352 Pages
Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0345439104
$14.00 (Paperback)
Christina Schwarz's Drowning Ruth is a captivating and multi-layered story spanning over twenty years. In 1919, Amanda Starkey returns to her rural home after a disastrous affair in Milwaukee leaves her pregnant and heartbroken. In an excellent tale of the close, or not so close, bond between sisters, Amanda and Mattie hide her secret by living on the island they played on as children. One catastrophic night, however, leaves Mattie drowned, forcing Amanda to care for her three year-old niece Ruth. Whn Mattie's husband Carl returns from the war, conflict arises over Amanda'a over-protection of her niece, forcing her to slowly reveal what occured that fateful night.
For years, Amanda and Ruth are haunted by their own, however vague, recollections of that night. Ruth grows up amid silence and discomfort, smothered by her aunt. The novel becomes an examination of one girl's life growing up amidst family secrets, early 20th Century America, and the bonds she is forced to break with the woman who raised her. When she befriends the outrageous Imogene, a girl with an eerie resemblence to Ruth's own mother, the truth behind their lives is forced to its breaking point.
Drowning Ruth is an excellent portrait of early to mid century female life, the effects of war and domesticity--of the problems women particularly faced amidst the desolation of the countryside. It also explores the bonds between sisters and friends--how much we are willing to reveal even to those closest to us. Schwarz provides an excellent layering of narrative, providing several excellent points of view. She also succeeds in gracefully and slowly revealing the story peice by peice, strand by strand. The prose style is clean, crisp, and haunting, setting an excellent backdrop for the isolation of the Wisconsin landscape.