The year is 1995 and jean janes, a photographer, arrives on smuttynose island, one of the isles of shoals, just off the coast of new hampshire with her poet husband, thomas and five. Jean is a photojournalist on assignment to cover a 100 year old murder mystery that occurred on smuttynose an island off the coat of maine. Directed by kathryn bigelow, the film stars elizabeth hurley, catherine mccormack, sean penn, and sarah polley. What do you think the title weight of water may mean. Byatts possession and geraldine brookss people of the book. Apr 10, 2012 there is much that makes the weight of water a memorable book. This detailed literature summary also contains quotes and a free quiz on the weight of ink by kadish, rachel. Byatts possession and geraldine brookss people of the book a usa today bestseller.
This film is based on a book by anita shreve that was losely based on an unsolved double murder in the 1800s. Sep 09, 2016 the weight of water was not my favourite sarah crossan novel, however it was a wonderful story about a situation that is very common but you dont hear about too often. Enter, at this particularly challenging moment, a miraculous email. An intellectual, suspenseful, and entertaining pageturner, the weight of ink tells the story of two remarkable women separated by three centuries, the ambition that connects them, and the power of the written word. The main characters of this fiction, contemporary story are. I saw the true pain of being the odd one out through an interesting perspective, was able to understand the awful suspense of searching for someone through a set of heartbroken eyes, and enjoy an ending that brought everything to a full close. The novel deals with numerous themes, relevant to young. The weight of water teaches us to be accepting of people from different cultures and to not. Maren hontvedt notice the subtle difference in spelling, the norwegian immigrant who is the sole survivor on smuttynose island after the. The weight of water follows two stories, one about a mysterious double murder in the 1870s, the other a modern day story line that seeks answers to the first. This study guide consists of approximately 185 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of the weight of ink. Author sarah crossan deals with heavy topics abandonment, bullying, adjustment to a life in a new country yet the narrative poem is lyrical, rich in sensory detail, and profoundly moving. Many books have been written and many theories have surfaced. While either one of the stories could make a plausible thriller, the movies structure undercuts them both.
Though she fumbles slightly at the close, shreve resistance, 1995, etc. What is the significance of water throughout the book. Like the weight of water itself, it stirs the soul but leaves the reader with a fresh perspective of hope. The setting is almost always in coventry which sarah crossan describes as a dreary and muggy city with limited liveliness. The weight of water is a 1997 bestselling novel by anita shreve. The weight of water helps you understand how refugees feel and how hard it can be a foreigner in a strange country. I find myself a little late to the game, only just now having had the chance to finally read the weight of water. Dec 01, 2012 in the weight of water, anita shreve creates an alternative story to explain the smuttynose murders. The weight of water is a comingofage novel in free verse. Leaving poland with a suitcase and an old laundry bag, kasienka and her mother come to england to find her father, and end up finding much more. I looked it up this murder really occurred accompanying her are her husband, their small daughter, her brotherinlaw and his girlfriend.
This relatively short ya book is written in beautiful verse and tells the story of a. But the novel thats accompanying guillermo del toros new movie the shape of water is no mere adaptation. Atmosphere the terribly rough climate and unbearably close living quarters plays a significant role in the characters psychological states. Crossans the weight of water brought me to cry, laugh, feel irritated, and smile as i enjoyed how kasienka struggled to find her way through an unknown country. It has a water like synergy, a story of dignity, fused with a sense of buoyancy and colour. Jules was an obese child and teenager but has since shed the weight, which makes it difficult at times for people to recognize. Jean is assigned to take photographs for a magazine piece about an ancient crime on the granite island of smuttynose, off the coast of portsmouth, new hampshire. Free download or read online the weight of water pdf epub book.
