Book Review of The Waters by Bonnie Jo Campbell

Name of Book: The Waters

Author: Bonnie Jo Campbell

ISBN: 978-0-393-24843-2

Publisher: W.W. Norton

Type of book: 2010s century, modern times, Michigan, rural noir, nature, snakes, secrets, donkeys, survival, mathematics, traditions vs new path, island, healing, idols, stereotypes, 

Year it was published: 2024 

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 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 daughters. The youngest, beautiful and inscrutable 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.

With a “ruthless and precise eye for the details of the physical world” (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.

Characters:

There are a whole lot of characters in the story, but main ones include Hermine "Herself" Zook, a talented and spiritual herbal doctor who lives on an island where only women are permitted and who lives more in the past rather than modern life. There are also her three daughters; Primrose, the oldest who lives in California and who is no nonsense and who wants to be as far away as possible; there is also the middle daughter, Molly, who is a nurse and who has passion for cats and who loves and trusts everything modern; last daughter is Rose Thorn, the youngest, the dreamer and the beautiful goddess who frequently moves to California for reasons of her own and who doesn't know or understands herself. There is also Donkey, Rose Thorn's daughter who is highly intelligent, has talent for complex mathematics and who grew up on island without attending school and is trying to learn all she can about the world. There are men in the novel such as Wild Will Zook who is often seen as a role model but who has done unforgivable things as well as Titus Clay, Rose Thorn's on-and-off lover with whom she can't make up her mind on whether or not to be with. There are plenty of other male characters, but the ones mentioned are most important. 

Theme:

How does one untangle complexities of life

Plot:

The story is in third person narrative from omniscient point of view and it seems as if everyone, from main characters to secondary and tertiary characters are covered. The characters are well done and memorable, and I also appreciated the nature aspects to the story and learning quite a bit about Michigan, or seeing another view of the state rather. For readers who enjoy long meandering tales where it seems as if history and society are examined under a finely tuned microscope, then this is a perfect read. But for readers who are looking for fast paced read, then this might not be a best fit. 

Author Information:
(From goodreads)

Bonnie Jo Campbell is the author of the National Book Award finalist American Salvage, Women & Other Animals, and the novels Q Road and Once Upon a River. She is the winner of a Pushcart Prize, the AWP Award for Short Fiction, and Southern Review’s 2008 Eudora Welty Prize for “The Inventor, 1972,” which is included in American Salvage. Her work has appeared in Southern Review, Kenyon Review, and Ontario Review. She lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where she studies kobudo, the art of Okinawan weapons, and hangs out with her two donkeys, Jack and Don Quixote.

Opinion:

THE WATERS by Bonnie Jo Campbell is not a simple story that goes neatly into a box; instead its a story that tends to defy categorization, working as a novel where one reader comes away with one perspective while another reader comes away with something else. My perspective is the focus on the feminine and the history versus the masculine and the future. A lot of story focuses on the nature as well as relationships between the Zook women as well as relationships towards the men in their lives, and although it sounds predictable, THE WATERS is anything but predictable. A lot of elements play into the story, each big enough to form separate opinions and thoughts by multiple readers. Having said all that, my view of the story is definitely complex but I know that a lot involves nature, growing up and it seems to be a tie between the old ways versus the new ways. 

This was given for review

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)