The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon

 

The Drowning Kind

by Jennifer McMahon

The Drowning Kind follows Jackie (Jax), a therapist, who leaves her home and work on the west coast to go back home where her sister, Lexi, lives in the house she inherited from their grandmother, Sparrow Crest. The house was built on the site of a mineral spring that is said to be cursed, but also to have healing powers.

The two girls were close when they were young, but as adults had grown apart. Lexi is bipolar and her manic episodes led Jax to separate herself from Lexi and the rest of the family, most of whom seemed to favor Lexi throughout their lives. When Lexi kills herself Jax returns to Sparrow Crest to find she has inherited the house, the land, and the curse of the springs. A mystery unfolds as to what made Lexi, a strong swimmer, drown herself in the pool (which was originally a small spring pool, but was widened into a swimming pool). The pool is deep, dark, and smells metallic and foul, but people have been taking its waters - bathing and drinking - for a long count of years, being healed by it.

Alongside this present story, a past timeline of events follows Ethel, an older housewife who longs for a child. She and her husband, Will, take a mini vacation to a new hotel built on the same springs site, which boasts of its luxury and healing waters. While there, Ethel learns from Edith, one of the hotel owners, that teh spring grants wishes as well. Ethel wishes for a baby and she gets one, not heeding the warnings of people in the town that the water gives and the water takes. For every wish granted, something is lost. Ethel's baby is born, but has a heart defect that only the water from the spring can heal. Because of this, she and her husband buy the land when the hotel burns to the ground and they build a house there so the baby will always have the healing waters. All sorts of ghostly happenings occur and they are done spectacularly. You ask yourself, are they really there or imaginary? And how do they relate to what's in the water?

This story was really engaging and I enjoyed the experience of reading it. The dual timelines were well done and came together in the end in a surprising (though I should have seen it coming) and seamless way. The characters were compelling and their voices were distinct and interesting. The mystery unfolds gradulaly and naturally, the answers revealed slowly in an exceptionally competent way. The only thing about the actual story I would change or omit is the inclusion of Declan, a patient of Jax who has a small role to play, but an unimportant one that didn't add to the story, as I expected it to. There was not enough closure to his character and I wasn't sure what he was supposed to add to the story. I also liked that the ending wasn't exactly happy, though Jax gets her wish in the end.

The Drowning Kind gets 4 stars.