Love by Drowning

by C.E. Poverman

Fiction. "Magnificent in its conception and precisely detailed in its execution, LOVE BY DROWNING is a disquietingly obsessive psychological mystery of two brothers, Val and Davis, whose fates, set in motion early by their father, are tragically altered by their involvement with Lee Anne, a mysterious and charismatic woman. Poverman is a writer of such range and power, and of such oneiric strangeness and metamorphosis that at times the writing carries the force of myth. I disappeared into the world of the novel right from the beginning, and I haven't had that experience in a long while."--Michael Collier

Genres: Fiction

396 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2013

About the author

C. E. Poverman’s first book of stories, The Black Velvet Girl, won the Iowa School of Letters Award for Short Fiction. His second, Skin, was nominated for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His stories have appeared in the O’Henry, Pushcart, and other antholo¬gies. His previous novels are Susan, Solomon’s Daughter, My Father in Dreams, and On the Edge.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm afraid to say anything here as so many people really loved this book and I know how nasty people can get when they don't like your review. I did not like this book and was surprised that I actually finished it. So much of it just dragged on and on and on and I found myself actually skipping pages because I didn't want to read the same thing over and over. I generally like a good psychological thriller that delves deep into what the characters are thinking and believe I might have enjoyed this if it had been half as long. However, there was just too much repetition and re-hashing of every little thing that I was bored with it. Perhap, as some others have said, I would have done better to put it down and come back to it at a later time.

[Mia Siegert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to give this 5 stars. I really did. The beginning was utterly enticing... then there was a good 60+ pages of backstory that took so long we forgot the current timeline. When brought back to the present, Poverman glazed over characters that had previously seemed important. It read like a different sort of story. Then when the plot started getting fascinating again with the action, we're brought into more backstory. The story comes to what should be a natural close.... then we go to another character's POV with the character explaining every little thing that normally would be left to the reader.

As a reader, this was disappointing as it took away the mystery and intrigue that I love in fiction. There was an answer for everything. This was especially difficult because Poverman's style of prose is especially gorgeous and pretty flawless. The scenes that dealt with fishing itself and "the accident" were absolutely breathtaking in their visuals... but the overabundance of info was super disappointing.

And I say that as a person who normally loves backstory. This was just too much.

Had the book been maybe 100 pages shorter, I think my review would have changed from three stars to a solid five (providing the excess stuff was omitted). We would have beautiful backstory that would fit the plot. We wouldn't have everything explained to us without an air of intrigue.

This is not the new GONE GIRL. It had the potential to beat it, absolutely without a doubt, but that degree/quantity of backstory killed that part. And well... that's disappointing.

I will say this, the characters were pretty fabulous. Val's palpable PTSD was heartbreaking and the sickness of Lee Ann was chilling.

[Veronica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won this book through the Goodreads Giveaway program. I recommend pick up a copy to discover your own insights as well.

The beginning hooks you right in like whoa! It was a bit scary for me so I walked away from the novel for a few days. When I did begin re-reading again, I discovered that is was a difficult read. Not sure if it was the words/text or the punctuation/copy editing style. It just didn’t flow very well and I only picked up certain sections well enough to understand. But overall I thought I was gathering “the gist” of it all.

For one of many examples of confusion... when we jumped ahead to the present life of Val, it was a bit disorienting. I had to read slow in order to properly follow along.

Now after the father's death, the book picked up a lot more and I gained better focus. I believe its because we were into more of the storytelling - the back story of Davis, Val, Lee Ann and family.

However, I did not like Lee Anne telling stories about her past. We get the frustration from the character trying to figure her out too, but this novel was already frustrating enough trying to figure out its plot line.

An example of the frustration with Lee Anne... Lee Anne was talking about someone named ‘Morgan’ and how she was happy she kept in touch with him after all these years. I didn't remember the mentioning of a Morgan. Mike was the old roommate in Brooklyn who played the sax and we never learned the other roommates name.

At a point late in the novel, I wanted to say that I understood Val’s point of view and mind track of Lee Anne telling everything about Davis... but I really did not grasp it. I guess I was looking for something more than a cocaine or pot run and stolen boats. It fits perfectly with her plan for Brent, but I felt confused and defeated kind of - like, "that's it?"

::SPOILER:: When Val was dumping Brent’s body and the evidence overboard, I was curious as to why he opened and dumped the garage bags of towels and then the towels over (bags first, then towels) I thought he was going to tie it all together with the body to sink with the cinder blocks. But - and I may have answered myself here - maybe Val didn’t want them linked/tied together as proof. Water washes away evidence too, right? And bags could bloat with air and eventual rise to the surface.

::SPOILER:: Christine talking about her trigger in running away and becoming Lee Ann had me a little in disbelief. I cannot believe that an English paper and seeing a car below frozen ice was the trigger for her. Is it because she bottled up her fathers murder for so long? Now visiting the house where the murder takes place seems plausible for the trigger. I just did not see the connecting dots of her trigger and felt it wasn't explained properly (or I just zoned out and missed it).

Overall, not the best read. Definitely need to read slowly in parts to try and understand; I also caught myself turning back to re-read making sure I didn’t miss something or misunderstand something. At times, especially the ending, the novel was written very well and keeps the reader hooked... but then it keeps going. It’s drones on soooo much in places.

