Sara Gruen wrote Water for Elephants. I read that book a loved how the story unfolded the vivid descriptions and the storytelling that revealed the plot in a tantalizing way. The ending was hinted at but not revealed until you read it. It was a great read.
At the Water's Edge is the fourth novel by Sara Gruen and it is a disappointment. My guess is that she had an idea for a Highland romance, and an idea for a WWII story set among the displaced children from London, and a couple of gay bon vivants from the twenties all in unfinished form. So she threw them all together with a dash of good humor into one plot.
You can only assume comedy when three wealthy characters straight out of a Great Gatsby knock off decide to solve all their problems by going to Scotland to search for the Loch Ness Monster. But it's not the roaring twenties! It's 1942. The two men are 4F(maybe faking 4F) and choose to sail the Atlantic towards the battlefront. They brave the German blockade to play tourist in the highlands and to hunt the Loch Ness Monster. Best straight line? The innkeeper meets the travelers. After friction over the blackout rules - he deadpans "Have ye heard there's a war on?"
Gruen is able to write a great description and she is 'spot on' with getting the social attitudes of the two male travelers in the plot. It's the only bit of characterization those two get in this novel.
Shockingly in an otherwise tame and light toned novel, Greun's descriptive power is showcased in a scene where a sympathetic female character is brutalized by her boyfriend. This scene is very raw and violent. The damage she suffered is described in detail - pain, lost teeth, scarred face, blood - irreparable damage.
The attack on the woman is ended when our hero (who does not know he is the Laird?) arrives. He uses even greater violence on the man. Later, he conspires with the local doctor to prevent the beaten man from obtaining medical help. Violence, more violence, then vengeful cruelty -- quick change up there.
Lack of character development was rampant. We get to know the heroine a bit. But she is a pastiche of stereotypes - a woman with an unhappy childhood. Her wealth did not bring her happiness.(big surprise?) It is not until she learns to make herself useful by cooking and cleaning at the Inn that she begins to understand herself and grow into a mature adult.(Really?) Yes readers sweeping the floors everyday -- in an Inn with two guests besides yourself. That arduous task brings her out of her cold and limited wealth induced state. She even went so far as to clean up her room, her husband s room and his pal's room -- on her own -- no maid involved. As she is changing, she hides her new magical housework powers from the men, because thy would not understand the spiritual powers of hanging clothes up and using a broom.
To broaden the men's horizons and to perhaps stir them to maturity, she starts to iron the newspapers in hopes that they can read the death counts of specific battles and begin to understand that they should be concerned about the suffering of others. But they are hardened cases. Even an ironed newspaper goes unread.
The violence is key reason the book is a fail. Shallow characters and farcical situations work in romances and beach reads. The violent beating of a woman was too realistic. It ruined the light romance and made this book a FAIL.
Spoiler Alert: The Bar Keep is Laird! By day he is a mild mannered barkeeper, who is mysteriously not away at war. But in the end,(ok in the first pages most can guess) he is home in Scotland because he is an instructor teaching Special Forces to carry out the most dangerous missions of the war. He has donated his ancestral lands as a training grounds. He is the fiercest of all the men. He also approves of sweeping floors. Or at least he approves of women who sweep floors. Sweeping floors arouses great passion in the Laird.
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