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The Drowning House

2.94 of 5 stars 2.94 · rating details · 512 ratings · 155 reviews

A gripping suspense story about a woman who returns to Galveston, Texas after a personal tragedy and is irresistibly drawn into the insular world she’s struggled to leave.

Photographer Clare Porterfield's once-happy marriage is coming apart, unraveling under the strain of a family tragedy. When she receives an invitation to direct an exhibition in her hometown of Galvesto...more

Hardcover, 268 pages

Published January 15th 2013 by Nan A. Talese / Doubleday a division of Random House, Inc.

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Jan 27, 2013 Jeannine rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: did-not-finish

The book jacket synopsis describes a story about a heartbroken woman returning home to Galveston after suffering an unspeakable tragedy and the deterioration of her marriage, and a hundred-year-old mystery about Stella, who lived in the old mansion across the street and was found hanging with her hair wrapped around the chandelier in the aftermath of a devastating hurricane in 1900.

I made it to page 132 before abandoning it. Up to page 132 there are infrequent references to Stella, so infrequent...more

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Jul 19, 2012 Courtney rated it 4 of 5 stars

4.5 Stars

Photographer Clare Porterfield has been summoned to return to her hometown of Galveston, Texas, to complete an exhibit for prominent businessman and family friend Will Carraday. Living in the aftermath of a devastating loss that has led to the inevitable crumbling of her marriage, Clare makes the journey from D.C. to Galveston. Part of her wants to run away from her failed life, but part of her is drawn to the home that she was forced to abandon ten years earlier after a tragic accident...more

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Jan 15, 2013 Jaime Boler marked it as to-read

Book Review: The Drowning House by Elizabeth Black

The Drowning House by Elizabeth Black (Nan A. Talese; 288 pages; $25).

“If there was a sign, I missed it” begins Elizabeth Black’s highly publicized debut, The Drowning House. Yea, if there was a sticker on the front of this book proclaiming it tired and tedious, I, too, missed it.

Photographer Clare Porterfield has suffered a huge blow, and her hometown of Galveston has called her home. Clare battles some tough inner demons, as she grapples with...more Book Review: The Drowning House by Elizabeth Black

The Drowning House by Elizabeth Black (Nan A. Talese; 288 pages; $25).

“If there was a sign, I missed it” begins Elizabeth Black’s highly publicized debut, The Drowning House. Yea, if there was a sticker on the front of this book proclaiming it tired and tedious, I, too, missed it.

Photographer Clare Porterfield has suffered a huge blow, and her hometown of Galveston has called her home. Clare battles some tough inner demons, as she grapples with her daughter’s death, a freak accident in the family backyard. She blames herself; strangely, she also blames her daughter, too eager to recreate the famous photo her mother took of her. With her marriage in shambles, Clare intends to put her heart and soul into her next project: directing an exhibition in Galveston, a place she has avoided for ten years.

She begins a monotonous search for her childhood friend, Patrick Carraday. Black drags out Clare’s pursuit so much that I began to doubt his existence entirely. Through Clare’s reminiscences of Patrick, it becomes clear they were playing with fire, literally, and were forced apart after a tragic accident.

Accidents seem to follow Clare around. So do family secrets. She does not share close relationships with either her mother or her sister. Her deceased father treated her with scorn and often stood outside her door as a child. There is an undercurrent of sexual abuse here, but Black holds back when she should have fleshed out this issue.

Clare cannot take command of the page. She is Black’s main protagonist, yet she pales in comparison to Stella Carraday, a beautiful young woman who drowned in her family’s home during the Great Hurricane of 1900. Local lore has made the story legendary: “Stella had been only seventeen when she drowned…So many strange things were said to have been discovered in the aftermath of the storm. A horse, thirsty and disoriented in a second-floor bedroom. Dead snakes dangling from the trees.” Stella was supposedly found naked, hanging by her long hair from a chandelier, “the storm waters tore the clothes off most of the drowned.”

Stella’s intriguing story is interspersed throughout The Drowning House, but Black would have done well to have turned the tale into a dual narrative. I found Stella’s scenes far more interesting than Clare’s, especially once Black suggested Stella may actually have survived the storm. Stella’s character presented an intriguing element, and Black may have been able to save this novel by embellishing this unique individual.

