Into the Water: A Novel

Paula Hawkins who took the literary world by storm, with her first murder mystery sensation, The Girl on the Train, which of course came to sell approximately 20 million copies and a major motion picture (loved) starring Emily Blunt, returns with the highly anticipated INTO THE WATER —a complex, bold, and ambitious follow-up, which may be even better!Whereas, The Girl on the Train involved more of a murder mystery centered around three perspectives, a commuter train, alcoholism, infidelity, and cozy suburban homes; INTO THE WATER, is centered around a village of people from multi-generations of women, men, teens, and those spirits which have passed on. From multiple perspectives (a dozen or so), critical to the atmospheric, Gothic, dark crime noir contemporary suspense tale—leading to the shocking climax.The “last four words” will leave you holding your breath. You are assured to re-read them again and again. It is worth the journey, so sit back and enjoy the ride.“Beckford is not a suicide spot. Beckford is a place to get rid of troublesome women.” Murky waters hide dark secrets.INTO THE WATER is a mix of historical fiction, psychological, paranormal, and Gothic, taking us back to over 300 years of murders, suicides, and suspicious deaths of local girls and women in the area. Some women were called witches.Beginning in 1679, when the first woman was forced into the water under suspicion of witchcraft, and to the present day with the suspected mysterious "suicide" of Danielle "Nel" Abbott, an obsessive journalist and photographer who dedicated her life to raising her daughter, Lena and her work. Especially the truth about The Drowning Pool.A book of childhood memories. What we learn and hear as a child may not always be the reality. People will try and protect, they will spin a story to suit their own needs. The truth may not ever be clear. We may think a certain way; however, we may learn too late, the story was not as it appeared. What is the truth? Never assume you have all the facts.Memories of childhood stories we tell about our lives. We recall a situation and may have a clear memory of it and then discover something that is completely false or the interpretation may be different – things which shaped our lives and made us the people we are today. What if we were wrong?“We now know that memories are not fixed or frozen, like Proust’s jars of preserves in a larder, but are transformed, disassembled, reassembled, and recategorized with every act of relocation. – Oliver Sacks, HallucinationsCan guided imagery instructions increase the likelihood of false memory creation and of remembering previously unremembered true events?First, let me start out by saying a few words which hopefully will have some impact on your reading experience. Do not make comparisons. INTO THE WATER is a totally different book than Hawkins' first. It is strong enough to stand on its own merits. I discovered through an online interview - the author was working on this idea before The Girl on the Train and continued to work on it even during the first book promotion.As you can only imagine the pressure and scrutiny involved when you now have a built-in audience, expectations, publishers, editors, movie critics, and fans to please. Not her first rodeo. I commend the author, which could have taken the lazy approach and rested on her first success. Hawkins, after all, is the highest-paid author in the world. She had nothing when she began. Instead, she creates a complex and highly absorbing story which had to be a “bear” to write with all the many perspectives and timelines. However, she pulled it off like a rock-star!Hawkins mentioned in her interviews, she wanted to provide readers a totally unique experience. In my opinion, she exceeded her goal. INTO THE WATER is complex and when you read it, you will understand. This is much more than a who-dun-it. It is, a why-dun-it and how-dun-it?At the center of the story is The Drowning Pool. The crime novel is set in Beckford, a gloomy dark historic fictional village town overlooking the river where an unprecedented number of women have drowned or ended their lives. You can feel the darkness and black cloud.These women were brought to the water (forced), suffered, or accused of witchcraft to see if they would sink or swim. Some thought it was a place of horror. For some, a place to cover up their crimes (to bury their secrets).Two of the latest apparent suicides is the single mother Nel Abbott who has been investigating the history of these women for a story and a young teenage girl, Kate. Lena is Nel’s daughter and Kate’s best friend, so she has lost two people very close to her. Did they jump or were they pushed? Not only these two but all the ones from ages past.The lives of the women who went to the Beckford Drowning Pool. A place that over centuries has claimed the lives of Libby Seeton, Mary Marsh, Anne Ward, Ginny Thomas, Lauren Slater, Katie Whittaker, and more- countless others, nameless and faceless.Why and how? Some would rather hush, suppress, silence. Nel wanted this memoir of her life and the Beckford pool starting with the swimming of witches. Some say the women left something of themselves in the water; some say it retains some of their power, for ever since then it has drawn to its shores the unlucky, the desperate, the unhappy, the lost. They come here to swim with their sisters.Another key character is Jules. Jules Abbott is the sister of Nell. They are estranged. They grew up in the Mill House. Nell was always obsessed with the women in the river. What they did and whom they left behind. Now, did Nell take it too far?Jules was always the fat sister (or so they said), the ugly one, and Nel the pretty one. A misunderstanding. Now she is forced to return to the place she never wanted to come back to look after her sister’s daughter (her niece), to sort out the bloody mess. She relives her past.The old memories resurfaced. Disturbing. Chilling. However, what she thought as a child was not the way it happened. No one ever communicated. There are many with dark grim secrets of the past. A picture is worth a thousand lies.