Underwater

by Elizabeth Diamond

"What do you remember, Jane? How much do you remember?"

Jane is living a solitary life, estranged from her husband and son after her family is marked by a tragedy she cannot face. As she recovers from a debilitating bout of treatment for a serious illness, Jane is plagued by childhood memories and strange, underwater dreams of her beloved brother, Paul, who went missing as a teenager. Now he seems to be urging her to remember her long-buried past.

Her mind desperately seeking connections, Jane begins searching for Paul. But as she digs further into her brother's disappearance, she realizes she must untangle the web of lies from which she has woven her life and confront the devastating truth about her family. For only then can she begin to face up to her own part in its destruction . . .

Genres: Fiction

362 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Positive Thought Leader and author of 7 Mindsets to Master Self-Awareness, Elizabeth Diamond was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. In 1996 she received a B.A in Communications at Canisius College after which she immediately moved to San Francisco, CA. In 1998 she enrolled into a hypnotherapy certification program and became a Certified Hypnotherapist. She spent the next few years deepening her knowledge base as a Reiki Master Teacher, Crystal Healer and Certified HypnoBirthing Practitioner. These achievements marked the start of a lifelong journey of personal transformation and realizing the self."

Reviews

[Dale Harcombe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had me from the opening. With the dream about drowning, I was right there experiencing it with Jane. An art therapist, Jane has her own unresolved issues which include the disappearance of her brother Paul who went missing when Jane was fourteen. I was interested to find out why Jane had an estranged relationship with her mother, who spent years in prison for killing her abusive husband. A couple of scenes are quite violent and graphic.
While at times, I found Jane’s behaviour hard to understand especially when it came to her husband and more so her son Dominic, who is severely injured in an accident and left ‘less than perfect,’ I could still empathise with Jane as well. Although Jane ends up searching for answers as to what happened to her brother, all those years ago, this is not a story that relies so much on plot but more on character study. Yet I was thoroughly engrossed in this story. Without giving away any details, I was pleased to know I had correctly worked out what had happened years earlier.
This was not an author I had read before but I would be interested to read another of her books.

[Barbara Sissel · Rating 3 out of 5]

What happens when you lose someone precious in your childhood? And you don’t know what happened to them? Someone like a sibling, say, who was your center, the calm eye of the storm of hard feelings, fear and misery that was your family? And there’s no closure, only half-truths and secrets, the tricks of your memory. You live with this absence. Live over it. Do the best you can. In UNDERWATER, Elizabeth Diamond’s second novel, Jane does this. She lives over the loss of her brother. Makes a life, marries, has a child. And with all of this she has in effect “fixed” the past. But the sore mystery of her brother’s whereabouts never leaves her; the wound his absence has left in her heart never heals. Still, Jane might have managed keeping all of what happened inside and all of herself together, if not for the accident that befalls her own child, the accident that renders her son, whom she adores, less than perfect. Now, like falling dominoes, her life comes apart.

The darker themes of this story are sometimes overwhelming, but as a character, Jane is exceptionally well drawn and the emotional tenor of the drama, while it is a lot of drama, rings true. As in Elizabeth Diamond’s first novel, An Accidental Light, what compels the reader is the beauty of the writing, the ever-so-delicate unfoldment of Jane’s private heart and her private pain through her relationships with her husband and son and with her mother who didn’t ever favor Jane, but doted on the brother.

UNDERWATER is an unflinching examination of the nature of our disappointment in ourselves in circumstances where we wish, even pray, to be better human beings and yet continue to fail. It is inevitable that Jane will finally be forced to search for her lost brother. It is only in finding him that she will have the answer and possible healing and closure. Does he remember the way she does? The terrible truth that has sat burning like a hot coal at the center of her being her entire life? She knows what it has cost her--nearly everything. But what has it cost him?

[Michelle Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elizabeth Diamond is a new author to me, and one I enjoyed. I did feel as if I'd read this type of story many times before, but it was still an interesting read.

Jane is trying to deal with a life which keeps going wrong - she has memories of a difficult childhood, but some of those memories escape her, whilst taunting her in dreams. She's now dealing with a divorce, a disabled son she can't get close to, an illness, plus forever wondering why her brother walked out when they were young.

Despite all this, her character is one I warmed to. After a fairly good start though, the story did seem to slow down, and due to other things going on, I did put it down for a while. However, once I picked it back up, I found the second half of the story better, and it held me well.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is mostly a character study and not very plot-based. Kind of reminded me a little bit of Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. It was a great read and kept me hooked from start to finish. Definitely underrated!

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable. Hard to put down and unpredictable

[Shelby McGovern · Rating 4 out of 5]

I made me cry, it made me laugh.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting storyline, good read though enjoy x x