This haunting fairy tale of a mute woman and a water god intrigued me from the beginning. A book club friend told me it was the ‘most moving book’ she had ever read and I had to know why she felt that way.
The Shape of Water is lyrically written. Each character has it’s own pain and beauty- even the cruel Strickland, whose job it becomes to capture and torture the water god ‘for the sake of science’ has pain enough to make him feel insane.
Elisa Esposito grew up in an orphanage, mute due to the cruelty of her parents or the people of the Home, no one seems to know. She survives into adulthood on films and silence.
Once kicked out of the Home at 18, and told that she was sure to become a whore within a week, Elisa finds a small apartment in on old movie theater. Then to make a living the best she can, Elisa takes a job as janitor in a large research facility and it is there her life is changed forever.
This story by Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus is a must read. And while I wouldn’t agree with my book club friend that is the most moving book I have ever read, I would say it is lovely, well- written, and worth your time.
Sunny Book Garden 