Despite all this discussion of what Black gets wrong, she does do a few things right. Black truly transports the reader to early 1990s Galveston and illustrates the great beauty of the island. “The sky was gulf blue, a color you see nowhere else, intense and full of light, a color that throws ordinary things into sharp relief and turns them into sudden visions.” The smells of oleander and of salty air and the stories of hurricane legends provides an atmospheric quality to the story.

The Drowning House is utterly haunting in its descriptions of the Great Hurricane of 1900. Black somehow manages to show the gaping wounds the storm left on the island ninety years after its impact. Hurricanes alter landscapes; storms erode sand dunes and devastate families. Black does not let the Great Hurricane of 1900 destroy Stella’s story, though, and, for me, that was why I kept reading this book. Too bad Black chose to write Stella as an afterthought; she deserved more, her character cried out for it.

Wonderful atmospheric qualities notwithstanding, The Drowning House is a disappointment. Black’s storyline is too uneven, too unpolished. As a reader, I felt strung along and kept waiting for something more, for something better. Sadly, I never got it, but still I continued reading. I would have turned back, but missed the signs.
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Apr 30, 2013 Jan Pelosi rated it 2 of 5 stars

I didn't want to HIDE my review, but there are some spoilers here, so STOP reading now if you don't want to see them.

I so wanted to love this book. I am fascinated with the 1900 Great Hurricane, and my husband is from Galveston (a BOI) so we spend a lot of time there. I wish Elizabeth Black would have sent this out for some sort of reading focus group (if they even exist) and then tweaked her story a bit. It really could have been a great book, but it's just not.

Elizabeth's Black's writing styl...more

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Apr 05, 2013 McGuffy Morris rated it 5 of 5 stars

Clare Porterfield has made a successful life for herself. As a photographer, she is invited back to her hometown of Galveston, Texas for an exhibition. Reeling from a family tragedy and unraveling marriage, she takes refuge in the offer to reconnect with the comfort of familiarity there.

In revisiting the past, Clare is able to reexamine her own past, as well as research her family history. She is seeking answers involving her family’s connection to a longtime influential family, the Carradays.

Cl...more

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Apr 03, 2013 Alesha Leveritt rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you are a reader who loves the masterful use of language and the power of the well-placed word, this is the novel for you, and you will be shocked that you are reading a "first-time novelist." But this book isn't for everyone. It isn't a "thriller" will carefully planted leads, and it isn't a ghost story that will leave you on the edge of your seat. There are plenty of ghosts...but they aren't that kind.

It IS an incredibly beautiful story about identity, that which is determined by our origin...more

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Mar 09, 2013 Arlena rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 4-stars, abuse, adult-read, dysfunctional, ebooks, fiction, gothic, my-reviews, a-good-book, suspense, thriller, mystery

Author: Elizabeth Black
Published By: Nan A. Talese
Age Recommended: Adult
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Book Blog For: GMTA
Rating: 4
Review:

"The Drowning House" by Elizabeth Black was indeed a novel that will take you into a Gothic mystery, thriller, and suspenseful read all rolled up into one. This novel definitely kept me turning the pages to see where the author was taking me on this ride. The setting is from Galveston, Texas where we find Clare has come home to do some work as a archival photographe...more Author: Elizabeth Black
Published By: Nan A. Talese
Age Recommended: Adult
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Book Blog For: GMTA
Rating: 4
Review:

"The Drowning House" by Elizabeth Black was indeed a novel that will take you into a Gothic mystery, thriller, and suspenseful read all rolled up into one. This novel definitely kept me turning the pages to see where the author was taking me on this ride. The setting is from Galveston, Texas where we find Clare has come home to do some work as a archival photographer where she has been recruited to put together a show about Galveston... showing old photos from the families and library. However, Clare seems to be somewhat interested in 'Stella Tale.' Now what is that all about? We find that she is very unhappy due to the fact of her marriage has fallen apart and more so...the terrible accident that took her daughter's life. Now that Clare is back in Galveston she finds that there is not much change in her relationship with her mother and sister....you taking about a dysfunctional family! Clare seems to find this "a place filled with corrosive relationships and family secrets" dealing with the Carraday and Porterfield families. Now what is this all about? Will Clare find any peace here? I found some of the characters were not very likable and I will only say you will have to pick up "The Drowning House" to see who they may be, however I still enjoyed the read.

