THE RIVER. Tricia Wastvedt.
Think of all those wonderful connotations of Devon with rivers meandering through tranquil countryside. Carnaldip, like Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford seems to be a sleepy and peaceful setting surrounded by natural beauty and charm. Superficial and under the surface like the strong undercurrent in the river, there is constant danger lurking. It is destructive and violent.
Now consider the impact this has on the lives of the locals-characters we come to know intimately-all of them hoarding secrets, pain and suffering. Anna has escaped fom London, ended her relationship, pregnant. She walks blindly and naively into a minefield with predictably devastating consequences.
The River is Wastvedt's first novel published in 2004. Like the river, the story races and meanders through 40 years from 1946-1987 and hovers like the demon from hell in 1958 and 1987, two significant years. Just like the tide that ebbs and flows to and fro, the novel parallels this-an interesting and unusual structure-a bit confusing at first but once you get into the rhythm you will see the author's purpose, covering new ground by returning to the same time zone and giving you a different perspective.
The opening is dramatic with the tragic drowning of Jack and Catherine. Isabel, their mother has never fully recovered and the novel chronicles how, three decades on, she loses touch with reality and plunges into a world of insanity.
Starling and Gatty seem sexually precocious girls, both disillusioned and full of hatred. Their lives seem empty and uneventful. Josef represents the Gabriel Oak of Hardy's world, solid and reliable but sexually immature, a man who wears his heart on his sleeve.
Everyone gets hurt, everyone loses but there are survivors at a cost. Worth a read.
Publisher: QPD ISBN: 0-000001-283709
COPYRIGHT 2012. PERMISSION TO USE THIS REVIEW MUST BE OBTAINED FROM THE AUTHOR.
Now consider the impact this has on the lives of the locals-characters we come to know intimately-all of them hoarding secrets, pain and suffering. Anna has escaped fom London, ended her relationship, pregnant. She walks blindly and naively into a minefield with predictably devastating consequences.
The River is Wastvedt's first novel published in 2004. Like the river, the story races and meanders through 40 years from 1946-1987 and hovers like the demon from hell in 1958 and 1987, two significant years. Just like the tide that ebbs and flows to and fro, the novel parallels this-an interesting and unusual structure-a bit confusing at first but once you get into the rhythm you will see the author's purpose, covering new ground by returning to the same time zone and giving you a different perspective.
The opening is dramatic with the tragic drowning of Jack and Catherine. Isabel, their mother has never fully recovered and the novel chronicles how, three decades on, she loses touch with reality and plunges into a world of insanity.
Starling and Gatty seem sexually precocious girls, both disillusioned and full of hatred. Their lives seem empty and uneventful. Josef represents the Gabriel Oak of Hardy's world, solid and reliable but sexually immature, a man who wears his heart on his sleeve.
Everyone gets hurt, everyone loses but there are survivors at a cost. Worth a read.
Publisher: QPD ISBN: 0-000001-283709
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