The purpose of this trip is for jean to photograph areas off the new hampshire coast, specifically the isles of shoals, for a magazine article. Another strength is that the characters voices come across really well. With sally hawkins, octavia spencer, michael shannon, doug jones. All of the characters are relatable, and this made the book seem real and the scenes innovative yet commonplace. Coming from gdansk in poland, england is a whole new world for kasienka and her mother to understand. The weight of water by anita shreve was a library book sale find for me. The weight of water follows photographer jean, who along with her husband thomas, daughter billie, rich thomas brother, and adaline, richs girlfriend, set out on a sailing excursion. From kasienkas english school experience, to her troubles at home where she is in conflict with mama, to adjusting to being poor, i thought that the weight of water shows excellently the relationships between the characters. I think the weight of water will be another novel that leaves me thinking for a long time after ive put it down. Moving, unsentimental and utterly pageturning, we meet and share the experiences of a remarkable girl who shows us. One young woman polley survived to tell the events in which her sister and sisterinlaw were brutally murdered on an island located off the coast of new hampshire, while their husbands were at sea.
Created by bloomsbury childrens books uk view on bloomsbury childrens books uk share. Read the weight of water, by sarah crossan on bookmate. She combined a very compelling storyline with terrific writing and came up with a spellbinding book any woman should be able to relate to and love. Teachers guide the weight of water by sarah crossan. Anita shreve did a magnificent job with the weight of water. The weight of blood is an urgent look at the dark side of a bucolic landscape beyond the arm of the law, where a person can easily disappear without a trace.
In creating the weight of water, shreve carefully wove the historical story with the fictional one, though, she maintains the heart of the book has almost nothing to do with the facts. Kasienka is a very engaging character and the writing style is delightful, moving the story along quickly and making. The weight of water is a coming of age novel in free verse. About the missing father, kasienka thinks, tata does not want to be found. The weight of water by sarah crossan cassie karcher period 6 element 1. Coauthor daniel kraus book and the film tell the same story, of a mute woman who falls in love with an imprisoned and equally mute creature, in two very different ways. The weight of water is sarah crossans debut novel and it was definitely a story that didnt disappoint. She taught creative writing at amherst college in the 1990s. The weight of water is a comingofage story that deftly handles issues of immigration, alienation, and first love.
Fiction twelveyearold kasienka cassie and her mother have immigrated to england from poland, searching for kasienkas father, but everyone is unfriendly except for an african neighbor and a boy kasienka meets at the swimming pool, which is her only refuge. Kasienka encounters numerous problems throughout the book, in school and at home. Moving, unsentimental and utterly pageturning, we meet and share the experiences of a remarkable girl who shows us how quiet courage prevails. In the wolf wants in, one woman investigates her brothers death while another tries to escape their opioidravaged rural kansas town. As a class, look together at the jacket design for the novel and ask students to guess what some of the themes. Some of the poems and the way they are written stick in your mind. Although completely fictional, she weaves a believable tale which parallels the lives between two women. For another book that deals with racism try the fantastic noughts and crosses series by malorie blackman. The first edition of the novel was published in 1997, and was written by anita shreve. Summary on a small island off the new hampshire coast in 1873, two women were brutally murdered by an unknown assailant. The weight of water is a novel written in a beautiful,poetic style which creates a fantastic story and atmosphere. They are searching for tata, kasienkas father, who headed to the uk three years previously.
The weight of water opens with 12 year old kasienka and. The weight of water is a 2000 frenchamerican mystery thriller film based on anita shreves 1997 novel the weight of water. The weight of water characters jean janes a professional photographer who plans the boat trip on her brotherinlaws boat to photograph smuttynose island, the location of the 1873 murders of karen and anethe christensen. The weight of water reading guide book club discussion. My favourite character other than kasienka was kanoro, the resident next door to them. The weight of water is both a love story and a whodunit. A newspaper photographer researches an 1873 double homicide and finds her own life paralleling that of a witness who survived the tragic ordeal.
It has a waterlike synergy, a story of dignity, fused with a sense of buoyancy and colour. She makes the journey to the island by sailboat, sharing the claustrophobic. First published in 1998, it became an instant bestseller and was subsequently released as a movie in 2000 starring sean penn which i never saw. The weight of water is finely balanced between action and emotion, often juxtaposed in such a way as to move from the plot line of the protagonist to the historical personal documents she is reading.
