weird characters of unloved people. Esther has a son Phillip who always wants to drown himself( perhaps not) Phillip has a daughter Esther the black who is also unloved and can't wait to leave the family compound. Uncle Max sold to a circus as a dwarf when he was 10 so his sister and 'not'brother could escape and eventually marry. Esther the white has a beaut. gemstone as a safety net of riches if she should need them. Not my favorite Hoffman book but definitely a good one. ( )

Esther the Black was born to hate her grandmother. Her father named her as an insult to his mother, Esther the White. Everyone knows you don't name a child after the living, only the dead. Because Esther the White rules the family with harsh words and a hating heart, even insisting that the family live in seclusion, Esther the Black has had a compromised upbringing. She longs for the day when she can escape not only Long Island, but her grandmother as well. But, then there is the grandmother's view of the world. She bears resentment for having to raise her son's child while he fantasizes about suicide every summer and his wife tilts the gin bottle back a little too often. Each generation, grandmother and granddaughter, has her own demons to battle. The Drowning Season is the story of how they go to battle against each other and eventually, when love conquers all, for each other. ( )

The 1st book I read in 2009 and it was a disappointment... ( )