The River
By (Author) Alessandro Sanna
Translated by Michael Reynolds
Enchanted Lion Books
Enchanted Lion Books
6th March 2014
United States
Children
Fiction
741.5
Hardback
110
708g
Tricia Wastvedt's debut novel, met with critical acclaim in England, is a hypnotically readable portrait of a community scarred, but eventually reawakened, by its grief. Two children drown during the summer of 1958 in the English village of Cameldip. Their parents, Isabel and Robert, are bound together in guilt and anger, and as the years pass, the tragedy weaves itself into the invisible fabric of village life.
Robert, finding solace in labor, builds several tree houses that transform the look of the town, and as the years pass the structures grow entwined with other houses. It is thirty years after the tragedy when Anna, a young pregnant woman escaping her life in London, arrives in Cameldip and is taken in by Isabel. As Anna slowly uncovers the secrets of the town's past, she becomes inexorably drawn into the conflict in which Isabel and Robert have been locked for three decades. A story of families, old scars, and new beginnings, The River is a lyrical and haunting tale of betrayal, failure, love, and fortitude.
"Along the lines of Blexbolex's Seasons (2010), an immersive visual experience that richly rewards patient attention." -- STARRED REVIEW, Kirkus Reviews
Alessandro Sanna lives in Italy. He is a prolific, popular creator of illustrated books for children and readers of all ages.