Review: At Water's Edge by Sara Gruen

Overview:

In this new novel from the author of Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen again demonstrates her talent for creating spellbinding period pieces. At the Water's Edge is a gripping and poignant love story about a privileged young woman's personal awakening as she experiences the devastations of World War II in a Scottish Highlands village.

Madeline Hyde, a young socialite from Philadelphia, reluctantly follows her husband and their best friend to the tiny village of Drumnadrochit in search of a mythical monster—at the same time that a very real monster, Hitler, wages war against the Allied Forces. What Maddie discovers—about the larger world and about herself—through the unlikely friendships she develops with the villagers, opens her eyes not only to the dark forces that exist around her but to the beauty and surprising possibilities.

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Review:

 

Sara Gruen has again produced a historical fiction novel that is engaging and atmospheric. When three young twenty-somethings leave 1940s Philadelphia in the midst of World War II, in search of the mythical Lochness Monster, they find far more than they bargained for. Fans of Kate Morton or Kate Atkinson,  will enjoy At the Water's Edge.

Overview:

 

In Life After Life Ursula Todd lived through the turbulent events of the last century again and again. In A God in Ruins, Atkinson turns her focus on Ursula’s beloved younger brother Teddy – would-be poet, RAF bomber pilot, husband and father – as he navigates the perils and progress of the 20th century. For all Teddy endures in battle, his greatest challenge will be to face living in a future he never expected to have.  

 

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Review:

 

Kate Atkinson is one of my favorite authors, and with A God in Ruins she continues to dazzle. This is truly a beautiful novel about life's possibilities, how one life impacts another, and the effects of war on many lives. It may be a companion piece to Life After Life, but A God in Ruins  certainly stands on its own. While the ending was surprising, it unfolded so gracefully it felt completely natural. I could continue gushing, but fear I'd give too much away, while not doing this extraordinary work justice. Atkinson just keeps getting better.