Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Center Street (2016), Edition: Reprint, 384 pages
Original publication date
2015-05-19
Description
Fiction. Literature. Romance. HTML:New York Times bestselling author Charles Martin's breathtaking novel of love and redemption. Charlie Finn had to grow up fast, living alone by age sixteen. Highly intelligent, he earned a life-changing scholarship to Harvard, where he learned how to survive and thrive on the outskirts of privileged society. That skill served him well in the cutthroat business world, as it does in more lucrative but dangerous ventures he now operates off the coast of Miami. Charlie tries to separate relationships from work. But when his choices produce devastating consequences, he sets out to right wrongs, traveling to Central America where he will meet those who have paid for his actions, including a woman and her young daughter. Will their fated encounter present Charlie with a way to seek the redemption he thought was impossible �?? and free his heart to love one woman as he never knew he cou… (more)
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
384 p.; 8 inches
ISBN
1455554685 / 9781455554683
User reviews
LibraryThing member belvaw
Where do I begin? This book has left me with such a good feeling. It tells such a great story of tragedy, poverty, greed, love, forgiveness and redemption. I don't know that I've ever read a book that touched so many emotions. I have read and enjoyed other books by Charles Martin but this one has
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now added him to my list of favorite authors. I loved, loved, loved this book and will be highly recommending it to everyone! Excellent writing and I am anxiously awaiting more from this author. I was provided a free digital copy courtesy of NetGalley. Show Less
LibraryThing member SilversReviews
Charlie Finn had an unusual childhood and a very unique rest of his life.
Charlie played poker, went to Harvard, had a job that paid well but was a job that cost him the woman he loved, and then had another job that gave him a family but also danger.
WATER FROM MY HEART was a bit confusing
We follow Charlie as WATER FROM MY HEART goes back and forth from past to present. I liked Charlie despite some of the things he did in his life and despite the decisions he made that ruined lives as well as saved and touched lives.
WATER FROM MY HEART was a book about loss, life, decisions, and regrets.
You will learn what the title means and see a redemption in Charlie. The ending was heartwarming.
I have read another book by Charles Martin that I thoroughly enjoyed...UNWRITTEN. 4/5
This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.
Charlie played poker, went to Harvard, had a job that paid well but was a job that cost him the woman he loved, and then had another job that gave him a family but also danger.
WATER FROM MY HEART was a bit confusing
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at first because more than one story was going on. It started to come together around Page 100 or so.We follow Charlie as WATER FROM MY HEART goes back and forth from past to present. I liked Charlie despite some of the things he did in his life and despite the decisions he made that ruined lives as well as saved and touched lives.
WATER FROM MY HEART was a book about loss, life, decisions, and regrets.
You will learn what the title means and see a redemption in Charlie. The ending was heartwarming.
I have read another book by Charles Martin that I thoroughly enjoyed...UNWRITTEN. 4/5
This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.
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LibraryThing member BrendaKlaassen
This book was written by one of my favorite authors. This book was full of emotions and some mystery. The writing style was smooth and it just made the reader want to continue to read. I really enjoyed the descriptions of physical Nicaragua and how the author made the characters true-to-life in
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Nicaragua. I do look forward to enjoying more of this author's writing in the future. Show Less
LibraryThing member wrbinpa
I’m definitely in the minority on this one. It was obvious from the get-go that this book and I were not a good fit, and I didn’t feel particularly satisfied at the conclusion. I found the plot drawn out, especially the first half, and the story-line a bit incredulous. I had to work to get
On a positive note – there were some powerful scenes with rather intense drama. I was very moved by the scene between Shelly and Charlie on the beach. There was also a message of hope and redemption, and a romance and relationships that tie it all together.
I’m a big fan of this author, but this one just failed to pull me in. My rating – 3.5 stars.
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through this one --- cumbersome and plodding with the plot shifting from past to present.On a positive note – there were some powerful scenes with rather intense drama. I was very moved by the scene between Shelly and Charlie on the beach. There was also a message of hope and redemption, and a romance and relationships that tie it all together.
I’m a big fan of this author, but this one just failed to pull me in. My rating – 3.5 stars.
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LibraryThing member Harley0326
I always enjoy reading books from this author. I have come to love his writing style. It is very poignant and descriptive. He does an excellent job of developing his characters and allowing the reader to feel the emotions . The places he writes about come alive with the picturesque style he is well
Charlie will take an adventure to find someone important to him, but along the way he revisits old hurts that will stir great emotion in him and guide him to a place of comfort and healing. It isn't easy to let go of your past, to be able to forgive yourself for the hurt you have caused others. As the character goes deeper into his journey, his walk will be heavy at times. I loved how the book reminded me that we cannot change our past, but we can make our future better. Letting go of things that have held us emotionally captive is hard but well worth the reward. To be free of something that has defined you negatively for so long is life changing. I loved the way the author also shared something personal at the end of the book. This is one book you will not be able to put down. The story will be one that will stay with readers long after the last page has been read.
I received a copy of this book from the Goodreads Free Giveaway for an honest review.
