Mini-Book Review: Sweet Water by Christina Baker Kline

Sweet Water
Author: Christina Baker Kline
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Mystery
Released: July 1st 2014
Review Source: William Morrow

When a grandfather she never knew bequeaths her a house and 60 acres of land in Sweetwater, Tenn., a restless young artist leaves New York to recover her past and rethink her future. Cassie Simon's mother Ellen died when Cassie was only three; raised in Boston by her grieving father, she never knew her maternal relatives. Unprepared for the thick veil of mystery that surrounds them, Cassie is especially bewildered by her brusque grandmother, whom rumor credits with hiding a terrible secret about Ellen's death. In alternating sections told from their respective points of view, Cassie and her grandmother fight their separate battles to cope with the truth about the tragedy. Kline perfectly renders each woman's voice: Cassie's, probing and often uncertain, propels the narrative and creates an appropriate level of psychological suspense; the grandmother's quavers with the weight of memory as Cassie's search forces her beyond family myth to a painful and perhaps dangerous truth.

The result is a powerful, immensely readable tale of loyalty and betrayal, family and memory, made fresh by Kline's often beautiful and always lucid prose

I must say this is my first time ever reading a book by Christina Baken Kline and unfortunately it was a little too much for my taste. Not going to say much because the mystery of the book itself is pretty obvious. Which if you know me, I love solving mysteries but no need to crack my head in this story. The mystery was given from the very beginning and I was a bit disappointed.

As a young artist, Cassie Simon is living in New York until one day she receives the news that she inherits a land from her grandfather. A man that she never knew of. So why would this man leave her such a land in her name? Moving from the great city, Cassie wants to learn of her past and her family, but most of all she wants to uncover the truth of her mother’s death.The past is revealed. Well, if you put it that way. But what you learn is this family is dysfunctional. Let’s not even cover the “love story” because it is very hard to consider it as love. It was just another proof that this family dysfunctional, yet a family.

Even though the story was not a hit for me, I see there are fans that love this author due to her writing. Which I am not going to lie, she is really good at it. Which is the reason why I kept reading. I will have to give one of her other stories a try.