A Place on the Water is a unique written novel. Instead of chapters, there are section headings. Some sections are only a sentence or two, especially in the beginning of the book. Some sections last for pages at a time. The novel is a journey of the near entire life of one woman, from her early childhood to her later years.

Julie lived on Hawaii during the bombings on Pearl Harbor. She was about seven at the time, during this time she saw people being bombed down, was rapped by her brother and his friend, and had to live with marshal law. It was all told nearly without emotion. The novel continues to document the life of Julie. She had a life of a lot of sorrow, and some joy. Yet, it was all told without passion. I think part of this has to do with the short blocky sections. A lot has to do with covering so much of one life, without really any focus. The end of the book was the best. It was here that Julie really became a person, although she is still missing a lot of depth.

The writing itself was good, the editing was fine, and the plot would have been fascinating told from another vantage point. The book did not reach its potential at all, yet for all of that, it is not a bad book. It is just not as good as it could have been.