Water Witches by Chris Bohjalian was originally published in 1995 and is another book about strong women. This story is told by Scottie. He is married to Laura, and they have a daughter Miranda. His wife comes from a family of women and specifically, a family of dowsers. Dowsers are people who use a type of forked stick to locate ground water and various items using earth vibrations.
Scott’s wife Laura is a Dowser but not as talented as her sister Patience. Patience is sought out from all over and she sees that Miranda (Scott’s daughter) has a talent for dowsing as well.
Water Witches takes place in Vermont where they are experiencing a drought. Scott himself is a lawyer and he is representing a skiing resort that wants to expand. Expanding will cause a lot of environmental and economic consequences. They want to tap a river to make snow for the resort but the drought is not helping at all and there is great debate about the consequences.
This book is about environmental issues and seemed a little political. Don’t get me wrong, I think environmental issues are important but it seemed a little forced here. This is not a fast paced book, but it’s about a husband and father who needs to make a decision. He can choose to do his job regardless of the outcome or he can choose to listen to his daughter.
For me, the most interesting part of this book was that it was about dowsers who some considered to be witches or have some kind of mystical powers. I really liked that set up and I can’t think of another book that has had characters as dowsers.
If you are into action or a page turner, this might not be for you . It was dry in a couple of spots but I did finish it and I'm glad I read it.,
Bookworm Rating: 🐛🐛🐛
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