Ive always connected with the characters in her novels, and this is no different. Half of the novel is historical fiction based on the smuttynose island murders, which took place in 1873 the book was adapted for a film of the same name, directed by kathryn bigelow and released in 2000. I looked it up this murder really occurred accompanying her are her husband, their small daughter, her brotherin. What might coates be trying to say about the relationship between white people and racial justice with these characters. Atmosphere the terribly rough climate and unbearably close living quarters plays a significant role in the characters. What evidence is there to support louis wagners innocence or guilt. There is much that makes the weight of water a memorable book. Jean, a photojournalist, is researching a centuryold crime on one of the islands of the isle of shoals, smuttynose island, off the roughhewn new. The shape of water by guillermo del toro, daniel kraus. Sarah crossans the weight of water had me fully enthralled. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 246 pages and is available in paperback format.
Kasienka and her mother move to england, in search of tata,kasienkas dad who her mother is determined to find despite kasienkas reluctance. I finished the book and somehow the end was a letdown. A third woman survived the attack, hiding in a sea cave until dawn. The purpose of this strength scale is to, eventually, put all the characters of the marvel universe in order, by raw physical strength. Akasha the main character is and describes teenage behaviors like dating. Cant go, its all paid for, just book a flight to miami. Laura mchugh proves herself a masterly storyteller who has created a harsh and tangled terrain as alive and unforgettable as the characters who inhabit it. Shes a character who is easy to love and hard to leave when her story closes. Praise for the shape of water directed by guillermo. The story surrounds a journalistphotographer, who is on a small boat, with her husband, young child, brotherinlaw and his girlfriend. The weight of water by sarah crossan wright reading.
The weight of water by anita shreve book club discussion. This includes the amount of weight each listed character can lift over hisher head with arms fully extended overhead press based upon information taken out of the various printings of the official handbook of the marvel universe and other encyclopedic comic. You may think that this is boring, but actually it is one of my favourite books. The weight of water tells two stories of family jealousy, separated by more than a century and heightened by lurid melodrama, bloody murder, incest and storms at sea. The weight of water is a book entirely written in poetry. That much detail is never put in to someones life who has migrated to another country, and the problems they face.
A bloomsberg best book of 2016 chris dombrowski was playing a numbers game. Moving and poetically rendered, this novelinverse is the story of a young girl whose determination to find out who she is prevails. Jules is the main character of the story and the first voice to begin the novel. There is much in this book to like, though it ends up being something of a disappointment. Kasienka examines her own flaws, selfishness, and that in itself makes her a stronger, more admirable character. What clues are there on the front cover or the themes that the novel may explore. The weight of water is a coming of age story that deftly handles issues of immigration, alienation, and first love. At a top secret research facility in the 1960s, a lonely janitor forms a unique relationship with an amphibious creature that is being held in captivity. Rather, she used the historical record as a springboard for a larger story that explores the consequences of pushing a woman to the edge. Pdf the weight of water book by anita shreve free download. Rather, she used the historical record as a springboard for a larger story that explores the consequences of pushing a. The weight of water, published by bloomsbury in january 2012, is a spare and.
This book is about a polish girl called kasienka, who comes to england with her. The weight of water is a novel written in a beautiful,poetic style which creates. Sep 07, 2017 the weight of water is a startlingly original piece of fiction. In this story, crossan tells the story of a polish girl, kasienka, her mother olamama and their move to england in order to search for tata, her father. Jules is the younger sister of nel abbott and the aunt to lena. Book club in 1999 and a movie has been adapted from the weight of water. Every scene simmers with hope and dread, making it impossible to rest until i knew these characters fates. Its a jigsaw puzzle of a novel, perfect for readers of a. The weight of water is a beautiful surprise of a book. The weight of water is a startlingly original piece of fiction. The weight of water opens with 12 year old kasienka and her mother leaving their homeland, poland, and travelling to england. The weight of water by sarah crossan read online on bookmate. The tension builds and builds, and then you get almost nothing on the 1990s accident itself.