The Water Cure

Protection. Sophie Mackintosh’s debut novel is titled, The Water Cure. Some undescribed catastrophe hit the mainland, so parents named King and Mother have taken their daughters, Grace, Lia and Sky, to an island for protection. The daughters are subjected to a variety of therapies to keep them pure, including keeping their hands in frozen water and sweating in a sauna until unconscious. Taught to fear strangers, especially men, the daughters live in isolation with ways of living to which they have become accustomed. This situation can’t endure, so after King disappears, and strangers arrive on the island, the therapies for protection fall aside and unmet needs are confronted. Readers are left to ponder big questions from this novel about gender, cults, and the stories we can be led to believe and the ways we can live when prompted that this is the way things are. Rating: Three-star (It’s ok) Click here to purchase The Water Cure from amazon.com.