Ms. Black does a wonderful job in the excellent descriptions that are given on the Galveston area...making you feel as you are there, especially if you have been there you will be able to identify it. Also, the history of Galveston was simply well written. From the read I could see that really Clare is drowning from her memories of Galveston, along with a bad marriage, the death of her child along with a few other things... Now, with all that being said you will have to pick up the this good read and if you are like me ... you may get a suprise ending. So, would I recommend "The Drowning House" to you? YES!
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Mar 02, 2013 Amy rated it 3 of 5 stars

It is a pleasure to discover debut authors and Elizabeth Black proves herself to be a writer to watch with her novel, The Drowning House. Clare Porterfield is a young photographer whose life and marriage is falling apart after the recent loss of her only child. Called back to her childhood home on Galveston Island, to direct an exhibition, Clare suddenly finds herself drawn into a decades old mystery of what happened to Stella Carraday. Local lore states that Stella was drowned in the Great Hurr...more

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Jan 17, 2013 Lori L (She Treads Softly) rated it 4 of 5 stars

In Elizabeth Black's debut novel, The Drowning House, photographer Clare Porterfield's life is in turmoil. Her six-year-old daughter has died. She is immersed in inescapable grief and her marriage is drowning under the weight of her sorrows. She accepts an invitation to return to her hometown of Galveston, Texas, in order to select the material for a photography exhibition funded by the wealthy Will Carraday.

Clare has been gone from the island for many years and, along with others, is questioni...more In Elizabeth Black's debut novel, The Drowning House, photographer Clare Porterfield's life is in turmoil. Her six-year-old daughter has died. She is immersed in inescapable grief and her marriage is drowning under the weight of her sorrows. She accepts an invitation to return to her hometown of Galveston, Texas, in order to select the material for a photography exhibition funded by the wealthy Will Carraday.

Clare has been gone from the island for many years and, along with others, is questioning her real reasons for returning. In fact, Clare has had a long time relationship with the Carraday family. She had left the island after a tragedy involving her and her friend, Patrick Carraday. He was sent away and they were kept apart.

Galveston has a past seeped in tragedy and that feeling imbibes the novel. Part of the novel explores the mystery surrounding Stella Carraday’s drowning during the hurricane that devastated Galveston on September 8-9, 1900.

Clare may be in Galveston to look at photographs, but what she really seeks are answers to decades old questions, some of which she didn't even know she needed to ask. She has some questions about her past and her family that need to be answered. As she tries to come to terms with her new life, memories start to come to light in a new way.

While the writing in The Drowning House is superb, I'm going to admit that I knew, without a lot of effort, the big secret(s) the novel was going to reveal very early on. If Black had allowed that the reader would have that foreknowledge, leaving us to feel oh-so-slightly-smug at our deductive prowess, and then did a little flip with the plot, I would be applauding her for the extremely well-written novel with the clever plot twist.

Black has written a sensitive, atmospheric, southern gothic mystery. While readers might know as quickly as I did the secrets that are going to be revealed, Black has done an amazing job developing her characters, as well as life in Galveston in this finely crafted novel.

Highly Recommended

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Knopf Doubleday and Netgalley for review purposes.
http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/

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Jan 10, 2013 Robbins Library rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: jenny-recommends

"It should be easy to tell this story. I know what happened, and when. I should be able to put the events in order, line them up like beads on a string. But I think now that time is not a line but a spiral, bending back on itself, delivering us again and again and again to the same places."

Clare is a photographer whose young daughter died in an accident. She feels estranged from her husband, who seems to have overcome his own grief and moved on, and can't understand why she doesn't do the same....more

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Dec 20, 2012 Susan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: amazon-vine-book

I elected to read this book because I love the city of Galveston and the rich history of the island. I looked forward to a mystery surrounding the 1900 hurricane. Instead I read a sad tale of dysfunctional families and unfinished stories.

Black is advertised as an exciting new literary voice. I can see why Gay Talese is excited about the writing of this first time novelist. Her writing is compelling and lyrical. Her writing style is the sort that critics and publishers of literary fiction seem to...more

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Nov 07, 2012 Mallory Anne-Marie Forbes rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Mallory Anne-Marie by: Great Minds Think Aloud

Shelves: november-2012-reads, nov-2012-blue-challenge, nov-2012-reading-challenge-ntoyab

Review of The Drowning House
Reviewed for Great Minds Think Aloud
4 stars

I call this in the category of “women’s lit” or “beach reads” and no, not just because the majority of the novel is set on Galveston Island. It’s the kind of slow-paced novel with multiple characters and multiple plotlines which makes the reader want to take it slow and just enjoy-perfect for a vacation or “beach” read. There’s a lot of history in this novel: history of the island and of the community; history of the historic...more