“I was very young when I was cracked open. Some things you should let go. Others you shouldn’t. Views differ as to which – Emily Berry, The Numbers GameAmidst the drama, lies history in the town of Beckford. The Drowning Pool was a cliff-black and dark while sparkling in the summer. Contrasts. A place of spirits, hopeless people, despair. A place where people (women) go to end their lives. Or is a place where men use to end the women’s lives? Some of them went into the water willingly, some did not. Some went in fighting. A place of secrets. People turned a blind eye.No one liked to think about the fact that the water in the river was infected with the blood and bile of persecuted women, unhappy women. Not many people believed Nickie Sage, a woman who speaks with the spirits. Nel listened when she began writing a book about the events of the river and the haunted past.Detective Inspector Sean Townsend also has a past. He appears to be the upstanding policeman. His father Patrick was a former police officer known for his violence. His mom was also a victim of the Drowning Pool. Did she commit suicide or was she killed by her husband, Patrick? Did Sean as a boy witness his own mother’s death? What is real or what had he been told or made to believe?There were stories of witches dragged to the water since the 16th century or desperate women flinging themselves from the cliffs to the rocks below.Not many people liked Nel. She likes married men. She was investigating. People in this town like to keep their dark hidden secrets under the radar. (and boy they are plentiful). Everyone wanted to put the deaths behind them, to get on with things.As the book moves forward with a large cast of characters. Libby (1679) Anne Ward (1920) Lauren (1983), (2015) Jules, Lena, and Nell (Danielle) Abbott; Katie, brother Josh, parents Louise and Alec; Nickie (psychic), Mark (teacher), DI Erin Morgan, DI Sean Townsend, wife Helen, dad Patrick.The author dives into gritty subjects of women’s abuse, underage teens having sex with older men, body image issues, and violence. You will be second guessing everyone and there are some evil characters who never take responsibility for their actions. Always passing off the blame. No one can be trusted.I can actually see this one playing out as a mini-TV series similar to Big Little Lies versus a simple movie. It has enough material to continue for numerous episodes. It would be powerful with the right cast.When approaching the last part of the book, it was absolutely unputdownable. For days, this one grabbed my attention. Mind-bending, and captivating! I loved Nikki (psychic) she is cynical and humorous. Very bad men and the women persecuted, even in the present.My reading experience: I pre-ordered the audiobook and within the first couple chapters, I realized this was not the kind of book you could be listening to while multi-tasking doing other work or running errands. There are multiple characters and you need to pay attention and learn the major players. All these introductions play into the bigger picture. From the middle to the end, the pieces all begin to come together. You will think you have guessed, and then you turn the page and think again. Trust me, you will be guessing to the final words.I decided to slow down, give the book my undivided attention. Also as a book blogger, I tend to speed read- rushing to get to the next book, as many of us do on a time schedule. However, with the wide range of reviews for this book, I wanted to spend more quality time. After listening to the entire audiobook and rewinding numerous times, attempting to bookmark, I decided to purchase the kindle book version, which was a nice way to go back and collect my notes for review writing.The audiobook was fantastic with an award-winning lineup of talented performers; however, would recommend both audio and book format. Laura Aikman, Rachel Bavidge, Sophie Aldred, Daniel Weyman, and Imogen Church (she is always spectacular).I read the editorial reviews the day the book released- the negative and positives. What I found most helpful were the interviews with the author. I enjoy learning about the inspiration behind the book. It will enhance your reading experience. In addition, enjoyed reading about Hawkins and her writing experience with her last book- having to borrow money from her dad to take the time to write the book. It was her last shot. She hit the literary jackpot. This is truly an inspirational story for any writer or reader. A success story.In Summary: I am more excited about the film of INTO THE WATER, more so than The Girl on the Train, even though I loved TGOTT movie. What will be interesting: all of us from the US hope it will once again be filmed here in the states (like her previous movie); however, sure the UK will want it to remain in their own backyard. Either way, I know it will be a "hit" and one I am dying to see!Another winner here! Highly creative. Demonstrates the author's skill and talent, to cross multiple genres.