Personally, I would have re-organized the novel a bit. I would have opened the novel as currently as it’s a deep and frighten hook. But rather than transition to Val 10 years or whatever in the future... I would go back in time and start the storyline of Davis and Val as kids growing up all the way through Davis’ death and beyond then jump to present life (Val explaining his current life, experiencing his fathers death and through to the end with LeAnn/Christine).

I think if this novel was shorter (cut in places) and organized differently, it would have been a much better read. I would fall asleep reading this book. In the end, I was so happy to be finished as it felt like I ran a marathon.

Finally finished on 06/30/18
2 out of 5 stars.

[Alison Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Psychological thriller by my former teacher. Poverman is always a very fine psychological writer. In this novel, he also shows his knowledge of and lvoe of boats and the northeastern seaboard. Poverman set a high bar for himself with his novel Solomon's Daughter. He has gravitated more toward the systery and suspense genre, yet the characters still rule.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

My starred review for this novel originally ran in the 8/30/13 issue of Library Journal:

The volatile bond between two brothers and the mysterious woman who consumes their lives drive Poverman's superb fifth novel (My Father in Dreams). Val and Davis Martin, long separated by circumstance and the crushing weight of paternal expectation, have reunited in North Carolina to assist in a marlin fishing tournament. After shady dealings in Miami, Davis is accompanied by his girlfriend Lee Anne, a hairstylist who reads Chaucer. But a small act of betrayal leads to tragedy in the water and Davis dies during the competition. Seventeen years later, Val has reemerged in Arizona as an art teacher with a wife and sullen teenager but is still receiving postcards from Lee Anne with cryptic messages such as, "I forgive you nothing." As if by fate, Val finds himself caught in a tangled web of revenge and murder as Lee Anne, a woman of no compunction and no past, lures him in. VERDICT Deftly blending the lyricism of literary fiction (featuring some of the most vivid descriptions of fishing this side of Hemingway) with the spareness of noir, Poverman has fashioned an acutely intelligent psychological thriller that will keep readers as off-balance as his protagonist.

Copyright ©2013 Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

[Susan Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of Love By Drowning in a goodreads Giveaway.

This book was a slow starter for me. I didn't understand what was going on, and wasn't sure I likes the author's style. I set it aside and read another quick book until I was ready for this one; I could tell it was going to need my undivided attention when I got going.

I'm glad I gave it the attention it deserved.

Love By Drowning is almost epic in that it spans over 17 years in the lives of the characters. The story concerns two brothers; Val and Davis, and Lee Ann. When Davis is lost at sea in an accident, events are set in motion that will resonate with Val for years to come. Lee Ann, his brother's girl, becomes his obsession and his link to his brother. The twists and turns in the story are fascinating.

I said at the beginning I wasn't sure I liked the author's writing style. Once the story truly began, the words flowed so beautifully I didn't want to put the book down. I was immersed completely in the lives of the characters. I cannot give much higher praise.

I recommend this book.

[Carolyn Moon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! The scenes on boats and at sea are particularly terrifying and exciting. As treacherous as the sea is, so is the relationship between these two brothers and the difficult and beautiful woman whom they both love. There is danger in the air at all times. One brother, the talented and doomed Davis, dies in the first chapter while marlin fishing, but the story is not a simple unraveling of the causes and effects of his death. Rather, it is the untying of the past, knotted tightly with more complexity and psychological drama than most mystery stories. The reasons why the surviving characters can't let go of the past aren't revealed until this knot is fully formed and beautifully rendered.
The last 1/4 of the book is a huge, satisfying payoff, masterfully told. I loved it.

[Charles Lovett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I've now read Love by Drowning three times. The first time through, I wondered where it was going at first -- looking for plot momentum or something -- and then it really took off. This last time I read it more slowly and found it wonderfully rewarding. Poverman's nose for the telling detail puts you in the skin of his characters as they try to discover or make sense of their past. You can feel the day, the immediacy of the moment -- the smell of the oleander and dust in an Arizona alley, the feel of ungrouted tile under bare feet in a New York City apartment. You are there with Val.

This a really good book by a superb writer --

[Michele Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was highly recommended to me by a fellow reader. The writing was almost poetic in the way the thoughts of Val and Lee Anne meandered back and forth through the story. They are intertwined together by the death of Davis Val's brother. After 17 years apart they are brought back together in one horrible night. I enjoyed this book and his writing style although sometimes you felt like you were kind of drifting along and confused. I believe this is what the author wanted you to feel so that you could relate to the characters more. Part mystery, part suspense and some psychological questioning going on. A interesting read !

[Anja · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't hang with this one. I'm reading comments from other reviewers who had a similar experience, although some said they put the book down, came back to it, and were glad they did. But, for me, I don't think so.

[Jeanine]

This book is just not grabbing my attention. I'm setting it aside for the time being. I'll come back to it sometime in the future.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very engaging beginning. Well written. Got to be too much towards the end. Psycho thriller.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book extremely well written and a page turner. It was suspenseful and quirky. The relationship of the characters was an unusual study in psychological blackmail of sorts.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!