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Oct 19, 2012 Elaine Colwell rated it 5 of 5 stars

In Elizabeth Black’s atmospheric Drowning House, the City of Galveston does, indeed, play as large a role as any individual does. This is not the kind of novel, however, peopled with predictable characters everyone has met before. Galveston is complex--graceful and gaudy at the same time, a small city with a big, almost looming past. As many fine novelists have, Black plumbs the chemistry between the place and its inhabitants. In this case, the question of whether you live in Galveston or it liv...more

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Oct 14, 2012 Frank rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone who loves carefully crafted prose

I'm reading The Drowning House for the second time, something I rarely do - at least in the realm of contemporary fiction, but this book merits a second go. This time I'm reading a little more carefully and acquainting myself with the things the author uses to capture the atmosphere of Galveston so evocatively. One example: in the opening pages the narrator, a photographer, is preparing for her return to the city of her youth where she will be curating an exhibition of Galveston photographs:

In

...more I'm reading The Drowning House for the second time, something I rarely do - at least in the realm of contemporary fiction, but this book merits a second go. This time I'm reading a little more carefully and acquainting myself with the things the author uses to capture the atmosphere of Galveston so evocatively. One example: in the opening pages the narrator, a photographer, is preparing for her return to the city of her youth where she will be curating an exhibition of Galveston photographs:

In a cardboard box, still unpacked, I found the Cartier Bresson volume and turned the pages until I came to a photo showing the interior of a once grand Galveston hotel. A sign tacked to the wall reminded borders to pay their rent in advance. On the landing was an elderly woman, her body shapeless in a flowered housecoat. Darkness poured out of the doorway behind her and rose up from the baseboards so that her face and body were split into light and shadow. It was one of several images of Galveston looking sad and shabby, images that had caused controversy when the book was first published. Others were different. Cartier-Bresson had also captured in his photographs the intense sensual appeal of the place. And I wondered if that was in fact what had disturbed people. The uneasy meeting of those two realities - the dereliction and the drowsy sunlit, self indulgent beauty of the island.

The Drowning House also captures this sensual intensity. And its fair to say that a similar dichotomy - between dereliction and longing, are a fitting metaphor for Claire's journey of self discovery.

It turns out, neither the book nor the picture are fictional. As stated here, http://www.pri.org/theworld/?q=node/2...

Originally conceived as a requiem for the faded city, The Galveston That Was instead helped resurrect the city. [The authors] captured the soul of the city in The Galveston That Was and, as a result, inspired a major and successful effort to restore Galveston's historic architectural treasures.

What a pleasure it was to stumble on the photograph that Black describes so perceptively. It was, you might say, just like I pictured it.

This is an excellent book.

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Oct 11, 2012 Patty rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Drowning House
by
Elizabeth Black

My "in a nutshell" summary...

Claire is stopped cold by the loss of her 6 year old daughter. She suddenly decides to go home. This is not easy for her due to a multitude of past events.

My thoughts after reading this book...

I truly am not sure how I feel about this book. It started off with a huge sadness and a lot of guilt and a ton of truly dysfunctional characters. I don't think anyone in this novel was happy. I have to admit that at first I had a really diffi...more

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Oct 10, 2012 Eileen Granfors rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: families, historical-fiction, marriage, grief, women, local-color

Elizabeth Black's debut novel, "The Drowning House," is set in Galveston, Texas, in the present day with memories of the past. The protagonist, Clare, has come home to The Island after many years away. She's been asked to work on some archival photographs since she is a renowned photographer. She is happy to flee the debris of her marriage, which fell apart in the aftermath of a terrible accident.

Once in Galveston, Clare finds her mother, Eleanor, the same as always: prim, busy, quick to critici...more

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Feb 24, 2013 Michelle rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, family-drama, contemporary-fiction

Many reviewers describe this as "atmospheric" and that is certainly true. The setting is Galveston and the place is felt in every sense. It's very Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. I had no idea of the history and quirks of the island and the author really brings it to life.

