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SAD WATER
by Teri Holbrook
Bantam, September 2002
308 pages
$5.99
ISBN: 0553577182


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

First introduced in The Grass Widow, Nadianna Jesup is a promising amateur photographer and child minder of Katie Pru Grayson. Nadianna has been living an isolated life in Statlers Cross, Georgia all her life and has not left her hometown. With the encouragement of Gale, Katie Pru's mother, they submit a grant application for a photographic essay on a water mill in Mayley, England that served as an inspiration to the one in Statlers Cross. Their project is approved and it will be the first time Nadianna will cross an ocean. She is feeling guilty and apprehensive, but this is something she needs to do for herself. Gale and Katie Pru will go with her to provide help with the project as well as moral support. However, no matter where they go, trouble is bound to follow.

When they arrive at the village, everyone becomes suspicious of these outsiders. Some do their best in trying to make them feel welcome, while others whisper behind their backs. Who is this pregnant young southerner taking pictures of our mill? Where is the baby's father? Who is that woman and child living with her? Did she actually see part of a human body floating down the river? If so, where is it?

Nadianna becomes completely frustrated that no one believes her not even Gale. There are things going on in Mayley that she is totally unaware. There are two sisters, one of them mute, hiding a deep dark secret; a local artist has gone missing; her art studio has been torched; a religious group has an unhealthy interest in Nadianna; and there is a mystery involving a rare diary written by a Luddite during the 19th century. These were a group of people who were opposed to the industrial revolution and would try to destroy any machinery that came in their way. All these events will have a common link and it will all be made clear at the end of the novel.

If you have never read a Teri Holbrook novel, this might be the best one out there if you treat is as a standalone book. As part of the Gale Grayson/Katie Pru mystery, it is still unconvincing. Gale still has a deep friendship with Daniel Halford, the policeman in A Far and Deadly Cry, who comes down to Mayley to visit and help investigate the town's mysterious goings-on.. Nadianna is the focal point in SAD WATER and it should have remained that way. The themes of alienation and being a stranger in a strange land are prevalent with this character more than any other. Small town life is also showcased as well as local flavoring. Sad Water is a good novel on itself. It is a great novel if you forget the characters past. You decide.

Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, January 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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