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 Review by
Louella Moreland
Galveston, Texas, was a progressive, booming city at the end of the 19th
century. Oceangoing freighters, exports, imports, trains and building were
all big business in this modern western city lying between the Gulf of
Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. People were arriving by the hundreds, lured by
the prospect of bettering their lives in the West. Public bathing houses,
outdoor pavilions for dancing, and resorts were the new rage on this
low-lying island. Galveston even boasted a large orphanage run by the
Catholic sisters.
No one knew what devastation awaited this community at daybreak Sunday
morning, Sept. 9, 1900. No one took the predictions by the new "weather
experts" too seriously until it was too late. No one could fathom that the
city would lose over 6,000 souls, that entire city blocks would be swept
away into the sea, and water would wash away the lives of so many people in
such a short amount of time.
The tale begins with the arrival of a family during August of that fated
year. Lured by his brother's account of the success he could bring to his
family and the money to send his sons to college, Thomas Braeden moves his
family to Galveston. The story is told through the eyes of his son Seth, who
wants to become a carpenter like his father, not a doctor. Seth is the
hinge-pin of the family, mostly quiet and dependable, often taken for
granted, and coming of age during a time in history when being 16 was being
a man.
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"Dark Water Rising" embraces the buildup, the ravaging of the
storm, the losses that occurred and the emptiness it left, with a
clear perspective that no life was left untouched by this massive
storm. The tale ends a few months later, on New Year's Day 1901,
with the survivors of Seth's family beginning to build their lives
again.
Ms. Hale has successfully brought to life both the true and
fictional characters that people her story. Mixing her imagination
and factual accounts, she describes the effects of those hot, humid
days before the storm on the people and their lives. We can feel the
heat, the spray from the ocean and then the dark, swirling waters
that sweep across the lowland from the Gulf. From the tentative
first encounters of friends, to the loyalties that are formed, and
ending with the heart-wrenching tragedies that were the aftermath of
the flooding, the situations and dialogues are seamlessly woven into
her story. We as readers empathize with these characters, feeling
the joy, shame, pride and fear that they feel.
Hurricane warnings were nonexistent at this time in our history.
Storms of this magnitude often swept in quickly with devastating
results. In fact, this storm continued a 200-mile wide path through
the American plains, to Chicago and into Canada. Ms. Hale covers
some of the history of the storm in her "Author's Notes" at the end
of the novel.
Accustomed to our modern technology and early warning system,
readers may be awed by the strength and determination for survival
that were needed to live through tragedies such as this. Want to
find out more about big storms, early weather forecasting or
Galveston? Come visit us at the Lincoln Public Library and we will
help you locate a book that matches your interest.
[Text from file received from
Louella Moreland, youth services librarian,
Lincoln Public Library District]
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