In the end, I think that's the problem. Galveston dominates and overshadows the characters. I didn't care about Clare's journey or her past. Her loss and her crumbled marriage are so abstract as to almost not be believ...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Jodi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Elizabeth Black’s haunting suspense novel, “The Drowning House” follows photographer Clare Porterfield as she journeys back to her home of Galveston, Texas. Clare is tormented by the death of her young daughter in a tragic accident. Struggling to gain a foothold on life she accepts an invitation by wealthy businessman Will Carraday to direct an art exhibit chronicling the history of the island.

Back home after a decade away, Clare relives painful memories of her past that often circle around the...more

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Mar 19, 2013 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-suspense

The Drowning House was a little slow to get into and a little confusing to follow at the very beginning, but it soon picked up and was outstanding, not to mention fun to read if you have ever spent any time on Galveston Island. I could visualize every place that Clair went and all of the homes she described. And Elizabeth Black is right - there IS something eerie and always stirring in the air that reminds you that the weather can turn on you in the blink of an eye, leaving you always vulnerable...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Joy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: wonderful-setting

I really wanted to like this book. I did enjoy all of the information about Galveston in the early 1990's. If this had been a travel brochure I would probably give it all 5 stars. I also enjoyed the author's style and felt she wrote quite well, and the book was well edited, in that there were no glaring grammatical or spelling errors that prevented me from actually staying with the story.

Where this book fell apart was in telling a story that was of any real interest. The plot "twist", such as it...more

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Mar 24, 2013 Jean rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really loved this book. Set on a barrier island off of Galveston, Texas, the novel is steeped in mysterious history, its characters, islanders, playing their parts in an unalterable drama, under the weight of the island's history, and its permanent impermanence. The book follows a young photographer who has grown up on the island, and returns, following a personal tragedy, only to be lured into an untangling of unresolved past events. As she tries to pick up the pieces, she casts her observant...more

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Feb 16, 2013 Chris rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book was hyped for its dual story of Clare, a photographer who, after a personal tragedy, returns to Galveston to direct an exhibition and begins to question the story of a girl whose body was found after the 1900 Great Hurricane, her hair entangled in the family chandelier. Intriguing, right? Wrong. Elizabeth Black devotes her words to descriptions of Galveston rather than characters, dialogue, or plot. Her descriptions are beautiful but anything related to character and plot is vague and...more

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Oct 29, 2012 Cindi rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

Once I got past my disappointment that this novel wasn't the ghost story I had originally assumed it to be, I rather enjoyed The Drowning House by Elizabeth Black.

Clare returns to her hometown--the island of Galveston, Texas--after years away. She is grieving the death of her child and the end of her marriage when a career opportunity opens up for her at "home". She is anxious to be reacquainted with her childhood best friend Patrick Carraday whom she hasn't seen since they were teenagers. Clare...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Brenda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Elizabeth Black shows great promise as a writer. Her descriptive prose can almost make you feel that you are there on the island in Texas where the story unfolds. I am only about 50% into the book, but it has grabbed me and I am looking forward to reading the answers to the questions that have arisen in the book.What really happened with Clare and Patrick that caused Clare to be sent away? What will happen when Patrick and Clare see one another, or will they see one another again? What is going...more

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Jan 27, 2013 Cindy rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

Here is a story that had a lot of potential, but words got in the way. Elizabeth Black managed to describe every little detail and emotion possible in a book's setting.

Here is a sample: "There was no sidewalk in the sense that most people understand it. Smooth concrete might extend for thirty feet, only to erupt suddenly where old, broken slabs thrust upward like the prows of sinking ships, the spaces between them lively with weeds. There were stretches of homemade pebble aggregate pocked with b...more

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Mar 18, 2013 Kelly added it · review of another edition

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to shut (or its virtual equivalent) books that I have no interest in finishing after I start them and give them a few chapters. After all, I'm a grown-up now and I don't exactly have a shitload of free time on my hands, so why waste it reading something I'm not enjoying? Especially since I'm not being tested on it :)

This was one such book for me. I began listening to it on audiobook and didn't get very far before I had to force myself not to tune it out. And...more

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Feb 20, 2013 Booknblues rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, coming-of-age, family-relationships

The Drowning House
By Elizabeth Black
4 stars
pp. 268

I was compelled to pick up Elizabeth Black's novel The Drowning House with the setting in Galveston and which claimed to investigate family secrets going back to the great hurricane of 1900 which claimed so many lives, one being Stella Carraday whose body was said to be found hanging by her hair from the chandelier. Since reading Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson, I have been interested in anything I could find about it and I love the idea of uncoveri...more The Drowning House
By Elizabeth Black
4 stars
pp. 268

I was compelled to pick up Elizabeth Black's novel The Drowning House with the setting in Galveston and which claimed to investigate family secrets going back to the great hurricane of 1900 which claimed so many lives, one being Stella Carraday whose body was said to be found hanging by her hair from the chandelier. Since reading Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson, I have been interested in anything I could find about it and I love the idea of uncovering ancient family secrets.