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versed in. Whatever topic the book is about is handled with real precision and he holds nothing back. This is another great book that takes you for a journey of self discovery for the main character who at times seems to focus on his flaws a bit much. Charlie will take an adventure to find someone important to him, but along the way he revisits old hurts that will stir great emotion in him and guide him to a place of comfort and healing. It isn't easy to let go of your past, to be able to forgive yourself for the hurt you have caused others. As the character goes deeper into his journey, his walk will be heavy at times. I loved how the book reminded me that we cannot change our past, but we can make our future better. Letting go of things that have held us emotionally captive is hard but well worth the reward. To be free of something that has defined you negatively for so long is life changing. I loved the way the author also shared something personal at the end of the book. This is one book you will not be able to put down. The story will be one that will stay with readers long after the last page has been read.
I received a copy of this book from the Goodreads Free Giveaway for an honest review.
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LibraryThing member vintagebeckie
Charles Martin’s latest book, Water from My Heart, is a prime example of why I return again and again to this talented author. Finely crafted and told from the first person perspective of the main character, this novel takes the reader on a journey of moral and spiritual growth. I loved this book
Charlie Finn is a man without a moral compass. From childhood he has been allowed and even encouraged to do what it takes to make money and to survive. From selling dope in high school, to playing poker in college and then legal plundering in corporate life, Charlie is never satisfied with the payoff. Living an island dream and helping to run a boutique drug organization, Charlie is finally confronted with the consequences of his choices. When he crosses paths with a woman who lives a life of integrity and compassion, Charlie wonders if he can ever be redeemed.
Charlie is an extremely complex character. Despite his many flaws, I connected with him immediately. A lost soul desperate to find meaning, his drifting through life is not so different from many people. As he tells his story through present time action and past recollections, the reader sees the struggles, the guilt and the longing that Charlie endures. As in all of Martin’s novels, secondary characters are well-developed and provide great compliments to the story. Rich description brings the setting to life. And the overall theme of redemption is naturally woven throughout the book.
Highly Recommended.
Audience: adults.
Great for Book Clubs.
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and really look forward to discussing it with my book club.Charlie Finn is a man without a moral compass. From childhood he has been allowed and even encouraged to do what it takes to make money and to survive. From selling dope in high school, to playing poker in college and then legal plundering in corporate life, Charlie is never satisfied with the payoff. Living an island dream and helping to run a boutique drug organization, Charlie is finally confronted with the consequences of his choices. When he crosses paths with a woman who lives a life of integrity and compassion, Charlie wonders if he can ever be redeemed.
Charlie is an extremely complex character. Despite his many flaws, I connected with him immediately. A lost soul desperate to find meaning, his drifting through life is not so different from many people. As he tells his story through present time action and past recollections, the reader sees the struggles, the guilt and the longing that Charlie endures. As in all of Martin’s novels, secondary characters are well-developed and provide great compliments to the story. Rich description brings the setting to life. And the overall theme of redemption is naturally woven throughout the book.
Highly Recommended.
Audience: adults.
Great for Book Clubs.
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LibraryThing member onionprincess
First book I ever read of his....and I have then read every one he has written since!
LibraryThing member caslater83
I've always loved Charles Martin's work, but this book didn't intrigue me like his other books did. I'm planning to keep the book and re-read it again in a few months. I'm hoping that I'm just "in a funk" because I know this man has the right chops!
LibraryThing member whitreidtan
Book clubs can make you go outside of your usual reading choices. This can be wonderful, allowing you to discover books that you would never have chosen on your own. There are several books I have found this way that I am the richer for having read. But just as you can find amazing books, you can
Charlie Finn is a drug runner. His childhood was terrible but he managed to overcome it and go to Harvard. Incredibly smart and successful, he ends up working for his wealthy girlfriend's father, a man with very little conscience. In his role in this hedge fund, he manages to buy a coffee plantation in Nicaragua, completely destroying the people who live and work there without a second thought. After realizing that Marshall, his boss/potential father-in-law, doesn't think he's good enough for daddy's little girl, he quits his job and bums around Miami until meeting his new best friend Colin, another fabulously rich person. He ends up working for Colin as a drug runner. Despite his unsavory job, he's a really good guy, a part of Colin's family, close with his children, and engaged to a lovely doctor. But then things go horribly wrong. Colin's son Zaul ends up on the run from bad guys. Maria, Colin's young daughter, is badly injured when Zaul's gambling buddies try to collect from him. And Shelly, Charlie's doctor fiance, dumps him because he's lied to her about his life. The only way that Charlie can begin to make good on everything he's done wrong is to go after Zaul and save him for Colin. As he tracks Zaul down to Central America, he meets Leena, her daughter Isabella, and the people of a small Nicaraguan town, who give him yet another chance to redeem himself and allow good to triumph.
