Alan Drew

Reader Comments about GARDENS OF WATER

Random House
ISBN: 9781400066872
(February 5, 2008)

• About the Book
• Critical Praise
• Read a Review
• Read an Excerpt

Here are comments from our group of Advance Readers about Alan Drew's GARDENS OF WATER.

Cheryl from Allison Park, PA

What other authors do you usually read?
I read a wide variety of authors. I read books by mainstream writers such as Tom Clancy, Philippa Gregory, Clive Cussler, Sue Grafton, Nora Roberts, Dan Brown and Steve Berry. I have also enjoyed others through my book club such as Chinua Achebe, Tracy Chevalier, Kim Edwards, Khaled Hosseini, Sue Monk Kidd and Jhumpa Lahiri. I also am a huge fan of sci-fi/fantasy authors such as Sam Barone, D. J. MacHale, Sara Douglass, C. S. Lewis and, of course, J. K. Rowling.

My taste in reading material is wide and varied.

What did you think of GARDENS OF WATER?
I enjoyed the book, as I have never read anything set in Turkey. I really know very little about the country and the people. However, I found the book to be very sad in many ways. The story arc about the aftermath of the earthquake and its affect on the people was especially sad when I discovered at the end that it was a true event. The story of Sinan and his family was also very sad as Sinan struggles to maintain his beliefs and values in a changing world.

Would you ever read a future book by Alan Drew?
Absolutely. His writing style just draws you into the story. Also, his subject matter provoked much thought on my part and I believe would in any reader. I probably will be suggesting this for next year's book club list.

Laurie from Appleton, WI

What other authors do you usually read?
I read James Patterson, Danielle Steel, Lee Child, Alexander McCall Smith, Olive Ann Burns, Khaled Hosseini, Lorna Landvik, Isabel Allende, Harlan Coben, Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich, Nelson DeMille, Fannie Flagg, David Baldacci, Jodi Picoult, David Laskin, Lisa See, Richard Paul Evans, Jeanette Walls, Jeanne Ray, T. Coraghessan Boyle, Harper Lee, Chris Bohjalian, Billie Letts, Deanna Favre, Mary Higgins Clark, LuAnne Rice, Fern Michaels, Nora Roberts, Nicholas Sparks and many more. I like to read mystery, romance, and historical fiction.

What did you think of GARDENS OF WATER?
I enjoyed it very much. I learned a lot about the culture of this country.

Would you ever read a future book by Alan Drew?
Yes.

Linda from Washington, MO

What did you think of GARDENS OF WATER?
Once I started to read, I didn't want to put the book down. This is a book I will tell my book clubs and my other friends about.

Lindsey from Caswell Beach, NC

What other authors do you usually read?
I usually read Jodi Picoult, Chris Bohjalian, Harlan Coben, Adriana Trigiani, Janet Evanovich, Lisa Scottolini, Elizabeth Berg, Lolly Winston, Emilie Richards, Alexander McCall Smith, Susan Wiggs, Barbara Delinsky, Debbie Macomber. I guess I read any author whose book looks good to me.

What did you think of GARDENS OF WATER?
I liked GARDENS OF WATER very much. It certainly gives a new look into the Muslim religion and a very different way of life. It also gives new understanding to the problems of the Kurdish people. Their situation reminded me of the Israelis fighting to keep their own country and the Palestinians trying to forge out a homeland for themselves. Americans don't usually get "the rest of the story."

Would you ever read a future book by Alan Drew?
I look forward to reading future books by Alan Drew.

Suzanne from De Kalb, TX

What other authors do you usually read?
Whatever is on the literary side of the bestseller list and not in the mystery genre.

What did you think of THE GARDENS OF WATER?
Although the setting is in a foreign country (to me, at least), this is a universal story of parenting, the importance of tradition and faith, and the struggle to understand cultural differences. Drew does a powerful job maintaining the tension throughout the novel. I almost read cautiously because I feared the outcome. As a female, I didn't expect to relate to the father as much as I did, but the passages where he lies awake and worries about his family are so well written that I can see his pain. I understood the feeling well when Sinan pauses outside of the tent, wanting to delay the problems that he knows await him inside.

This book has such beautiful descriptive language. Drew describes the sky "as though a million paper-thin layers of blue had been draped atop one another all the way up to heaven. It made a man feel small and that was a good thing"(312).

This is another book that I will want to share and discuss with someone.

I also enjoyed reading Drew's answers in the Reader's Guide at the back of the book.

I'll be turning thoughts and questions from GARDENS OF WATER over for a long time.

Would you ever read a future book by Alan Drew?
Yes, I definitely hope he writes many more. But, as a teacher, I hope he will not leave the classroom.

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