This is a paperback book, Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz (2000). A New York Times bestseller and an Oprah's Book Club selection, this one is a real page-turner and an unforgettable story (I still think of it often, even though I read it over a decade ago). I recommend it highly. Here's a synopsis from the publisher: "Deftly written and emotionally powerful, Drowning Ruth is a stunning portrait of the ties that bind sisters together and the forces that tear them apart, of the dangers of keeping secrets and the explosive repercussions when they are exposed. A mesmerizing and achingly beautiful debut. Winter, 1919. Amanda Starkey spends her days nursing soldiers wounded in the Great War. Finding herself suddenly overwhelmed, she flees Milwaukee and retreats to her family's farm on Nagawaukee Lake, seeking comfort with her younger sister, Mathilda, and three-year-old niece, Ruth. But very soon, Amanda comes to see that her old home is no refuge - she has carried her troubles with her. On one terrible night almost a year later, Amanda loses nearly everything that is dearest to her when her sister mysteriously disappears and is later found drowned beneath the ice that covers the lake. When Mathilda's husband comes home from the war, wounded and troubled himself, he finds that Amanda has taken charge of Ruth and the farm, assuming her responsibility with a frightening intensity. Wry and guarded, Amanda tells the story of her family in careful doses, as anxious to hide from herself as from us the secrets of her own past and of that night. Ruth, haunted by her own memory of that fateful night, grows up under the watchful eye of her prickly and possessive aunt and gradually becomes aware of the odd events of her childhood. As she tells her own story with increasing clarity, she reveals the mounting toll that her aunt's secrets exact from her family and everyone around her, until the heartrending truth is uncovered. Guiding us through the lives of the Starkey women, Christina Schwarz's first novel shows her compassion and a unique understanding of the American landscape and the people who live on it." Book shows a little wear but nothing serious. Pages are clean and intact, good reading condition. Asking $3.00 obo. Everything I have listed for sale is "or best offer", so feel free to make an offer. ~~~~~ ALL ITEMS ARE AVAILABLE FOR LOCAL PICKUP. I sell a huge variety of stuff to supplement my income and help me put the last of my kids through college. Some items come from flea markets or estate sales, and some come from around our home, but many items come to me from my extended family of hardcore hoarders. So, the variety really can be vast and unpredictable. Please check back often, because you really never know what I will have from one day to the next! Thanks for visiting and have a great day!