A bit twee for my tastes, but It had some nice moments and I appreciated the originality of the premise.

Bitter Water Opera was an education on so many levels. It took me awhile to understand where we were headed. This was a read that smacked me upside the head AFTER I was done.

First and foremost, and the last thing I understood (as I am often not the brightest bulb in the pack), this is a book about finding faith again.

Next, this is a book about losing hope, but having enough rebellion to keep exploring options far removed from that which stole it away. Escaping.

and Next to Last, this is a book about Marta Becket. More particularly her spirit. A ghost. A mentoring ghost in her body's last and best residence - Amargosa Opera House.

Lastly, this is about epiphanies. The big ones. The turn your life around ones.

NOW, just a little tip: before you read this book look up Amargosa Opera House - find the movie, and there are a handful of YouTubes, or just google it. You will get the cover, it will blow open all the doors of this read. I'd never heard of Marta or Amargosa Opera House. Discovering this woman and her amazing life worked like a rosetta stone for me, and the read melted into me once I'd done this groundwork. I'm now reading Marta's autobiography, To Dance On Sands.

Bottomline, this is a book about Gia - every girl - no, every human - who's had hard things happen and has lost their hope. Still they keep moving, keep reading, keep observing, keeping that internal conversation open and honest. . .and like Marta, find their moment, their peek through a dusty window into what can be theirs if they move forward. . .

I count this as one of the best books I've read this year. I'll be thinking about it for a long time. Thank you, Nicolette Polek, for the musical sentences, that moment washed in light, and for Marta.

*A sincere thank you to Nicolette Polek, Graywolf Press, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.* #BitterWaterOpera #NetGalley

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for early access to this title in exchange for my honest thoughts!

Overall, I can say I can see what the author’s intent was with creating this story and I have to give major kudos for that.

At times I found myself getting lost and not fully understanding what was being said and needing to reread things to get a grasp of what was being said. Towards the end however, I felt like I got the overall message intended with this book and I admired it.

A gem of a short book. It feels like you’re gliding on water or taking a ride on the wind. The stream of conscious writing works, and is profoundly lyrical.
We follow Gia, a woman who has just ended a long term relationship. She is lost, lonely, and desperately trying to find purpose. She connects with an artist who has passed, Marta. Through Marta and her local legacy, Gia begins to unravel the webs and plant seeds in fertile dirt to bloom.
Faith, preservation, seeing the beauty in the forgotten. This is a quiet book that allows you to meditate on your own life, your own limerence. Sometimes you just need to do the sitting dance and imagine all of the possibilities.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All of these thoughts and opinions are my own.

I so wanted to like this one but I struggled to get through its opening pages. I am still very thankful to the publisher, author, and netgalley for granting me advanced access to this one before publication day.

Bitter Water Opera is a short novel that follows narrator Gia after she writes a letter that summons Marta, the proprietor of the isolated Amagash Opera House whose story Gia has recently discovered and developed a deep interest in. Gia perceives Marta as a beacon who might guide her as she navigates what comes next after the end of a relationship and stepping away from her job. Gia takes a unique journey of self discovery through a solitary exploration of faith and a deep dive into the world of someone else who embarked on a similar journey.

I’m sure I don’t completely understand all that this small novel has to offer but nevertheless I was invested and moved by the experience of reading it. The prose is beautiful and the vignette style adds to the reading experience. There are so many places I appreciate the creativity Polek brings to the page. I hesitate to use the word quirky because I think it could be taken in a way that minimizes the work but in this context it is meant as praise and is one of the things I love most about this novel (lime green shoes!). The great line up of unique people Gia meets are the type of interesting and individualistic characters I love.

This novel offered a unique exploration of someone existing on the edge of a change, a transition, and how simultaneously terrifying and wonderful it is. Gia’s journey was a poetic portrayal of someone exploring their place in a world that is vast and of which someone is just a small part. What exists beyond ourselves, outside of ourselves that is big and beautiful.

Ultimately I believe this is a novel about finding faith and God, but the connection with something greater than oneself is so tied to the natural world I believe anyone can find deeper meaning in the exploration of faith Polek offers. The beauty of the world and all it contains and how it demonstrates over and over again how we are just part of something greater.

Thank you @graywolfpress @netgalley for the #gifted ARCs.

Ever since reading and loving several of Nicolette Polek’s stories, I have been eagerly awaiting her debut novel. “Bitter Water Opera” is the real deal. The language is lovely, the settings are beautiful and surreal. The mood changes from moment-to-moment. The narrative is fast moving, but begs to be read slowly, and then read again.

There are nods to historical fiction, nature and climate science, religion and mysticism.
The passages can be simultaneously dreamy and moody, eerie and sublime, clever and witty. There’s a story alongside deep messages. Above all, we get to meet a wise soul who is exercising human’s reason for being - an endless quest for truth.

Thank you to Graywolf Press and NetGalley. And special thanks to the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Clean Water Land & Legacy Act. Way to go to my birth state: Ski-U-Mah.

I loved Nicolette Polek's short story collection, and was so excited when I saw her debut novel announced---and it does not disappoint! It's a beautiful, strange (in the most complementary way!) novel that has a fable-like quality to it. But it's the prose that really shines. I thought of Marguerite Duras and Fleur Jeaggy. A delightful novel!

Thanks to the publisher for the e-galley!