Review: Water Will Find its Way by Bronagh Slevin

Title: Water Will Find its Way
Author: Bronagh Slevin
Format: Ebook (the author wanted me to mention that it comes in paperback too)
Publisher: Self-published
Publish Date: June 25, 2012
Source: I received a copy from the author; however, this did not affect my review.

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a historical fiction fan.
• You don't mind sad stories.
• You love family stories.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Water Will Find its Way describes the journey of three generations of women to discover their origins, and their quests for fulfillment and belonging. Exploring the displacement of a mother and her two daughters in three different continents and over a time span of forty years, it tells of the importance of passing down cultural and ancestral heritage especially when personal and national annihilation are at stake."

My Two Cents:

First off, know that "Water Will Find its Way" will break your heart. It will break your heart a lot. Slevin writes in such a way that it is nearly impossible to not feel something for the characters in this book as they go through incredibly tough times and incredibly tough situations that I cannot imagine having to deal with myself. Although this book is very sad, it is also the story of triumphing over the odds when they are stacked against you tenfold.

I loved that this story is a multi-generational story. It follows three generations of Armenian women who all have gone through difficult things in their life. The main focus is on the grandmother of the family, Nairi, who leaves Armenia during the horrendous Armenian genocide in the first part of the 20th century in order to save herself. Because the story is multi-generational, you get to see how each generation deals with the family stories of their past, which is a very cool perspective.

I loved the settings in the book. The book takes place in Armenia, Argentina, and Spain. I have not read a lot of books at all about Armenia and very few if any books about Armenia so it was a real treat to get to read about these places. Slevin captures the desperation in Armenia during the genocide. She captures the harshness to newcomers in Argentina, where Nairi escapes to after leaving Armenia. You can picture these places and it really helps to flesh out the stories of the three women in this book.

I did wish the transitions between who was speaking were a little more clear. Some of the transitions were rather abrupt and made it hard to follow along with the story. It really took me out of the story a little bit.

Overall, this is a great, albeit, heartbreaking story that will appeal to historical fiction lovers and those that love multi-generational stories.