The Watering of Stones

A young woman named Ashley discovers her grandfather’s wooden trunk filled with hundreds of sepia photographs, books on the Panama Canal, and a wine-stained journal. Captivated by the materials and eager to alleviate feelings of isolation and loneliness, Ashley begins to record her family’s mythology, framing intertwined narratives of four generations. As she comes to know the stories of those who came before her—the regrets and heartaches, the achievements and joys—she finds comforting echoes of her own life.

The lives of Richard Stone, his wife, Ondre, and Richard’s younger brother, Theo, are refracted through the prism of American history. All three feel the effects of sweeping change in the nation. The death of an infant sister, the first baby born in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, irrevocably changes all remaining family members and their interactions with each other. The turbulent years of building the Panama Canal put distance between the brothers. All face war, disease, and personal agonies, and all grow as they triumph over each adversity.

In The Watering of Stones, the lives and generations of one family are swept up by the currents of change in a dynamic period of American history and illustrate the deteriorating effects of ambition, the elusive character of happiness, and the stab of unrequited love.