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Book Review of The Properties of Water

The Properties of Water
The Properties of Water
Author: Ann Hood
Book Type: Hardcover
reviewed on + 23 more book reviews


Description:

"Hood's sixth novel is set in a small, toxic factory town in Rhode Island. The river is polluted, the air smells nasty, and everything and everyone is just a bit run down.

Josie, a woman nearing midlife who has let her looks go, has two feuding daughters 10 years apart in age, a philandering husband who no longer loves her, and a father being claimed inexorably by Alzheimer's. Josie tries to stave off impending disaster, but everything seems to slip from her grasp. She's brutally attacked by a car jacker, her long absent and consistently outrageous sister, Michaela, suddenly decides to come "home" and face her painful past, and the river, in an eerie act of empathy, floods for the first time in many years.

As emotions and waters rise, the characters find their own high ground, relationships sort themselves out accordingly, and Hood leaves us entertained, touched, and reassured."