At the Water’s Edge by Sara Gruen | Summary & Analysis Preview: At Water’s Edge, a novel by Sara Gruen, takes place in the waning days of World War II. Maddie Hyde’s dissolute husband, Ellis, decides to search for the Loch Ness monster in Scotland. What Maddie learns there about lies, life, and love changes her forever. In 1942, Màiri Grant drowns herself in Loch Ness after her husband, Angus, is reported killed in action and her baby is stillborn. Only a headstone is left of the little family in Drumnadrochit, a village near the loch, or lake. Nearly three years later, Maddie arrives in Drumnadrochit with Ellis and his best friend Henry ‘Hank’ Winston Boyd. Ellis escaped military service because he is color blind, and Hank is flat-footed, leaving them free to carouse constantly with Maddie in tow. Ellis hugely disappointed his father, Colonel Whitney Hyde. Maddie is not sure whether his father thinks Ellis is lying to escape military service… PLEASE NOTE: This is a summary and analysis of the book and NOT the original book. Inside this Instaread Summary & Analysis of At the Water’s Edge Summary of book Introduction to the Important People in the book Analysis of the Themes and Author’s Style About the Author With Instaread, you can get the summary and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, summarize and analyze it for your convenience.