Mother-Daughter Relationships

The Waters
By Bonnie Jo Campbell
W.W. Norton & Company, October 2024, 416pp.

The Short of It:

A bit too much romance for me but brimming with strong, independent women.

The Rest of It:

On an island in the Great Massasauga Swamp–an area known as “The Waters” to the residents of nearby Whiteheart, Michigan–herbalist and eccentric Hermine “Herself” Zook has healed the local women of their ailments for generations. As stubborn as her tonics are powerful, Herself inspires reverence and fear in the people of Whiteheart, and even in her own three estranged daughters. The youngest–the beautiful, inscrutable, and lazy Rose Thorn–has left her own daughter, eleven-year-old Dorothy “Donkey” Zook, to grow up wild. – the publisher

The Waters is an interesting read. Never in my life would I have picked it up on my own. Why? Seemed a little flowery to me at first glance. A little too “woo-woo” with the lotions and potions. You know what I mean? My book club chose it for November so I found a copy and hunkered down.

Not long after starting it, I was sucked into the lives of these women. Herself, she literally calls herself this, has been providing medicinal potions to the town of Whiteheart for as long as people can remember. She lives on the island, with her girls, mainly Rose Thorn, another odd name. The island is controlled by a drawbridge of sorts to keep the men out. This becomes important later.

So here she is, Herself and Rose Thorn, living by themselves. The other siblings, Primrose and Molly have gotten themselves off the island and live fairly normal lives but their lives continue to be intertwined with their family on the island because for one reason or another, they are always called back.

Rose Thorn. The name is odd but appropriate. Beautiful like a rose but thorny, stubborn. She does what she wants. She seems to be the only thing, besides the lotions and potions tying the island back to Whiteheart. But Rose has her own demons. Raped and impregnated, she leaves the island only to return when her daughter makes her appearance. Her daughter, Donkey, AKA Dorothy. This family and their crazy names!

Donkey is a force to be reckoned with. She’s inherited some of her grandma’s talent with lotions and potions. She understands the value of those medicinal tonics, the waters, so to speak. She’s also desperate for a relationship with the father figures around her. The identity of her own father is buried in secrets.

As these women find their place on this island and outside of it, the rest of the town falls under the spell of these women and cannot stay away. They gather just outside of the island, eager to be around Rose Thorn and her desire for love becomes complicated when her soulmate finds that the obligation to his farm, outweighs actual desire.

There were times while reading this that I groaned over the romantic aspects of this novel. Was Rose Thorn really such a hot commodity that the Whiteheart men just fell to her feet even when attached to their own families? Yes, and no. They are most definitely drawn to her but loyalties come into play and it all culminates in an odd and frustrating conclusion.

I really liked walking along with Donkey, but there were times where I just wanted to shake some sense into her. All the talk about the poisonous plants, the snakes, and the like. A child growing up on an island like that is going to encounter some interesting things, and she does.

Overall, this was a very different read for me. I am not much into lotions and potions and the woo woo benefits that such things can bring, but this is a strong circle of women. I wish there was less of the romantic stuff and more of the family stuff. That would have made this a perfect read.

Recommend. Should be good for discussion.

Source: Borrowed
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Lessons in Chemistry
By Bonnie Garmus
Doubleday, 9780385547345, April 5, 2022, 400pp.

The Short of It:

Pure fun with a little bit of science and feminism.

The Rest of It:

Elizabeth Zott is a chemist. In the 60s. She is brilliant, but pegged as “difficult”. Her discoveries are impressive but not to her peers. Her male peers consider her to be more of a lab tech than a ground-breaking scientist. When she uncovers something big, her male boss takes credit for it. None of this is new to Zott. It began in school and unfortunately affected the job offers she received. This is how she ends up at Hastings, a research institute run by a total tool.

It is at Hastings that she meets Calvin. Calvin, is a well-known scientist and a hot commodity for Hastings. He could have worked anywhere but chose Hastings for its mild climate. You see, he is also a rower so good weather year-round was a plus even though he could have gone anywhere.

Lessons in Chemistry surprised me. From the cover, I had ZERO interest in reading it. It looked like one of those fluffy romance reads. But then I read an article that praised it on many levels. And then my book club selected it for this month’s pick. So, not only did I find a copy, I BOUGHT a copy. Something I rarely do. It surprised me in many ways:

It’s full of science but masked as cooking tips
Zott is difficult, but in a very likable way
There is an adorable dog
Yes, there is romance but not fluffy, silly stuff
There are highs and lows. Not all happy stuff
It does illustrate the difficulties that women faced in that decade

This is one of those feel-good reads. It will be on my fave list at the end of the year because it includes love, loss, overwhelming challenges, and in my opinion, some really great characters. However, with all that good, it was predictable, which is why this is a four star read for me. It’s predictability did not affect my enjoyment while reading it though. I eagerly looked forward to it every time I picked it up.

If you passed this one over due it its cover alone, give it a go.

Source: Purchased
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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