Whoa Nellie (no pun intended)...Did Paula Hawkins write this book or did somebody else write it? It has an almost separate style and tempo than her recent bestseller, The Girl on the Train (see my review of 8/16/2015).This is a somewhat puzzling story encompassing a English country town (Beckford) full of apparently guilty people who occasionally commit suicide by drowning themselves in the pool of the town’s river (or were some of them murdered?). Sigmund Freud could have made a nice living in this town. When you read this novel make sure that you have pen and paper handy because you will need to take notes to remember the myriad of characters in this story. Paula, if you are going to have what seemed like twenty five main characters...insert a dramatis personae in the novel. Okay, as the story starts to unravel, the reader remembers who is who, but it took me almost two hundred pages to get there. In your new novel, I did like the short chapters and the different narrators for each chapter. I’m going to say that Paula Hawkins narrowly missed having a sophomore jinx on her hands. But in the last two hundred pages, she pulled the 'rabbit out of the hat' and saved the novel. Her endgame was intense and maybe a tad brilliant. Paula Hawkins made the river seem like it was alive...was it a drowning pool or “a place to get rid of troublesome woman?” That’s for you to find out. Jules (Julia) Abbott hears from the police. Her estranged sister, Nel Abbott, has drowned in the pool of the town’s river...they think it might be suicide. Jules ponders to herself, “I was thinking about what I was going to say to you when I got there, how I knew you’d done this to spite me, to upset me, to frighten me, to disrupt my life. To get my attention, to drag me back to where you wanted me. And there you go, Nel, you’ve succeeded: here I am in the place I never wanted to come back to, to look after your daughter, to sort out your bloody mess.” Jules goes back to her former town and old house. It’s empty, so she lets herself in and starts looking around Nel’s old room (which is now Nel’s daughter Lena’s room). Jules is looking under the bed when she hears, “What the f**k do you think you’re doing?” Nel’s teenage daughter, Lena, has arrived. Jules says, “I’m sorry. I’m Jules. We haven’t met, but I’m your aunt.” Lena instantly dislikes her Aunt Jules. Lena tells Jules that the police are down stairs. Jules meets Detective Inspector Sean Townsend and Detective Sergeant Erin Morgan (two more of the main characters). Det.Townsend tells Jules, “DS Morgan will be your liaison with the police. She’ll keep you informed about where we are in the investigation.” Jules asks, “There’s an investigation?” DS Morgan tells Jules, “Your sister’s body was seen in the river by a man who was out walking his dogs early yesterday morning...she was fully clothed, and her injuries were consistent with a fall from the cliff above the pool.” Jules asks, “You think she fell?” Lena says, “You don’t think she fell, do you?” “You know better than that.” Did she commit suicide, fall or was she pushed over? Nel had been writing a history of all the drownings that occurred in the pool of the river that was below a cliff. Most of the town’s population were annoyed with Nel’s version of the drownings. Lena Abbott’s best friend, Katie, recently committed suicide in the drowning pool. Katie’s mother, Louise Whittaker, blamed Lena and Nel for her daughter’s death. Was Louise involved in Nel’s drowning? Was Katie’s teacher, Mark Henderson the reason Katie drowned herself? What did Katie’s brother, Josh, know about her drowning. The town’s psychic, Nickie Sage had her own theories on how Nel and Katie drowned. Nickie thinks their deaths are linked with the long ago drowning of Detective Sean Townsend’s mother, Lauren. And what does Sean’s father, Patrick, the town’s retired disciplinarian policeman, have to do with these deaths? Why did Sean’s wife, Helen Townsend, hate Det. Erin Morgan and seem to have a schmaltzy type relationship with her husband’s father, Patrick? I told you that this story starts out very confusing with many characters. This is probably where a lot of the reviewers abandoned this story and issued one or two stars. If they would have continued reading, they would have seen how all this tied into a clever conclusion. My opinion of this novel changed from negative to positive halfway through the story, so I understand why the reviewers (who vacated the story) rated it so low.

