Writing On The Water

by Jane Slavin

"Brilliant on the theme of obsessional love" Fay Weldon.Have you ever loved someone enough to die for them?Or even kill for them...?Jane Slavin conveys the agony of a broken heart with shocking clarity. In Ellen Millar she has created a candid, witty and uncompromising narrator whose addiction to one man brings her close to madness.Praise for Writing on the Water“An astonishing novel… Brilliant of the theme of obsessional love; funny, sexy, painful and totally readable.” Fay Weldon“A vivacious first novel tracing the progress of an independent young woman’s descent into obsession.” Sally Feldman (Pick of the Paperbacks, Good Housekeeping.)“Jane Slavin’s first novel has more pace and panache than any other fiction I have read this year...Slavin writes cleverly about sex and touchingly about the displacement activities of the broken-hearted. Clearly, she is indecently talented.” Rose Tremain (Daily Telegraph, Book of the Year)“A powerful and sometimes funny study of obsessional love and how corrosive it can be.” Sally Morris (Sunday Mirror, Book of the Week)“Painful, sad and funny by turn, Writing on the Water charts the course of obsessional love which drives Ellie to the edge of madness. Stunning.” (Prima Choice – Five Great reads)

Genres: Romance

Paperback

First published July 1, 2011

About the author

Jane Slavin is an actress. She lives in London. Writing on the Water is her first novel.

Reviews

[Jane Slavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

well, obviously I'm going to give this five stars.

[Nicolle · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Writing on the Water' is a spectacular novel about a woman faced with an emotional addiction to her Irishman. Ellie meets, falls in love with, and gets engaged to Aedan in just five days though this story is not your typical romance. Jane Slavin depicts the dark side of love, the obsession, lust, desire, and desperation which Ellie feels when Aedan leaves her again and again. Ellie is addicted to Aedan and needs a 'hit', it is all she can think about and she cannot function without him.
Ellie's madness and unhealthy fixation on Aedan is portayed in an unnerving way through the figurative language displaying Ellie's thoughts and feelings. This book is truly captivating and delivers on many levels.
This is a Goodreads First Reads win, and has the most unexpected ending of any books won on First Reads!
A highly recommended read which will stay with you long after you have finished reading the last page.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't really know how i feel about this book.

I have no idea who the main character was, i can't picture her in my head, i really didn't connect with her. I know the feelings being portrayed, but i still can't connect with Ellie.

I think the book moved too quickly for its own good. I assume that the fast pace of the book is trying to replicate how fast this relationship moved and ended but whilst doing this it also lost any details that would allow the reader to know who the main character is, to picture her, etc.

The plot of the book is good in general, i think most people will be able to relate to some part of this book, but i found the last few chapters much stronger than the majority of the rest of the book which is a shame.

I found myself trudging through this book, rather than it being a page turner.

[Karine Balazs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It weaves through her life and there's always a sense of danger and a sense of passion and you can't quite resist either. It reads like a diary, or a memoir. Wonderful.

[Trisha · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried listening to audio book and no. Just no. I could not handle the whining and crying obsession. I got no other sense of this character but the crying and whining. This one went on the did not finish list.

[Ranjana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick and fabulous reason obsessive love.

[Laura S · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book on first reads and glad I did. I really enjoyed this book. Slavin emphasises Love in the way some authors never could and so people have yet to understand. Writing on Water is filled with pure passion, hope, depression and of course love. Although the narrative I found at times quiet confusing and hard to follow at times, I got enough of the storyline to understand what was happening the majority of the time. Ellie, the main character was a Marmite character, at times you wanted to love her and you could understand and sympathise with her, other times you wanted to grab her and shake her on the shoulders and say what the hell are you doing! But she was not as antagonistic as Aeden! His weakness just infuriated me and Matthew her Irish Lover? or pet puppy or child? I felt so sorry for him, he was completely besotted by her! I could really get into this book and read on and off for two days. Although the plot at times was aggravating, it wasn't so aggravating that I couldn't give it any less than four stars!

[Donnamw · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having won the copy (thanks Jane) I was determined to read the book but I hadn't added my comments before now as I am still really unsure what to think about this book.

The descriptions of Ellie, her life and emotions over her relationship are very thorough - perhaps a bit too thorough. I felt like I had had a front row seat to something that I didn't really want to see or be part of and it left me feeling rather odd! However, on a positive note, I must have enjoyed it as I did read it all and quite quickly.

I guess we all have different preferences over books and perhaps mine are just a little more light-hearted :)

Thanks again though for the chance to read something different from my normal reads!

[Tim Rideout · Rating 5 out of 5]

A poetic, visceral and sexy exploration of obsessive love. The central character, an actress called Ellen, narrates her story with a vibrant and at times painfully honest voice. She is a character that will stay with me for a long time. The portrayal of the acting world feels entirely authentic and at times the pain of obsessive love is offset by laugh out loud moments.

A great first, but hopefully not last, novel.

[Michael]

Quite a drama! Sometimes I found it a bit too mad and rough tone; and I expected a somewhat more calm story from the title, but once into it somehow the story did not let me go and I read it to the end. I liked the final part - it was quite moving and touching.
And sometimes in the emotional chaos and description of the many places the actor protagonist travels, there was a quite funny and poignant sarcasm in the description.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this quite a bit the first time I read it. But upon re-reading, the novels' flaws became more apparent. I hate books that rely too heavily on dream narrative, for one thing. Cop out! And this book is one of the worst offenders.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book when I was 19, and I loved it immediately. 13 years later and I've read it a dozen times. I find it very compulsive. It's bizarre, and at times confusing, but then so is life! And because of that I think it's a bit brilliant.

[Suzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book on goodreads and have just got round to reading it. I have mixed views of this book, I emphasised with the main character but also found her quite annoying and self absorbed at times. Overall I wasn't left particularly moved after reading this book.

[Manny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic read - I felt as addicted to the book as the characters were to each other - An intense, passionate, complicated love story set against a blossoming successful acting career - every page was gripping, often painful, often very funny - a triumph!

[Karine Balazs · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been edited. It's even better. I think