Ashes to Water

Author:  Irene Ziegler

When I received this book for advanced reviewing, I was pleased to find the author was kind enough to write me a little note inside; the matching bookmark was a very nice touch as well. As a little side note, such small, intimate touches do not go unnoticed. I will also note this did not shade my opinion of the work itself.

As far as the book itself, I am giving "Ashes to Water" 4 stars out of 5, but it is closer to a 4.5. The story was imaginative, insightful, hard to put down, but not perfect. I loved the beauty of the language, the way details and descriptions seemed very real, or at least very beautiful or hard-hitting. reading the author bio and seeing Ziegler's stage experience made me think that in some ways she wrote these things as a playwright would, in a way in which the words must do so much more than say a line--they must characterize, move plot along, etc., in a way that is minced in so much of regular writing. Other times, the descriptions disappointed me a bit, as I wasn't sure what was being said. I read the chapter about Marguerite and Eugene in the boat several times, trying to discern how much was coincidence, how much was planning, and whether I had just missed something that would make it less surprising. Sometimes it seemed like ideas needed a bit more fleshing out to tell me what I needed to know. Still, I found my way through and enjoyed the liveliness of her wording. I write like this much of the time, so it was good to see someone else using a similar style.

As far as characterization, I really liked the characters. They were quite diverse, in appearance, jobs, mentality. I liked how different chapters had different viewpoints and knowledge bases, and these were kept separate quite carefully. I think the scene of Dade fishing near the end was nice, something he more or less deserved or would appreciate. Even when a character had bad points, they were usually endowed with good aspects too, which created rounder, better characters. The insight into pyromania, firefighting, addiction, family bonds, and mental illness seemed well-researched and fresh compared to what I have seen elsewhere. It made me wonder how much she knew before setting pen to paper and what led her to these niches of experience. Too often today is writing lazy, with authors sticking to what they know or what is popular, so these little details make Ziegler stand apart as an artisan in her characterizations.

The story moved along pretty well. It didn't lag, although the clip seemed to combust near the end in an almost hurried fashion. Things started to be mentioned rather than happen, and the ends that were so tangled may have been a bit frayed before they were neatly tied up. I think the death toll was a bit high, and I would like to know a bit more about what happened to Annie and her sister and even the lake after the book ends, but I suppose that leaves more room for another volume. Perhaps reading the Lake House book sometime will help clear some of this up.

All in all, the book was not perfect but its sins were forgivable. I am glad to have read it and find its merits many.