All three alternating voices sounded identical, like that of an author of literary fiction. Unfortunately, the book never exploited the potential in the subject. The premise intrigued me with the potential to explore issues of facing death at the prime of life, the tension between our desire for independence from our parents and the need to accept the care of a child, embarrassment, humiliation, fear, surrender, and the way all of these effects our relationships with those we love most, and much more. The book spans 36 hours in the life of these individuals. This book is told in alternating voices: Hana, a 38 year old woman in the advanced stages of Werner’s Disease (premature aging), Hana’s widowed mother who is Hana’s only care-giver and Josie, the 13 year old daughter of Hana’s childhood friend. It is about the importance of human dignity and the importance of all the small moments that create a life worth living. When Laura's loud, energetic, and troubled world collides with Hana and Cate's daily routine, the story really begins.ĭreaming Water is about a mother's courage, a daughter's strength, and a friend's love.
Despite Hana's latest refusal, Laura decides to come anyway. She has not been home in years and begs Hana to let her bring her daughters to meet her, feeling that Josephine, in particular, needs to have Hana in her life. Laura has moved to New York from their hometown in California and has two daughters, Josephine and Camille. One of the great joys of Hana's life has been her relationship with her beautiful, successful best friend Laura. Each find themselves drawn into their pasts, remembering the joyous and challenging events that have shaped spending the day at Max's favorite beach, overcoming their neighbors' prejudices that Max is Japanese-American and Cate is Italian-American, and coping with the heartbreak of discovering Hana's disease. Cate escapes to her beloved garden and Hana reads and writes letters.
Hana and Cate's days are quiet and ordered. Cate, her mother, is caring for her while struggling with her grief at losing her husband, Max, and with the knowledge that Hana's disease is getting worse by the day. Hana is suffering from Werner's syndrome, a disease that makes a person age at twice the rate of a healthy at thirty-eight Hana has the appearance of an eighty-year-old. Dreaming Water is an exploration of two of the richest and most layered human connections that mother and daughter and lifelong friends.
Bestselling author Gail Tsukiyama is known for her poignant, subtle insights into the most complicated of relationships.
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