Thaw is the story of Ruth who suffers from a deep-rooted depression. The depression may have started earlier when she was in an impressionable age, or if it were present already, it was made stronger with by her mother’s long illness and death.

Although Ruth puts up a good front, in her misery, she decides to kill herself. From that decision on, her life starts to change and good things begin to happen to her.

When Ruth ventures to have her portrait painted as a gift to her father, she meets the painter Red who can see through Ruth. Red’s background is Russian, and he is a sincere character with his own quirks. A romance follows between the two, but are Red’s love, compassion, and insight into Ruth strong enough to keep Ruth from the end she has decided for herself? That is the main question in the center of this plot.

I loved Ruth’s characterization and the way she is presented with precision. Ruth lacks self-esteem and her relationships with family and friends are not up to par. Being highly educated, however, she works as a microbiologist, is very good with money, and is compulsively neat with her housekeeping.

The secondary characters, Ruth’s father, his wife Julie, Ruth’s aunt Abbie, her friends Mary, Sara, and Zoë are also portrayed with acumen and knowledge of the writing craft.

The story is written in first person from Ruth’s point of view in splendid prose. The events follow one another smoothly, in a chronological fashion, unless when Ruth looks back into her life. The scenes are powerfully constructed and the story leaves a lasting impression at its end.

The only negative is the beginning hook. Several pages go on about Ruth’s indecision of writing her story or not, with “Shall I write or not?” being the repetitious idea. A reader who may not know about the depth of the story may stop right there, thinking that this is author’s own story and she is a novice writer who cannot bring herself to write. I understand why the author did this, which is to show Ruth’s indecision and lack of confidence, but this could stop readers from reading on.

On the other hand, this is a great book, and this author writes about pain in clear yet magnificent word choices, making the reader feel for Ruth in a profound way.

reading for insight.

the way the characters were portrayed fully and were presented with delicacy.

read more books by this author.

the pain of the protagonist.

Satya Robyn is a psychotherapist and a Pureland Buddhist priest, who runs the mindful writing company 'Writing Our Way Home,' which she co-founded with her husband Kaspa. She is the inventor of the short mindful writing form, 'small stones'.

Her books are: A Year of Questions: How to slow down and fall in love with life; The Most Beautiful Thing; Small Kindnesses; The Letters; A Blackbird Sings

It has an in-depth penetration into the psyche of a depressed person, and it is written splendidly all around.

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Created May 30, 2013 at 2:38pm • Submit your own review...