I enjoyed the story and, for the most part, the characters. I did the audio book and the narrator did a great job of bringing everyone to life. I wish I could give this a 3.5 because I don't think it was really as good as 4 but better than 3. There's what is supposed to be a surprise at the end that could be seen a mile away - or at least 1/2 a book away - which reduced my enjoyment a chunk. Still a good book though. ( )

This is a well-crafted novel that alternates between the present day and the cataclysmic events of forty plus years ago. It is a story of, for lack of a better word, a forbidden love that tears two families apart. There is a lot to like in this novel including the realistic perspective of how much things have changed from the fifties and sixties.

This is not just the love story of two women however. It is also an honest depiction of how the bonds of love between siblings and between parents and children can endure for a lifetime.

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What an amazing book. I have been completely engrossed by T. Greenwood's writing the last few weeks, this being her third novel I have read in a row. Her detailed characters and ability to draw you into her scenes make her books so powerful.

Bodies of Water was such a moving story about love during a time when if it didn't fit inside a certain box, it was forbidden. This was the love story of two women, Billie, and Eva, that started in the 1960s. This book is narrated by Billie and alternates by her in the present (when she was in her 80s) and going back in time. It was raw and heartbreaking and also just breathtakingly beautiful. The story was depicted so accurately for the times and showed both the personal and financial circumstances that altered the path of their story in such a powerful way. It covered so many issues including domestic violence, loss, alcoholism, infertility, marriage, and motherhood. I didn't want this one to end and it is a book that will stick with me for a long time. ( )

A five star book for me. The writing was gorgeous, the story was heart-wrenching. I would like to think our world has evolved in the last 50 years or so, and I hope I am right. It was such a beautiful way to write a story about love between 2 people, that was not graphic, or made you feel uncomfortable. And not because it was a non-traditional couple, I just don't care for novels that are all about sex. I can read about their love, and able to picture a relationship, not based on sex, but on the people involved. Can't wait to read more of her books. ( )

Don't Look For Heroines Here

While T. Greenspan's Bodies of Water is exquisitely written, the story soon becomes not only tiresome but enraging. Yes, lesbian love was forbidden love; yes, an ignorant public, church, state, and families attached deep shame to something that was as natural as love itself. Yes, many suffered and even died during these dreadful times of unenlightened ignorance. But Good Lord, why would one chose to highlight not one but two spineless non-courageous woman in a book about forbidden love? And to layer on top of that that both of these women were trapped in loveless marriages with blackboard abusive drunken fools for husbands. I grew up in those times. Television was black and white, but real lives rarely so. Where was their spunk? Where was some fire? This book rapidly becomes a melodrama that makes Peyton Place a Masterpiece. Terribly disappointing. I also have lesbian friends who grew up in that period. They were either as mopey nor dopey as these two. Worse thing about this is the example this author is sending out to young girls and women in the world. Yuck. Just yuck. Grab your life! For heaven's. sake! I don't care what era one writes about! There are always heroines who will not allow themselves to be beaten and ridiculed and abused. In this day and age, why is anyone elevating a work that does just that! ( )