Water Witches

Vermont is drying up. The normally lush, green countryside is in the grip of the worst drought in years: stunted cornstalks rasp in the hot July breeze, parched vegetable gardens wither and die, the Chittenden River shrinks to a trickle, and the drilling trucks are booked solid as one by one the wells give out. Patience Avery, known nationwide as a gifted "water witch," is having a busy summer, too. Using the tools of the dowser's trade -- divining sticks, metal rods, bobbers, and pendulums -- she can locate, among other things, aquifers deep within the earth. In the midst of this crisis, Scottie Winston lobbies for permits to expand Powder Peak, a local ski area that's his law firm's principal client. As part of the expansion, the resort seeks to draw water for snowmaking from the beleaguered Chittenden, despite opposition from environmentalists who fear that the already weakened river will be damaged beyond repair. What ensues in Chris Bohjalian's fourth novel is a struggle between conservation and development, rugged tradition versus inevitable progress. But it is also a tale of the clash between science and mystery, a chronicle of one man's transformation from cynic to believer. Vivid with the texture of New England ways, alive with characters both quirky and real, informed by the ongoing, real-life battles between environmentalism and economic expansion in Vermont, Water Witches is a story of ineffable forces, tenuous balances, "and perhaps something about our abilities as a people to heal and forgive and to love."

Author: Chris Bohjalian
Publisher: University Press of New England
Published: 02/01/1995
Pages: 351
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.40lbs
Size: 8.86h x 5.82w x 1.17d
ISBN: 9780874516876

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 6.2
Point Value: 16
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 56572 / Water Witches


Award: Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award - Nominee


Review Citation(s):
Booklist 03/01/1995 pg. 1177
Library Journal 02/01/1995 pg. 97
Publishers Weekly 01/02/1995 pg. 58
Kirkus Reviews 12/01/1994 pg. 1554

About the Author
CHRIS BOHJALIAN is author of the bestselling novel Midwives, as well as Trans-sister Radio. The Law of Similars, Past the Bleachers, Hangman, and A Killing in the Real World, in addition to numerous articles and reviews in publications such as the New York Times, Boston Globe, Reader's Digest, and Vermont Life. Past the Bleachers was filmed as a television movie by Hallmark.