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Wednesday, January 27, 2016

What We Thought: At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen



Evening Book Club January 2016
At the Water’s Edge by Sarah Gruen

The evening’s discussion was dominated by recurring questions; “What is this book really about? What is the significance of water throughout the story?”  Several themes were evident; World War II and its effects on the residents of rural Scotland, the contrast of class differences between entitled socialites and working people in both England and Scotland, belief in traditional  folklore and practice of folk medicine, and the consequences of societal norms of male dominance and violence against women. There was the question of unusual male friendship interfering with recently married Maddie who was beginning to realize that her marriage and relationship with her husband Ellis and childhood friend, Hank was somewhat unorthodox.

Husband Ellis drank liberally and helped himself to Maddie’s medicine, so much so that she finally threw out her remaining supply. Undeterred Ellis continued on his drug addled spree with no concern for Maddie who was left to fend for herself in an inn full of strangers in the middle of the wild Scottish Highlands. Readers felt the search for the Loch Ness monster was backdrop for the transformation of Maddie from her former life into an authentic woman with true concern and understanding for those in the village and they for her. 

After much discussion it was decided that the Loch Ness monster was not defined or found, but perhaps was behind some of the supernatural events. Readers agreed that the author wrote extensively about the emotional and guarded lives of people. Although the story was a dark one, the group broke into nervous laughter at the absurd situations and antics of characters. Maddie speaking about husband Ellis after a terrifying incident of abuse in the night, “Dr.McLean banished everyone while he examined Meg, so the rest of us went downstairs to wait. As far as I could tell, Ellis had slept through the entire thing. That, or he was dead, but I saw no reason to check. If he was dead, he’d still be dead in the morning."  

Have you read At the Water’s Edge? What did you think? Please share your thoughts in comments.

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