Breathing Water

This book is beautifully written with wonderful descriptions of characters and scenery. That said it is not an easy read since it is about a relationship that was an abusive one. Effie and Max, her abusive boyfriend finally break up after the drowning of a young girl at a family cabin at a Vermont Lake. Effie then begins her wanderings, searching for redemption and escape. Three years later she learns that Max has died and she feels safe enough to return to Vermont and the 'camp' that she so loved. Here she is able to reconnect with the past and begin her healing journey. I felt uncomfortable with the abusive aspects of this story but can see how things like this can occur. They creep up on you until one is totally under water and under show more the spell of the abuser. The author did a great job with this. Effie does find redemption and is finally able to move on with her life when she confronts the truth of what happened, in her relationship with Max and the drowning of the young girl. Recommended! show less

First let me thank Library Thing - I won a copy of this book in the early reviewers program!

I guess I was expecting more from this book, from T Greenwood. I looked it up on Amazon and found that it's a re-release from 2000 which explains a lot for me.

This is a story bounces back and forth between times in Effie's life. Earlier times when she is dating Max and at the mercy of his mean streak and feels the need to leave the lake when a young girl dies and later times when she returns to the lake and is learning how to live again - free from the monster, the purple bruises and the pain.

The story is one of friendship and heartache and forgiveness.

Effie was living in her grandparents' lake house in Vermont the summer of 1991 when she witnessed a terrible tragedy that may have had something to do with her violent boyfriend Max. As a result of this trauma, Effie fled to Seattle to escape Max and the psychological bond he had over her. Several years later, after hearing that Max had died of a heroin overdose, Effie returns to Vermont to restart her life. As she begins a new relationship with a handsome stranger who leaves her gifts of nature on her doorstep, Effie begins to revisit the events from that summer. With strong themes of domestic violence, this novel explores how far women are willing to go to help a lover overcome a history of trauma, and at what point they need to show more escape the relationship to save themselves.

I thought this novel was somewhat weak, as I didn't care much about the main character, nor could I relate to her. The novel seemed to be based mostly on actions without a lot of internal processing. There were descriptions of what the characters did but not a lot of insight into why they behaved as they did. The poetic openings to each part of the book were, I assume, intended to be dramatic, but I thought they were melodramatic and vague. There were repeated themes of bruising, washing dishes under scalding water, hair washing, sleeping in a boat, and other random things that didn't seem to be related to anything in particular. Ultimately I found the female characters all pathetically passive and unable to change the course of their lives. While not an unreadable book, it was rather mediocre, though some might find it more interesting and engaging than I did. Additionally, the main traumatic event was never resolved, nor was there a resolution to the romantic relationship. In all, rather uneventful and unfulfilling. show less

I'd had this author on my radar for a while after reading some good reviews of her works, but hadn't managed to get my hands on any of them until an Early Reviewer copy found its way to me.

Basically, the main character of Effie returns home to her grandparents' lakeside cottage in Vermont after a few years away following a "tragedy" at the lake. Throughout the novel, the reader gets small references to this alluded tragedy, but never quite gets the full story, although it's somehow related to Effie's earlier relationship with an abusive boyfriend.

There are some beautiful passages in this novel and the prose is quite good for the most part, especially for a debut novel. I loved the lake cottage setting in Vermont and I instantly wanted show more to be there myself. But what kept me from enjoying this novel more was the character of Effie herself, I think. She was weak, and granted -- this was a story of recovery & healing, but I never really felt comfortable with the way she evolved. I enjoyed the way the story gradually unfolded via flashbacks, but I still felt like things were left unresolved by the end of the book. I enjoyed this book, but not as much as I'd hoped, and I can't exactly put my finger on why that is. However, I do still want to pursue Greenwood's other novels & will seek them out in the future. show less

A novel written in prose - T. Greenwood swept me away with her words - i was surprised to learn that she was so young when she wrote this, her first novel newly rereleased - the writing was so fluid and the emotions so raw - it took me a long time to immerse in the story as the language kept me from reading on quickly, but after i got used to the flow of time (the book travels back and forth through seven years in the late 1980's, early 90's), i sat back and became engrossed - i've only read one other novel by t. greenwood - undressing the moon - which was also a poetic journey - and look forward to reading them all - she combines emotion with language with story in a very articulate way.

T. Greenwood is becoming one of my favorite authors, as diving into all her older books, having read her latest ones, which pulled me in as a huge fan--- a writer of extraordinary insight and depth, Greenwood is not afraid to tackle highly-charged social issues.

It was nice to catch up with a few of the characters mentioned at the end of “Bodies of Water” (which I highly recommend-about Gussy’s sister) and the famous family's camp lake house in Vermont.

Effie was the main characters, as the victim of an abusive relationship with Max. After years being away running from Max, she comes home after his death to her must-loved lake house owned by her grandmother, Gussy to rebuild her life and start over.

Effie still fees guilt about an show more argument between her and Max, when Keisha (young black girl) was killed on the lake. Memories of their relationship alternate with the unfolding of the fateful summer's tragic events; however, as Effie begins working on the family cabin, she begins rebuilding her lie.

She meets Devin Jackson, an African-American artist renting a nearby cottage for the summer. Gifts begin appears at her door and the two fall in love (he happens to be Keisha’s older brother) – so quite a past and history. As this couple bond and grieve they find a peace and love in each other, in this idyllic lake setting.

Heart-wrenching yet ultimately uplifting, a novel of survival, hope and love!

http://judithdcollins.booklikes.com/post/826638/breathingwater show less

After reading this author's latest novel "Where I lost her", I had to find more of hers, (gotta love Kobo, I can have the book immediately without even getting off the couch) even breaking my strange rule of never reading two books by an author back to back.
I bought a bunch of hers and was thrilled to realize that this book featured the same characters and setting so I chose it to read first. I did just read a different review stating this was her first novel and that her novels got better with as they went. I did enjoy it, would give it a 3 1/2 but I wasn't wowed like the previous novel I had just read.
The story is mostly Effie's story, after being away three years, she returns to her grandmother's summer cottage at Lake Gormlaith in show more Vermont. We go back and forth from the tragedy of the last summer she was there and the events surrounding it, to three years later, when she returns and feels it's time to start living again.
I found the jumping around pasts and present rather confusing at times. Yes, the dates were at the head of the chapter but I found the chapters didn't flow smoothly and just a personal preference, I found it a little too poetic at times when I would wonder what she was trying to say.
I love the descriptive way she writes, I can visualize everything, it's like I am there and I can feel with the characters. From the books I have read of hers so far, there's a lot of emotion packed into them. I look forward to reading more of her. show less