The Memory of Water by Karen White (book review)

This is not the usual type of book that I read but when I saw that one of the groups here on Gather was giving away a free copy for people to review I thought I would give it a chance.  I challenged myself to keep an open mind and really give it a chance!

 I have to say that this was truly an excellent book.  By the end of the first chapter I was completely engrossed and was able to actually get it read within two days!!!  The style the story was written in was interesting and I liked seeing things from each main characters point of view.  The three different mysteries within the book also drew me in, making me wonder and want to read further to find out!!! I thought it was beautifully written and it made me care for the characters and experience emotion!  I got so wrapped up in it I cried at the end!

 The main characters of the story are Marnie and Diane who are sisters, Gil who is Diane's 9 year old son, and Quinn who is Diane's ex husband and Gil's father.  The story is also about mental illness.  When the sisters were younger their mentally ill mother took them out on a sailboat in the storm and only the girls were rescued by the Coast Guard the next morning, the mother not found.  Marnie cannot remember what happened that night, Diane does remember but doesn't want to tell.  The first mystery of the book is what happened on the boat that night with the girls' mother?  Fast forward years later, Diane takes her son out on a sailboat, in a storm, and when they come back 9 year old Gil will no longer talk to anyone and Diane has stopped painting (her passion).  The second mystery of the book is what happened on the boat that night with Gil and Diane?  The next mystery involves a piece of paper Diane found in her Grandpa's study that sends her mental illness (bipolar disorder as her mother had) spiraling out of control right before her disasterous boating trip with their son.  What was on that piece of paper?

 I do not want to give away the ending (which made me cry and was exactly what it should have been, this book was very well crafted) or too much more of the story line, but I would like to say that I really loved this book and thought it portrayed mental illness and the reactions of family members and how they cope is extremely accurate.  This book touched me on a personal note because my husband's ex wife reminds me a lot of Diane and my stepson is 9 the same age of Gil in the book and he thinks of his Mommy in a similar manner Gil thinks of Diane.  This book really touched me and it was very well written.  I would definitely recommend it to others and based on how much I actually enjoyed this one I will definitely read more things that Karen White has written.  Thank you Gather for turning me on to such an excellent author!!!

 To the author if she reads this review... This was a beautiful and touching story!  Thank you for writing it!