Thicker Than Water

by Kathryn Harrison

Book Overview

Isabel is the unwanted daughter of charming but irresponsible people who married in haste, divorced just as quickly, & distanced themselves from one another--and from her. Left to her grandparents'... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060974737
• ISBN13: 9780060974732
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 271 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A Masterpeice of Darkness

Kathryn Harrison's debut novel is a masterpiece of darkness. In the same lyrically beautiful words that read more like a poem than prose, Harrison magically weaves a tale of a daughter who is both forgotten and clung to. Although melodrama abounds in this book, Harrison has it all well under control and the characterizations and pacing are just perfect. This is a book that will haunt you, years after you finish the last word.

Disturbing...

The first book I read by Kathryn Harrison was 'Exposure', which I loved. I picked up 'Thicker Than Water' expecting to love it, too. I ended up giving it to a friend of mine - my initial reaction after finishing it was that I couldn't deal with having it on my bookshelf.After a couple of years (and after 'The Kiss' came out - which I read and, oddly enough, loved) I picked up 'Thicker Than Water' again. It still disturbed me, but I think it disturbed me less knowing that it was based on something that had occurred. (Notice that I say 'based'...all the critics denouncing Harrison for writing an 'autobiographic account disguised as a first novel' are, in my humble opinion, full of it.) I think what bothered me in the first place was that someone could just make up such a thing...that someone could, with merely the power of their imagination, make it seem so real. Which Harrison does. She has a gift for bringing the reader inside her head. The only reason I give it 4 stars as opposed to 5 is because, as I said, it disturbed me.But sometimes it's good to be disturbed.

A very good read, but not a light one

I read Kathryn Harrison when I'm feeling dark and moody. Her excellent books, including "Thicker Than Water," tend to deal mainly with familial relationships that are anything but picture-perfect. I would not recommned her work if you're just looking to kill time with a light-hearted read, but, if you want something that will haunt you, and maybe even make you think a little, pick her stuff up. She's worth it.

Poignant but a little too much in the confessional mode

Thicker Than Water offers great insight into the mother daughter relationship. It is generous with the intimate thoughts of Isabel and offers a realistic portrait of a young girl's emotions and conflicts. However, the book gets a little sloppy and overdramatic in regard to the father daughter relationship. It takes away from what is great about the book and it would be much richer without the added melodrama. However, it still gives an illuminating picture of what it is like to grow up as a girl and for that, the book should be celebrated.

Excellent debut novel

Now that "The Kiss" is steaming up readers, and making Kathryn Harrison a much better-known name in book circles, readers should be drawn to her first novel. The story is about a young woman's need for love from a mother who can't show it, and her detachment from a father who "loves" her too much. I read this book and wondered if the details were autobiographical: there was a resonance to the narrative that suggested a deep truth being revealed and hidden at once. The writing is superb, penetrating and haunting, the kind of book you cannot get out of your mind when you are not reading it. Isabel, the young woman whose story is being told, displays an almost Joycean detachment from the events happening to her, and we see them whirling about her narrative perspective, clear and yet somehow dizzying. I would recommend that the effort to obtain this book, even used, will reward the reader with an impeccably drawn portrait of the artist as a young woman.