Water Witches by Chris Bohjalian

2020 Key Word Challenge - January (Water, This, Hello, Sun, New, Six)

It was rather tough narrowing down which book to read for the Key Word Challenge, but I settled on a tried and trued author (for me anyway).

Who can take essentially a political debate between progress/capitalism (expanding a ski resort) and environmentalism (tapping drought stricken rivers and cutting down mountainside trees for ski trails) and make it a captivating novel? Chris Bohjalian can. The book was not what I expected as I got into it, but Bohjalian writes in such a way that you are eager to find out how the debate gets resolved, regardless of which you side you think you are on. I think the term "magic" is a little misleading in the book jacket/summary, but it is full of heart, passion and beautiful Vermont.

Summary from Goodreads: Set in the Vermont countryside, a tale of the clash between progress and tradition, science and magic. In the midst of a drought, ski industry lobbyist Scottie Winston is trying to get a large ski resort the permits it needs to tap rivers for snow. His wife, his daughter, and his sister-in-law-dowsers or "water witches" all-hope to stop him, however, in this gentle, comic, life-affirming novel.

Quote: "Water is everything, and - someday, if we are not careful - it will become more precious than gold....already we buy water in bottles, paying premium prices for that which we once took for granted. That which was meant to be free. That which is the source of all life."

#MonthlyKeyWordGXO
https://www.girlxoxo.com/monthly-key-word-reading-challenge-2020/