bibliophile [Drowning Ruth]

A bit dark, but I like this one.

Drowning Ruth, Christina Schwarz

Got this recommendation from Oprah's book club, which is often good and occasionally a bust. This one falls into the first category. I decided to go with a review, rather than a book summary, for your blurb. It's a bit more exciting (and all of the summaries were too long). Here ya go:

“[A] gripping psychological thriller . . . In the winter of 1919, a young mother named Mathilda Neumann drowns beneath the ice of a rural Wisconsin lake. The shock of her death dramatically changes the lives of her daughter, troubled sister, and husband. . . . Told in the voices of several of the main characters and skipping back and forth in time, the narrative gradually and tantalizingly reveals the dark family secrets and the unsettling discoveries that lead to the truth of what actually happened the night of the drowning. . . . Schwarz certainly succeeds at keeping the reader engrossed.”

There's a feeling of doom through the whole thing, which I generally like. For some reason, darker books seem a little more legitimate to me, maybe because they're such a far cry from the romantic comedy chick lit that I dislike (though occasionally still read...hellloooo shopaholic series!).

The real strength here is the pacing. There is some back and forth between characters, and some back and forth across the lives of those characters, but I think it's artfully done. In the end, I guess it was all a bit predictable-- it's definitely not in my top ten or anything-- but it was worth the read.

What's your opinion of Oprah's reading list? Had any good or bad experiences? I've both loved and hated.