The media could not be loaded.  Good quality pages and packing was good too. Excited about this novel. I like Paula Hawkins works.

Having been a huge fan of The Girl in the Train (book not film!) I was desperate to read Into the Water and about 4 hours after it was delivered to my kindle on publication day I was awake and completely immersed in it, reading 40% before I had to get up. I had deliberately stayed away from reviews so I could go in blind with no preconceptions. It must have been difficult writing that dreaded second novel for Paula Hawkins. Would she have to endure the “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” reactions from fans of her bestselling debut? She couldn’t keep to the same formula as before but by giving readers something entirely different are they likely to say ” It’s no TGOTT is it? “. Therefore I was determined to judge this novel for what it was, not who it was by or by what came before it. And my overall impression of Into the Water was very positive! I really enjoyed it and struggled to put it down!There were peaks and troughs for me though. The first part I enjoyed but I was probably more concerned with getting my head around the large number of narrators who were setting up their stories. The second part I loved as I settled into who was who and started to form my own suspicions about what had happened to Nel. By part three the action had definitely speeded up (this is the definitive slow burner!) and this was probably when the book became totally unputdownable for me. And then came part four…….and I felt the last part of this storyline, unfortunately, came as a bit of an anticlimax after the previous dramatic happenings and left more questions than it answered! But that is the only negative I have here, and it may have been down to my high expectations more than anything else. I might read it again in a few months and have a very different opinion after that initial reaction!The theme of water running through the narrative was what made this stand out for me. I have a love/hate relationship with water in that I always have to be near it, to see it and hear it from my home but I don’t like to be actually IN it! So the scenes where the women entered the water were the ones that filled me with the most fear- the authors perfectly observed, descriptive prose gave me goosebumps and chills that I wasn’t expecting. In fact, this book was just so beautifully worded, almost poetic, pretty much all the way through. There were phrases used that I was actually in awe of as they captured emotions and idiosyncrasies in a way I hadn’t expected to experience.The whole atmosphere felt dark and claustrophobic with the river always there, bubbling away in the background hiding its secrets from generation to generation. And as all the threads of the multiple voices came together, the water was always trying to get the last word in.I actually feel as if TGOTT was the commercial success that allowed Paula Hawkins to head out into her own open water and see where her creativity and imagination would take her and she’s certainly crafted a book that will get divide opinions and get everyone talking about it (TGOTT flashback anyone?!) People WILL buy this book, some readers will compare it unfavourably to its predecessor whilst others will rave to the rafters about it-but ultimately, everyone will take away something different from it. Me? I will remember the poignant relationship between two sisters that transcends the secrets and guilt that has kept them apart. And the water…..

Kept my glued for hours as I was curious to know what happened next. Good read.

I finally got round to reading Into the Water by Paula Hawkins at the weekend and I had it finished in just a couple of days. A lot of people will be hoping for another Girl on the Train when they read this, Into the Water isn’t The Girl on the Train but what it does have is that same addictive quality, I have been gripped by both of Paula’s books and I can’t wait to read more from her.In the beginning we learn that Nel Abbott has died, her body has been found in the river which has defined the village of Beckford over the years; wherever you go in the town you always appear to find yourself close to the waters edge. The river was once used for drowning women accused of witchcraft in the middle ages. But Nel Abbott isn’t the first person who has been found dead in the water in recent years. In the final days prior to her death, Nel has been desperately trying to reach her sister Jules, who has been ignoring her calls. Now Jules feels guilty that she didn't do more to help her sister, what was it that Nel was so desperate to talk to her about? Could Jules have prevented her death?Into the Water is a novel that you do have to concentrate on when you’re reading it. It can be hard trying to keep up with all the different narratives. But once you get into the story, you soon get to realise who all the characters are and I found every one of them engaging.I really liked how Paula keeps you guessing throughout the story and there were some surprising twists and turns, I liked getting to know all the different characters, I think my favourites would have to be Lena and Jules, it was interesting to see how their relationship developed in the wake of Lena’s mother’s death as a lot of tensions in their household ran high.Outstanding writing from Paula Hawkins and a very enjoyable read.

A very dark disturbing book but one I could not put down. I would recommend it. A good book club read.