Castle of Water

I surprised myself by really liking this hard to describe novel. The author has a unique style and I had to get into his rhythm before I embraced it. Barry was a passenger in a small plane that crashed in the South Pacific. He survived and swam to a tiny abandoned island. Sophie was also on the plane, honeymooning with her husband. The death of Sophie's husband before her eyes was beyond traumatic. She subsequently drifted to the same island in a small lifeboat. When Barry found her she was traumatized and incoherent. What follows is three years they spent on the island, depending on each other for survival. Neither one liked the other at the beginning but they quickly learned tolerance and appreciation for the talents they each had. As the months passed, their relationship deepened as did their conversations. For a book about two people on a desert island for over three years, it wasn't long enough. The almost ending is unexpected and sad but overall the book is very uplifting and positive. I have to add that from the first page of the book to the end the author's wry sense of humor often made me laugh out loud. One would not think humor and castaway life would blend but they did. Kudos to Dane Huckelbridge.

Oh my goodness, how I loved this book! I hope Dane Huckelbridge writes more fiction, because I will definitely read it.

Castle of Water is the story of castaways on a desert island. Sound cliche? In this novel, it's not at all! It's dramatic, it's funny, it's romantic, it's everything you'd want it to be. I'm particularly picky about the writing I enjoy, and I fell in love with Huckelbridge's prose. It's engaging and colorful and unlike most other fiction prose out there.

I'll try to review the story without giving too much away. In the beginning, a plane goes down over the ocean. A seemingly uninteresting banker and a young newlywed woman are the survivors, and they form the most unlikely of bonds. Think Gilligan's Island with the shtick, plus Castaway with the drama, plus the romance of Atonement. And if you need more proof that I enjoyed this book, here it is: I read it in a weekend. I don't usually get around to reading often enough to finish a book in a weekend, but this one I just didn't want to stop reading.

I feel like if I say any more about the book, I'm going to give away what happens, and I don't want that. I want you to go and pick it up and read it, because it's lovely and sad and dramatic and beautiful. This is a super short review, but you know what? Oh well. Just put this one on your TBR now please 🙂

4.5 stars.

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