money to build or jeopardize his legal career? show less

Chris Bohjalian is one of those authors from whom I never know what to expect. I have loved some of his work, I have been indifferent to much of it as well. None of it is terrible, but if it were not for those that shine, I would have deserted him long ago. This one, unfortunately, falls into the “not so good” category for me.

Can’t anyone write a book without an obvious political agenda anymore? Must all the people of the world be either wealthy and corrupt or new-age, tree-hugging and caring. I really do think there is a lot of space between those two and most of us live in it. You can care about the environment and also want jobs and progress, those things are NOT altogether exclusive of one another. Everyone who is building show more something isn't hating the environment and unconcerned about what he destroys in the process.

As well, the concept is a little difficult for me to grasp onto. The women in this family are dowsers. That isn’t difficult, I believe some people can dowse for water. The part that was difficult was that they seem to have some super-natural ability, so they can dowse for all kinds of things...like bodies, lost people, the right places to build things (a little feng shui vibe), (and how silly is this) the vitamins in the food people eat. They can also divert streams, etc. to make them flow in another direction. All of that just exceeds believability for me. Then there is the daughter, a nine-year old child, and I have a lot of problems with the way she is portrayed in the book. I find the adults irresponsible where she is concerned. Finally, I never connected to a single character...not the kid, not the father and certainly not the new-age aunt. They were as elusive for me as the catamounts of Vermont were for them.

In the beginning, Dad is a bit of a skeptic. As he began to believe more and more, I begin to lose any belief I had started with. I doubted that was an intended result.

So, I am giving this a 2.5 rating and rounding down. Not bad enough to make me bail (which might have something to do with the fact that I just bailed on another book and felt I needed to finish something I started this week), but bad enough to make me wonder if I just read the last Bohjalian I will be willing to buy. show less

This is the story of environmentalists against developers. The storyline is simple. A Vermont ski resort needs to expand in order to stay in business. They are looking to clear trees and tap into a river in order to build more ski trails and man-made snow. That means obtaining permits and permissions. For lawyer Scottie Winston, working for Powder Peak, this means more jobs for the community...or so he says over and over again. Is he trying to convince himself? The trouble is Scottie is married to a water witch with minimal skills. More so, his sister-in-law is considered the most talented dowser in the country. Her abilities to find water, and even missing travelers is legendary. She is marrying the region's most vocal environmentalist show more who opposes Powder Peak's expansion. To make matters worse, Scottie's own daughter is proving to be an even more accomplished water witch than her aunt...Scottie must chose between his job and his family especially when a drought complicates things not only for Powder Peak but for the entire community. show less

Easy summer read, one of the better by Bohjalian. Little freaky reading it while watching the lake levels get really low here in the Laurentiens....

The struggle of the main character with issues of environment vs making a living is tantalizing. This author takes interesting issues and personalizes them; he is intriguing, engrossing, and stimulating. All of his books have made me think.

This story of a lawyer, his wife, and child living in VT brings factors of politics, family, and spiritualism surrounding and connecting to water in a flowing manner. Something drew me to this book and I'm very glad it did!