The theme of redemption is very strong and Charlie is given every opportunity to right all his wrongs. If his conscience so much as pricks him, he is given the opportunity to fix it. All of the characters here are one-dimensional and the plot, outlandish just in summary, is given over with ridiculous coincidences. Martin draws all of the poor people Charlie comes across as uniformly noble and good. Everyone, good and bad, reaps what he/she sows in this novel. It might be nice if life actually worked this way but it doesn't. Nuance and realism are missing entirely in the telling of this tale. Add the unrealistic outcomes of every character's story line to the sloppy, oftentimes hokey writing and this is a treacly mess.e
Because this was a book club book, I was taking notes on it but had to stop when I realized that noting each and every inconsistency (Charlie spends weeks in Nicaragua--and not with ex-pats either--and never learns any Spanish? If he's able to conduct all the business which he's flown down for remotely, why on earth did he need to fly down at all? Leena can figure out what the US company did to ruin her father but didn't know a bank could call in a loan? Massive mudslides destroy just about everything in the area but the coffee and mangoes survive because they are too vital to the plot to wipe out? A 5 gallon bucket is large enough to carry a chunk of rock that has entombed two intertwined people? For that matter, the mud that entombed them has become rock in less than two decades? And so on.) was just making me angrier and angrier at the time it was taking to read this book. Perhaps there was a seed of something there since so many other people have loved this book (although not in my book club, I feel compelled to add) but the writing was poor, cliched, and heavy-handed and I just couldn't get beyond that.
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also find duds. It's definitely a disappointment when the latter happens rather than the former, but it is a risk you take when you allow others to direct your reading for you. Charles Martin's Water From My Heart was, unfortunately, one of those disappointments although the group had quite a time teasing out all of our frustrations with the novel.Charlie Finn is a drug runner. His childhood was terrible but he managed to overcome it and go to Harvard. Incredibly smart and successful, he ends up working for his wealthy girlfriend's father, a man with very little conscience. In his role in this hedge fund, he manages to buy a coffee plantation in Nicaragua, completely destroying the people who live and work there without a second thought. After realizing that Marshall, his boss/potential father-in-law, doesn't think he's good enough for daddy's little girl, he quits his job and bums around Miami until meeting his new best friend Colin, another fabulously rich person. He ends up working for Colin as a drug runner. Despite his unsavory job, he's a really good guy, a part of Colin's family, close with his children, and engaged to a lovely doctor. But then things go horribly wrong. Colin's son Zaul ends up on the run from bad guys. Maria, Colin's young daughter, is badly injured when Zaul's gambling buddies try to collect from him. And Shelly, Charlie's doctor fiance, dumps him because he's lied to her about his life. The only way that Charlie can begin to make good on everything he's done wrong is to go after Zaul and save him for Colin. As he tracks Zaul down to Central America, he meets Leena, her daughter Isabella, and the people of a small Nicaraguan town, who give him yet another chance to redeem himself and allow good to triumph.
The theme of redemption is very strong and Charlie is given every opportunity to right all his wrongs. If his conscience so much as pricks him, he is given the opportunity to fix it. All of the characters here are one-dimensional and the plot, outlandish just in summary, is given over with ridiculous coincidences. Martin draws all of the poor people Charlie comes across as uniformly noble and good. Everyone, good and bad, reaps what he/she sows in this novel. It might be nice if life actually worked this way but it doesn't. Nuance and realism are missing entirely in the telling of this tale. Add the unrealistic outcomes of every character's story line to the sloppy, oftentimes hokey writing and this is a treacly mess.e
Because this was a book club book, I was taking notes on it but had to stop when I realized that noting each and every inconsistency (Charlie spends weeks in Nicaragua--and not with ex-pats either--and never learns any Spanish? If he's able to conduct all the business which he's flown down for remotely, why on earth did he need to fly down at all? Leena can figure out what the US company did to ruin her father but didn't know a bank could call in a loan? Massive mudslides destroy just about everything in the area but the coffee and mangoes survive because they are too vital to the plot to wipe out? A 5 gallon bucket is large enough to carry a chunk of rock that has entombed two intertwined people? For that matter, the mud that entombed them has become rock in less than two decades? And so on.) was just making me angrier and angrier at the time it was taking to read this book. Perhaps there was a seed of something there since so many other people have loved this book (although not in my book club, I feel compelled to add) but the writing was poor, cliched, and heavy-handed and I just couldn't get beyond that.
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LibraryThing member PamelaBarrett
I’ve read most of what Charles Martin has written, but not this one so I was happy to find it at my local Library. Then I started reading it and my happy turned to uh oh because this book took me back to a place in my twenties that I didn’t want to revisit. If you read my memoir about the drug
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world you’d know why. This story is so perfectly told that I wondered where he got his info from? The main character Charlie is smart, handsome, and perceptive about other people and their motives and faults and he uses that to get what he wants to survive. He’s aware enough to realize he’s not motivated by money. He’s liking the game, the adrenalin rush and this leads him eventually into illegal activities like drug running. He’s always one step ahead, not letting many people in, or really opening his heart to love. But when he stops long enough, there’s this part of him that breaks through and lets him know there are consequences to his actions and that other people are getting hurt. As that part of him gets louder he starts opening his heart to a few people in his life especially two children who love and look up to him. When they get hurt he ends up searching for one of them in Nicaragua and comes face to face with the damage he has caused. This book asks the question is there hope when you can’t undo the wrong you caused? Show Less