Tuesday, March 31, 2015

At The Water’s Edge

Sara Gruen

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, pens her eyes not only to the dark forces that exist around her but to the beauty and surprising possibilities (from Netgalley)


My Thoughts
 

Madeline is married to Ellis Hyde. They live with his parents, who feel Ellis married below his status. When his parents cut off financial support, Ellis comes up with the idea to go in search of the infamous Loch Nest monster. Maddie tags along, as does their best friend Hank. This is the story of how the adventure changes Maddie’s life.

At the beginning, I did not like Maddie, Ellis or Hank. They were uppity, snooty, can’t lift a finger to tie their own shoelaces kind of people. But as the story progressed, I was able to warm up to Maddie and was cheering for her at the end. She makes a total turn around with her attitude towards the working class people she encounters in Scotland. I even shed a tear for her, but I’m not going to tell you why ;)

Another fine tale from a very talented author.

Thank you to Random House Publishing, via Netgalley, for allowing me to read this in exchange for an unbiased review.

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