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Title: After River
Author: Donna Milner
Narrator: Patricia Rodriguez
Format: Abridged
Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
Language: English
Release date: 04-22-08
Publisher: Quercus Publishing Ltd
Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary
Publisher's Summary:
But Natalie began to question her family's idyllic existence the summer she turned 15. The arrival of a soft-spoken stranger, an American draft-dodger called River, would test the morals and beliefs of the family and the community to the breaking point. The series of events following that summer day would leave relationships shattered and the Ward family changed forever.
A truly compelling writer that has been compared to Anita Shreve, Donna Milner has delivered not just a love story, but a poignant and deeply moving account of how war and conflict can devastate lives across generations. Read with tenderness and verve by Patricia Rodriguez, this audiobook will appeal to women of all ages.
Members Reviews:
Sappy, contrived
This is a book that held such promise - a small dairy farm in British Columbia near the US Border. It's 1966. A stranger comes to the farm to work, a young man against the Vietnam war, fleeing the draft. He's a charmer; everyone seems to fall in love with him, not just Natalie, the 15 year-old daughter, but EVeryone.
The story is told by an adult Natalie, thirty-some years later, trying to sort out how her family was so badly broken by the events of that summer of '66 and the two years following. There is a lot of stuff in here about very dysfunctional families, innocence lost, rape, acts of hate and intolerance, pregnancies out of wedlock, a myriad of misunderstandings. Geeze, what a tangled web we weave. And all these elements should have made for a really gripping story. But instead the narrative seems to lumber along in jerky starts, stops, and flashbacks. And as it nears its conclusion it just gets sappier and syrupy-er (is that a word?) and more and more unbelievable in its determination to make everyone live happily ever after (except for one particularly despicable villain). I can't believe I kept on reading to that highly unlikely and sappy end. But I did, and it left me feeling kinda suckered and dumb.
This is a book for women who like romances with clearly defined villains and persevering heroines. It's not that the writing is bad, it's just that the story becomes much too contrived and, well, sappy. Too Hallmark, if you will, or maybe Lifetime even. Nope.
- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER
Engrossing novel with a unique perspective
Written from the perspective of a Canadian farm girl, the novel is a unique perspective on the Vietnam war era. The plot is well paced and the characters well developed.
Poignant
A sensitive, well-crafted narrative, by a writer who knows. She takes you to a place and time almost forgotten. Bon voyage.
Five Stars
Beautiful story. Reminds me of Kent Haruf books.
A stirring story of a family in rural Canada who ...
A stirring story of a family in rural Canada whose lives are changed forever by the arrival of a young man. He impacted every member of the family in many different ways. The characters are well defined and I became very involved in how each family member survived after River.:
