Heaven by Water - Justin Cartwright

David Cross is surrounded by secrets. When his wife Nancy was alive he kept secrets from her, and now that she is dead he must hide his new happiness from his children, Lucy and Ed. But they too have their troubles: Ed's marriage is in trouble, Lucy is being stalked by her ex-boyfriend, and both worry that their father will find a new partner. 

To Heaven by Water  is a touching and hilarious portrait of a family trying to come to terms with loss in their own way.

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC - Fiction
Year: 2009 - Paperback
Pages: 304
ISBN: 978-1-4088-0103-1

This is my second read from 'My Yet to be Read' bookshelf challenge from my 2014 challenges. I  have to read 13 out of 26 books, that were still in residence on the shelf at Christmas 2013, by the end of June 2014. 

Essentially this book is about  a grieving family all of whom are grieving in their own way for the loss of their wife and mother. Nancy was a big part of all their lives. Her husband David feels guilty because he doesn't feel he is grieving as much as his two children Ed and Lucy.  Ed has his own troubles his marriage is under strain due to not having conceived a very much wanted child. Lucy at 26 would like to have a normal settled down existence but her last boyfriend turned out to have issues with alcohol and on ending the relationship Lucy finds he is stalking her.  The story is around whether they can all come to terms with their loss and will they eventually achieve their goal of happiness. From my own point of view it was a little slow to get off the ground and a little lacking in content and didn't have me engrossed in every page. I am not a prude by any stretch of the imagination and can swear with the best of them but felt that the language used was a little excessive. It was almost as if a conversation could not be had if every other word was not an expletive and this for me detracted you from the point of the story. 

As always this is just my humble opinion and there may be those of you who have read and enjoyed this and other novels by Justin Cartwright. 

Mx