The Memory of Water by Karen White

The word that best suits this novel to me, is INTENSE! The story centers around two sisters who grew up with a mom that suffered from a Bipolar disorder. As grown women, you discover how they individually dealt with their pain and past.

Last Sunday, our pastor said that unless we deal with our pain, we will substitute it with something else, something to mask it and it will only fester on the inside, but it will never just go away. I found his message to be so applicable to this story, because no matter how far you think you can run from your pain, its still deep inside you until you face it. There was so much turmoil in this book, each character was struggling with their own fears in the midst of a clinical disorder in the family.

It wasn't a light fluffy read by any means, as a matter of fact, it took me a while, because after every chapter I had to put it down and take a deep breath. It's dark, its real and its very intense. I do believe that clinically a person can be diagnosed with a melatonin imbalance that can mess with the way a person processes, feels and thinks. I can't even imagine back in the day how they explained one's behaviour without just concluding that the individual must be crazy. As with this story, generations of a family have believed that there was a curse passed down that caused these women to do horrible things to their families and to themselves. Today we are fortunate enough to have much more information on how the brain works and how to treat this particular illness.

Here's a quote that really caught my attention:
"I think I'm beginning to understand that running away from fear doesn't make it go away. It's still there, waiting around the corner, and I figure one day I'm going to catch up to it and finally face it."

I wouldn't say I enjoyed this book, but yet I was completely captivated. I wanted to see how these sisters dealt with their fears, healed the wounds between them and processed the hurts their family had been through. I would recommend it to those who are wanting way more than just a light read.

Description: On the night their mother drowns, sisters Marnie and Diana Maitland discover there is more than one kind of death. There is the death of innocence, of love, and of hope. Each sister harbors a secret about that night-secrets that will erode their lives as they grow into adulthood.

After ten years of silence between the sisters, Marnie is called back to the South Carolina Lowcountry by Diana's ex-husband, Quinn. His young son has returned from a sailing trip with his emotionally unstable mother, and he is refusing to speak. In order to help the traumatized boy, Marnie must reopen old wounds and bring the darkest memories of their past to the surface. And she must confront Diana, before they all go under

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(If you have a review of The Memory of Water you'd like me to add, just leave me a comment!)

Recommend: I would recommend it, because I think its good for everyone once in a while to see the real and raw side of pain so we can have a greater compassion for others.

Rating: ****