By Way of Water (SFWP Literary Awards)

By Way of Water is the story of a family struggling through intensely difficult times. Justy, whose eyes we view the story from, observes her alcoholic father and religious mother with great compassion and complete silence. That viewpoint is alternately compelling and hard to accept. Justy appears to have a deep understanding of her family's emotions and actions, even when they're not around. This perception makes for good reading, but sometimes derails the experience. Several times I found myself rereading passages, looking for something I'd missed, as Justy seemed to be literally aware of things she had no way of knowing.The events in the book form a slow motion catastrophe. The father, Jake, fells trees for a living when he can find work. He's prideful and hates the idea of charity, but wants to provide for his family and lift them out of their appalling poverty. This struggle is compounded by a deep-seated discomfort with the idea of destroying the forests he loves. His wife, Dale, supplanted the music that once gave her and Jake joy with a faith that promises everything and delivers nothing. We see her strength in her deft avoidance of a sodden and violent Jake: waking the children in the night, carrying them to safety, waiting it out. Dale's a person who does what she has to do for her family, and you can't read it without loving her for that. All the while a looming threat prepares to remove the Colby family from their home and irrevocably change Justy's young life.The power of the book is in the genuine portrayal of its situations. We (as Justy) see Jake's weakness for drink; we hear the songs at the bar. From the local hippie-woman to the coffee can full of pennies the family tries to use to buy food with down at Sullivan's, the world and its characters are imminently believable. Jake's grizzled father, Kyle, was my favorite character.I feel guilty not clicking on that fifth star, but giving By Way of Water the highest praise would make me guiltier. Justy's hard-to-swallow perspective, coupled with some other irregularities, make it fall just barely shy of that mark. When I first began reading, I got hung up on some of these things, but I reminded myself that this is a first novel and just kept on going. I'm glad I did. By Way of Water turned out to be a touching and enjoyable read for me, and I suspect it'll do the same for you, especially if you have any interest in how faith or addiction affects families. I give it a very strong four of five stars.

“By Way of Water” is otherworldly in its language and poetic in its rendition of lives winding through a reality that is cold, relentless, and too often violent. The inner worlds of Gullick’s characters—in the same home, facing the same difficulties, are so diverse in their perceptions and responses to one another that there may as well be rivers flowing between them, and as many must in life, they love in spite of and around each other.I found the novel touching. The hard life this family inhabits, and the pitting of each character’s convictions against the needs of family (and individual) survival is universal on levels beyond a simple tough luck tale. Addiction, faith that harms as often as helps, identity that clings to family bonds in spite of soul-deep differences, and love that doesn't come without remembrance of grudges and ill-will...these qualities are as real as flesh and bone, and drive the lives of Gullick's characters.Charlotte Gullick opens for us in Justy the soul of a gifted young girl, and the gift Justy carries—of near-mystical insight and an awareness of her loved ones that knows bounds, but not boundaries, is key to the story’s telling. Gullick shows us a character who owns her gift, shoulders the self-imposed responsibility it brings with it, and walks through her world with an innocence that pulls a reader to her. In Justy’s innocence we can see connectedness we might hope to attain, and when she retreats into her river-stone dream world, or takes on the burden of healing her family, her silence is one in which we can stop and listen to ourselves. Some novels demand a reader’s lock-step agreement and drag one along against the current. “By Way of Water” allows, and often encourages, one to rest in eddies of thought, and to reflect--even in scenes of hardship or violence, not only on the beauty of the writing, but on one’s place in the currents where you live.

I loved this book and couldn't put it down. The imagery was amazing and I felt like I was reading a tale that should be made into a movie. The tension is strong and the characters are believable, loveable and in some cases, on a path of self imploding demise that only heightens the story line and depth of redemption. If you ever get a chance to take a class with this author, jump at it. She hads up a wonderful creative writing program and is a phenomenal writer, who cares as much about her characters as her students.

'There are a million stories in the naked city.' So went the opening narration to a popular television show of my youth. Shortly after my youth, I was Charlotte Gullick's high school English teacher. Tied very closely to this was the experience of gaining at least some measure of maturity and experience in Justy's world, at least at its edge. I worked with her father, who was a bus driver and custodian at the school. Once, I even went skinny-dipping with him.Many folks have tried their hands at communicating the unique reality of the north coast of California to the outside, as it were, world. It is a dark (but sometimes brightly-lit) place; it is a place often saturated with rain and fog and snow (but the resin leached from the ubiquitous manzanita in the heat of an August afternoon smells so volatile that it might ignite at the very thought of fire.) It is a complex and many-layered story, made even more subtle by telling the story through the eyes and heart and soul of a child who, as luck (and a talent for unrolling a great story) would have it, is also being raised a Jehovah's's Witness. A yeasty stew (and a good read.)

Insightful. Interesting characters surviving in a harshly beautiful environment. Poetic and haunting story that stays with you - making you wonder every time you put the book down what will happen next. Her descriptions of the Northern California landscape give the impression of nature as a sentient being. I was often reminded of Frank Waters and his lyrical otherworldly perspective.Also, an intriguing peek into the world of Jehovah's Witnesses - without having to answer the door!