Book description
"A magnificent novel."—The New Yorker
"This is a book to relish."—The Guardian
A woman moves to a London suburb near the River Lea, without knowing quite why or for how long. Over a series of long, solitary walks she reminisces about the rivers she has encountered during her life, from…
Why read it?
1 author picked River as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Like Milkman above, this was my favorite book the year I read it, and I plan to re-read it soon. It’s a quietly intense and lonely story, in first person, with an unnamed female narrator whose “family” is the community she lives in by a river in England.
She rarely deals directly with these people, though her interactions are generally described in retrospect, and, in a way, her constant observation and evaluation of her surroundings make the urban/industrial landscape part of her family, too.
Urban landscapes have been an important part of my life, too; they have shaped much of…
From Richard's list on The best books about family beyond blood ties.
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On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
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