MOON WATER: A NOVEL by Pam Webber

MOON WATER: A NOVEL by Pam Webber

✯✯✯✯                                                                                                     Review by Astrid Galactic

Moon Water by Pam Webber is a book that I found slow to take to but once the tension got revved up, it hit with the full impact of a heavy storm. There were several different storylines going on all at once that brewed up altogether and were laced within each other. Once it finally got going, it just didn't stop. 

The story takes place in central Virginia along the Appalachian mountains in 1969. It's loosely based on the real life historic hurricane that hit the area on August 19, 1969 which devastated the entire area and took many lives. All through the book, we see the main characters come upon several omens warning of this, but ones they don't quite initially understand. Several of the characters are Monacan Indians who have a high respect for nature and it's messages. 

Meanwhile, Nettie, the protagonist of the story, is preparing for her Christian baptism. She's quite the spunky one who is full of fire and integrity which often gets her into trouble that isn't rightfully hers to begin with. Her best friend Win is a Monacan Indian whom, at the same time, is being prepared to take over for her grandmother, Nibi, as the local tribe's Medicine Woman. At the same time, Nettie receives much of this same training. We often see various similarities and lessons crossing both cultures as the girls go through their rites of passage during their undertakings. 

Part of Nettie's and Win's initiations into the Monacan tradition is to each create their own dreamcatcher. This itself is a venture that very few Boy Scouts could ever begin to tackle. A trip to your local crafts dealer doesn't cut it. The girls must take some very serious trips up to the mountain tops, through caves and along rivers just to find very specific items to be incorporated into their dreamcatchers. This part of the story alone is interesting just for the pursuits through nature and its descriptions. 

There are several interesting characters within the story who also add extra levels of intrigue, peril or just part of a plain old good love story. From the beginning of the book, Andy is in love with Nettie but Nettie doesn't know if she can offer him the same level of commitment. Then there are the two boys from California who come and stay with their grandmother and become friends with the two girls. We also meet several other town folk who have their own charm and are part of other interwoven stories. Like many small Mayberry-like towns, once there, you get to know almost everyone and their place within the community, and this story is a bit like that. They all interact and add their own dynamics to the whole story, very much like the different parts of the dreamcatchers. 

When the storm hits, we too are stuck right in the center of the storm and feel its impact. There's much sadness afterwards, especially since we've gotten to know some of the people and the town itself that we've grown fond of. But it's not all bad. Webber then treats us with several positive outcomes and another little story works itself out towards the end. 

This is an interesting book that will hook you if you are patient enough to allow yourself to keep reading early on. Personally, I found the first couple chapters a bit lightweight, but once the tension started; well before the storm, I might add; everything started to put itself together in ways that sucked you in for the rest of the ride. The entire task and adventure alone of creating the dreamcatchers was cause enough to read on but there were other parts of the story that too will grab your interest. Well worth the time it takes you to read a novel and learn a few things along the way. Ideal for young adults but of interest to all adults, especially women. 


Thanks to Netgalley for an advance eBook copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

(ARC eBook)

Fiction
Historical Fiction
Paperback, 280 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1631526756
Publisher: She Writes Press
Release Date: August 20th, 2019

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