Photographer Clare Porterfield is recruited to put together a show about Galveston using old photographs from the library and families of Galveston. As a neighbor to the Carraday's she has always been interested in Stella's tale and wonders if there is more to the story. Clare is carrying ghosts of her own, a failing marriage, a young daughter who died tragically and her own mysterious past in Galveston.

Black does an excellent job of forming the setting and developing and air of quiet foreboding. She is also astute at shaping dysfunctional families. Here is a scene between Clare and her mother, who Clare calls Eleanor:

"The street was quiet. A car would have given away the year, made it clear we were approaching the twenty first century. Bu there were no cars. Not even parked cars. My station wagon was gone.
I took the steps two at a time.
In the kitchen, Eleanor was standing at the sink. "I heard you get up, " she said. "I could have loaned you a robe." She placed a bowl of blackberries on the table. "These were in your car. I thought you might like some for breadfast. What else? Shall I make you some eggs?"
"Where is the station wagon?" I asked.
"Otis has it. He is working on it."
"Otis?"
Faline's Otis. they're married. For heaven's sake, Clare its been more than ten years. Things happen. Will came by and saw the car and offered to clean it up for you. It looked as if you'd been living in it." she paused. I knew she wanted me to explain. I met her gaze but said nothing.
She Sighed. "You can go over there as soon as you're dressed. You do have a cob?" She handed me a small pile still warm from the dryer. I took the clothes from her without answering and stood to go.
"You haven't eaten. A little fruit..."
"No thanks. Maybe later," I said. I didn't want to stay and discuss my attachment to the station wagon. I knew it said something about my state of mind that I would rather keep to myself.

I found this story compelling and hard to put down. I am hoping that Elizabeth Black continues to write and develop as an author. While I enjoyed the book there were two elements which I had a hard time with. Clare, the main character and narrator, was a bit hard to take for me. This waif of an adult woman who creeps around camera in hand uncovering secrets who can't get past the separation at age 14 of best friend and neighbor, Patrick Carraday, just seems strange to me. While the story seemed to fit together and some of the elements were what I was expecting, it fit like a puzzle with some of those pieces belonging in another puzzle, some were too loose and some too tight as if they had been hammered in. The essence of a good story is there, I just wish there was a little more time and care in crafting it.(less)

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Aug 28, 2012 Kelly rated it 2 of 5 stars

When I first read the synopsis for Elizabeth Black’s The Drowning House, I was immediately intrigued. It sounded completely like my cup of tea, with the synopsis focusing heavily on a Galveston resident hung by her hair from a chandelier during the Great Hurricane of 1900. If this was the primary focus of the book, that would be great, but Black is all over the place with her writing…so much so that things get boring after awhile.

The Drowning House tells the story of Clare Porterfield, whose mar...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Shelley Fearn rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: for-women

This novel was reminiscent of the early works by Anne River Siddons. Like those this contained a family mystery, a bit of ghostly history, and a gothically Southern story.

Following the death of her daughter, Clare Porterfield returns to her hometown of Galveston to undertake a photo retrospective of the city's recovery after the 1900 earthquake. Her sponsor is rich islander Will Carraday, the head of the family living in one of the most splendid homes on the island located across from her own fa...more

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Jun 04, 2012 Diane S. rated it 4 of 5 stars

3.5 This author has a very unique and distinct writing style, rather elegant yet matter of fact. I read Isaac's Storm not to long ago, about the Hurricane that devastated Galveston and this book covers the history of Galveston from the viewpoint of the residents that lived there than and live there now. Galveston is a much the main character as is the photographer Claire. Ghosts and mysteries from the past meet up with the now adult Claire, trying to clarify for herself, things she does not unde...more

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About Elizabeth Black

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

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avg rating	preview: The Drowning House Goodreads rating: 2.94 (512 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13512660-the-drowning-house?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1334066531l/13512660.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13512660-the-drowning-house?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Drowning House by Elizabeth Black[/url]

The Drowning House

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Trivia About The Drowning House