Customer Reviews
Huh?? 
2008-01-05
Am I the only person who didn't "get" this book? It was written well, but the story was just weird, and the ending not too great.
Disappointed again in an Oprah pick 2007-12-26
I'm beginning to believe that people like Oprah's picks and rave about them because she picked them. This is the fourth of her picks I read and have yet to finish one and say "wow, what a great book!". Is everyone so in love with this women that they not dare say a book she picked is just ok or even...bad? This is an ok book but certainly not worth the hype. I struggled through most of it, and the times when I was intrigued the author left me flat with the resolution of the event. It was predictable and trite in some instances. Save your money and check this out at the library if you MUST read an Oprah pick. I think I'm done with her selections for awhile.
A woman too attached to her niece 2007-12-10
At its heart, this is a story of a woman, Amanda, who has attached too much of her life's purpose to caring for her niece Ruth. We are all familiar with such people, but they are not often the protagonists in a novel. The woman's story is paralleled by the story of the child, and the novel very nicely is told in both voices. As the novel progresses, we can see the growing maturity of Ruth.
Schwarz makes it a little hard for the reader by having Amanda go to such an extreme as having the child feign illness to keep her out of school. I also had a problem properly relating to the time and its social mores. It is so important to the novel that out of wedlock births be abhorrent, and the portrayal of class relationships seems so "old fashioned", even if accurate. Finally, unlike the author, I could not really like Amanda, even while I can believe in her as a character.
In the author's afterword, which should definitely be read, she says there is too much plot, and I would nominate as unnecessary Amanda's 2nd breakdown and the whole episode when Hilda comes to take care of Ruth. I think Amanda can be understood without the time spent in a mental institution.
Drowning Ruth -- difficult to put down 
2007-12-08
I finished the book a few days ago and I'm still thinking about it! I don't get the opportunity to read as much as some of the other reviewers on Amazon.com but I always look to the customer reviews before purchasing new titles. With that in mind, I had to write a quick review of this novel. It was difficult to get into the switch between narratives and the first- and third-person accounting, but once you get to know the characters just a bit, you fall into the rhythm easily. The story was interesting, although I definitely think it's a "woman's read" due to the storyline and character development. The twists and turns are both anticipated and surprising and Amanda can be both admired and hated throughout the entire story, which is rare for a character in her particular situation. A good read on a cold night!
I've Read Better 2007-12-06
The book has well-developed characters and generally well written.
One of the problems I had with the book is that I always knew what was going to happen before it actually happened. There were no surprises.
Another problem was that I found Amanda, the main character, to be a rather judgmental, unsympathetic person. Ruth, Amanda's niece, was an oddball as a child and it was interesting to watch her mature after Imogene befriended her. However, at the end of the book her personality seemed to have morphed into that of Amanda.
Carl, Ruth's father, was more or less dropped from the story part way through the book. That seemed strange, as he seemed to be a loving person who would want to maintain contact with his daugher.
I think this book had an interesting plot, but the editors should have pushed for some revisions.
Drowning Ruth 2008-07-15
Drowning Ruth
by Christina Schwarz
Christina Schwarz's wonderfully written first novel "Drowning Ruth" was set in the time frame of WWI to WWII. The main character of the story was inspired by an unfriendly, isolated lady that lived near Christina Schwarz when she was a child. She always wondered how she became the person that she was and what were the circumstances of her life. The following novel is a creation inspired by the mystery of that woman.
It is a mystery of family secrets which is so well written that you feel that you are living in their story. It is impossible to put the book down from beginning to end. The lay of the land and the elements of the weather help to set the tone of the story.
It can be a bit difficult to feel empathy for all of the difficulties that the main character Amanda Starkey endures. She is a bit distant and stiff in her narration, and tends to manipulate the other members of her family. I found this novel to be a great example of the pain that can be caused by keeping secrets in a family. Amanda was unable to relieve Carl's and Ruth's pain because she was to ashamed to explain the circumstances of her sister Mathilda's death. As a result, Mathilda's husband Carl believed that she had been unfaithful to him, and Ruth was haunted by the secrets and hazy memories surrounding her mother's death. The first line of the book was "Ruth remembered drowning. "That's impossible," Aunt Amanda said. "It must have been a dream." But Ruth maintained that she had drowned, insisted on it for years, even after she should have known better."
This is the second time that I have read this book. It is one of my favorite stories, and I highly recommend it.
Well, wow.......but then hmmm..... 2008-06-19
I really loved this book. So much that I searched out others by this author, which is a rarity for me. BUT, upon reading other reviews of this book, I did agree with some of them - it was slow in the beginning. But OMG the plot twists!!! You cannot ignore how great that was. Overall, Im reading more by this author!
Hoping for more twists 2008-05-31
I enjoyed the book, but found myself hoping for a more twisted plot. I enjoyed how the author placed subtle answers to the many questions that kept me turning the page. It was not predictible.
I was hooked 2008-05-01
This story about tragic events in the life of a small family is engrossing and well written. Christina Schwartz immediately snags the reader with the character of Amanda, a very complex woman, shrouded in sorrow and mystery. I wasn't sure whether I ever ended up liking her, but I certainly was interested in her life and her feelings.
For a woman whose very life is so tied up in her sister and her parents, whose feelings completely overtake her at times, she has a unique ability to shut down all emotion, and close off the truth even to herself.
After one of the most horrible (yet mysterious) events of her life, she very methodically examines her wounds. "My hand wasn't as bad as I'd feared. Most of the blood had dried and the punctures were small in circumference. Many of them were deep, however. There would be scars, a ring in the meat at the base of my thumb. Who could have imagined such a little thing would have such strength? Who would have thought she would struggle so fiercely? I found my father's whiskey and dabbed a little on my wounds. Then I drank a glass. People said it made you forget."
That's all the reader gets - that's all Amanda allows herself to think. We don't yet know who "she" is - or what the fierce struggle was about. While I wouldn't say that mystery was the only reason I kept reading, the bits of information that are gradually revealed by the author are rationed very well.
Schwartz slips artfully from one character to another, and from first person to third person. She creates believable voices for tragic young women, shell shocked men, and young children.
"Arthur, six, came to full wakefulness as the water splashed into the washstand that stood against one wall of the room he shared with his brother. He stayed still with his eyes closed, listening to the hangers scraping along the rod and the dresser drawers sliding open and not being banged shut. When Maynard left the room, Arthur got out of bed and went in his pajamas to squat beside his city of blocks. He did his best work in the morning, while the bolt on the bathroom door slide open and shut, the water rushed through the pipes, feet galloped down and up and down the stairs, china clinked in the kitchen, and finally the front door slammed and slammed and slammed."
And as with the last book I read, "The Falls" by Joyce Carol Oates, a body of water plays a major roll in the book and is in fact, one of the main characters.
"Released from their ice prison, the waves tossed themselves against the hull with ecstatic abandon, pitching up a fine spray that shimmered in the fledgling spring sunlight. I dipped my fingers in, and instantly my hand ached with cold. That must have been what it felt like, the night I drowned."
In summary, I guess I would say that "Drowning Ruth" is a great mix of a book you don't want to put down, and moments of very insightful character development. I would certainly pick up another of Schwartz's books.
A REAL PAGE TURNER! 
2008-03-04
I LOVED THIS BOOK. IT STARTED OUT KIND OF SLOW, BUT BEFORE LONG I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. I FOUND IT KIND OF DEPRESSING AT THE BEGINNING AND WASN'T SURE IF I WANTED TO FINISH IT, BUT AM GLAD I DID.
