(Reviewed by JD Jung)
#CommissionsEarned
“Grown people need friction to live.”
Most people would think that Louisa Rader is living the perfect life. As the director of the town’s art center, this former model and photographer lives in a wealthy Connecticut suburb with her successful architect husband Richard, and their twelve-year-old daughter, Sylvie. But Louisa is restless and bored.
Richard is much older and doesn’t understand Louisa’s feelings. Though she is originally from this town, she spent much of her early adult life among the struggling artists in New York City. Though life there was far from idyllic, she suddenly misses it.
When she meets Gabriel, the eighteen-year-old son of one of Richard’s top clients, Louisa finds him attractive, mostly due to his outlook on art. “…the best artists are the ones who just put their work out there without being asked…Once you get permission, the freshness disappears, there’s no element of surprise.”
Gabriel tries to shock people with his art, which minimally forces them to pay attention to it. While Louisa is attracted to his need for rebellion and freedom, Sylvie is attracted to his passion for environmentalism, and how his art serves that purpose. Neither mother nor daughter knows how the other one feels.
The Hundred Waters keeps the reader engaged from beginning to end. Not only is the purpose of art explored, but also issues of aging, boredom, freedom, entitlement, and privilege. The prose is gorgeous with vivid descriptions from the haunting art to the contrasts between the gritty New York City setting and the plush Connecticut suburbs.
Since this is such a seductive novel, I expected and hoped for a shocking and disturbing ending. That didn’t happen, so I was disappointed. At least if didn’t fall into stereotypes, which it easily could have done.
That said, the journey and pace of The Hundred Waters was still worth my time, and I highly recommend it.
