The Waters

By: Bonnie Jo Campbell

Narrated by: Lili Taylor

Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

A master of rural noir returns with a fierce, mesmerizing novel about exceptional women and the soul of a small town.

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.

Donkey spends her days searching for truths in the lush landscape and in her math books, waiting for her wayward mother and longing for a father, unaware that family secrets, passionate love, and violent men will flood through the swamp and upend her idyllic childhood. Rage simmers below the surface of this divided community, and those on both sides of the divide have closed their doors against the enemy. The only bridge across the waters is Rose Thorn.

With a “ruthless and precise eye for the details of the physical world” (Jane Smiley, New York Times Book Review), Bonnie Jo Campbell presents an elegant antidote to the dark side of masculinity, celebrating the resilience of nature and the brutality and sweetness of rural life.

"Bonnie Jo Campbell’s The Waters is a novel, a living myth, and a place. … Imagine a mash-up of Flannery O’Connor and the Brothers Grimm, of Angela Carter’s reimagined fairy tales and William Faulkner’s gothic sublime. And yet, The Waters is all Bonnie Jo. …" —DIANE SEUSS, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Frank: Sonnets

©2024 Bonnie Jo Campbell (P)2024 Recorded Books

Magical sentence structure

At first I got frustrated and lost in the run on sentences. Then I fell under the spell of the island.

Decent story, ok narration

I thought I would like this more than I did based on the reviews and the synopsis. I guess the characters didn’t really get any payoff for their hardworking, or lack there of, so to speak. There were no consequences for anyone’s actions, like rape, and when family members and neighbors found out they just said hmm makes sense now… like, it was your father raping the girl you loved your entire life, oh well bygones? a character that educated herself the entire story had nothing come of it, I just found it frustrating. The narrator was not great in my opinion. She was very monotone and I could hear her swallowing a lot which grosses me out. I would save my credit

Good Story Needed More Careful Narration/Editing

Narration, Initially, it took me a while to get used to Lili Taylor’s voice. I wondered if she had a cold or hadn’t warmed up. Wondered why mispronounced (discount store), “Mizer” wasn’t fixed/edited. It was pronounced correctly later. Descriptions were at times read without inflection and emphasis and felt rushed. Producer should have been more careful with quality control. I had to buy the book and alternate and often reread to get more depth/understanding for book club and my own interest. Also larger time gaps between paragraphs made me wonder if I had a call coming or lost battery power. It was inconsistent and I know that editing can catch that. Was this a rush job? Story, I enjoyed the characters and their impact on the community.

I can see it

If you listen to a book and you can see it you know it’s a a good book ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Interesting characters. beautiful and wild descriptions of the location.

the narrator has a beautiful voice but the overall editing of the performance took away from the story telling with awkward pauses and changes in sound.

Didn't love it, but I did finish it

The good: I LOVED Lili Taylor's voice, and there was a certain Steinbeck (or more contemporary, Dorothy Allison) quality to the story and characters, the reader/listener is drawn deeper into a somewhat isolated world with a distinct language, the unfamiliar becomes familiar.
On the other hand, my mind wandered a bit in places and I had to go back.
I really wanted to like this book, but for me it wasn't a good fit, but I'd encourage others to give it a try, it may be yours.

Odd

It was just an odd book and not at all what I expected. It was so odd, that rather than stop listening, I continued to the end. Honestly, these are the most backward group of characters I’ve ever read about, making it seem less like a novel, and more like a fantasy book. Honestly, I think I kept listening because the readers voice was so melodic.

Strong women with healing abilities

I liked the vivid descriptions of the waters and the island. I had trouble keeping track of the relationships

Beware

I really hate snakes so it was difficult to read/hear some parts of this book, BUT the snake is a very integral part of the story. That said, I still hate snakes!!

I loved the characters, some strong, some weak, some just willing to do whatever was necessary for her family and community.

It was interesting to read a “swamp” story in a setting in Michigan. I never knew about their swamps.

It took a while to get used to the narrator’s cadence and I was disturbed by her occasional mispronounced words, but her voice became very lulling and I think her delivery was an important part of this storytelling.

Beautiful

So this tale went looooooong like way to long. Especially the epilogue. I love Lily but you have to turn the volume up sky high to hear her. It’s the same thing watching her on tv. She’s just one of those voices that are so low. I did not like that you could hear her turn pages! I liked how she read the tale making it more fantastical. The tale was weird but I enjoyed it, it just went on and on and on and on……..and on.