The River

By: Tricia Wastvedt

Narrated by: Kate Reading

During the summer of 1958 in the English village of Cameldip, two children drown while playing in a leaky boat on the river. Their parents, Isabel and Robert, are bound together in guilt and anger. Thirty years later, a young woman secretly pregnant and determined to make a new start for herself arrives in Cameldip. Taken in by Isabel, she slowly uncovers the secrets of the village's past and is inexorably drawn into the conflict.

A story of families, old secrets, and new beginnings, The River is a lyrical and haunting tale of betrayal, failure, love, and fortitude.

©2004 Tricia Wastvedt (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"A literary thriller that is atmospheric and surprising." (Booklist)
"Lovely, elegiac....[A] suspenseful, atmospheric story." (Publishers Weekly)

my favorite

I have read this book 5 times and listened about 9 times now. It's beautifully dark. Beautiful in general

The plot seemed promising but...

the writer couldn't seem to get any flow going, at least not to this reader. The central conflict is barely evident and instead the book becomes a series of situational vignettes. The characters are connected but only in a marginal and coincidental way and at one point I had to double check to see if this was not a book of short stories. I usually prefer introspection over plot development (althouth there needn't be a choice) but in "The River" there is neither. I wish I had given this one a pass.