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  • Fabulous read!

  • I picked this up on the used book shelf at the public library and I found it to be all things: entertaining, thought-provoking, yes, compelling. I absolutely recommend it. I can't wait to find other works by Schwarz to see if they are anywhere near the caliber that this first novel is. Sometimes I'm ... Continue

    I picked this up on the used book shelf at the public library and I found it to be all things: entertaining, thought-provoking, yes, compelling. I absolutely recommend it. I can't wait to find other works by Schwarz to see if they are anywhere near the caliber that this first novel is. Sometimes I'm not so carried away with Oprah's picks but I think she was right on with this one.

    

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• ― Marion the librarian said on Feb 21, 2009 | Add your feedback

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  • Drowning Ruth

  • A wonderful example of pacing, plot and the expert use of an unreliable narrator.

    

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• ― Readingrat said on Sep 15, 2008 | Add your feedback

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  • This book was good. I hate to give it 3 stars, but can't bear to give it 4. I started out loving it, then toward the end got bored, but I think that's only because it took me so long to read it. I'm sure had the Holidays not been here it wouldn't have taken me so long. I think it's a good debut book ... Continue

    This book was good. I hate to give it 3 stars, but can't bear to give it 4. I started out loving it, then toward the end got bored, but I think that's only because it took me so long to read it. I'm sure had the Holidays not been here it wouldn't have taken me so long. I think it's a good debut book for the author and I will try her next book when that comes out.

    

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• ― mndy said on Dec 26, 2007 | Add your feedback

“POWERFUL . . . SUSPENSEFUL . . . RICHLY TEXTURED . . . [A] CHILLING, PRECOCIOUSLY GOOD START TO A BRIGHT NEW NOVELIST’S CAREER.”
–The New York Times

“[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.”
–FRANCINE PROSE
Us Weekly

“DEFT AND ASSURED . . . [WITH] STRONG CHARACTERS AND A PLOT LONG ON TENSION AND SURPRISES.”
–Time

“A strong sense of portent and unusually vivid characters distinguish this mesmerizing first novel about horrifying family secrets and nearly annihilating guilt. Drowning Ruth is a complex and rewarding debut.”
–ANITA SHREVE
Author of The Pilot’s Wife

“RIVETING . . . A VERY SUSPENSEFUL TALE, ONE THAT WILL KEEP READERS UP SHIVERING IN THE NIGHT.”
–USA Today

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