“I used to want to forgive, but now all I want is to be left alone. I don’t have forgiveness left in me. My forgiveness ran out with her blood on that long backwoods stretch of highway …”
Cassie barely remembers her mother or any of her relatives from that side of her family. After her mother died in a car accident when she was very young, she and her father settled into life in Boston where her father owned a restaurant. Her mother’s family was in Tennessee and they were fine by themselves. Although, there was always the other reason to not see her mother’s family – her mother’s car accident was her grandfather’s fault.
I chose Sweet Water as the Online Book Club May book choice. I had read Christina Baker’s Kline’s book Orphan Train (read that review here) and when I saw another one of her books for sale through BookBub, I bought it and put it on my to-read list. The storyline looked interesting and I thought it would be a good book to discuss with other readers.
When Cassie is in college in New York, she receives word that her grandfather (her mother’s father) has died and left her a house with land in Sweetwater, Tenn. Her grandmother and other relatives are still living, so it seems strange that he would leave the property to Cassie since she barely knows them. She is tempted to sell it and continue on with her life, but her curiosity about her mother’s life and death and her family draw her to go visit Sweetwater and claim her inheritance. As an artist, she figures the worst thing that could happen is that she gets some quiet time to spend on her art. She meets her family and sees them through a clear lens that sees the secrets surrounding everyone and making them all unhappy. Can they keep their secrets close or will Cassie be the family’s undoing?
I would recommend this book to any adult who likes to read an interesting family drama story. It’s a coming-of-age book, too, as Cassie grows up a lot in the story. It does have a few adult scenes between Cassie and her boyfriend and deals with adultery. If you do get a chance to read this book, come join our discussion at the Online Book Club. I’d love to hear what you thought!