The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb

[NotGerrysSneakyBeak]

Anyone read this! I’ve just finished & would love to talk about it with others who have read it.

I read it earlier this year.
It was a very thought provoking read for me. I gave it 5 stars, not because I enjoyed it as such, but because I couldn’t put it down and it’s a story that engaged me.

I agree - Corby annoyed me so much the way he seemed to feel sorry for himself & expecting forgiveness from his wife for something unforgivable, but then when I read he died, I cried harder than I think I’ve ever cried at a book as I realised that I’d wanted him to have forgiveness & a good life after all. Or at the very least, I didn’t want him to die.

@NotGerrysSneakyBeak I loved it and leant it to a friend and he loved it too.
I have enjoyed all of Lambs books pretty much, although the pedophile character in one knocked me sick.

He has done a lot of work in prisons and I think you could tell, it was plausible. I didn't have much sympathy for the character but that just made it more interesting. When covid came into it all it rang true as well, I think a lot of authors are shoehorning it in to seem current but obviously with everyone in a confined space it worked.

Wonder how many years it will be till the next one?

I’ve not read any of his other books, this was the first one - would you recommend them? Any in particular?

The easiest of the chunky novels is She's Come Undone, which romps along with lots of plot and great characters. It's sort of episodic and felt a bit like a film or soap opera, but not in a trashy way. The central character is a young girl who we follow as she moves from childhood to adulthood dealing with all sort of dramas and a number of traumas but also she behaves really badly at times (morally, she doesn't murder anyone!) So you are kept on your toes.

I Know This Much Is True has a similar feel to The River Is Waiting with a male protagonist dealing with institutions and the vulnerable (his twin brother is unwell with schizophrenia) and a sort of sub plot about their family history and ethnicity.

The Hour I First Believed is really rambling with a massive subplot where he is reading about a dead relative running a prison or something- that whole subplot could be ditched without much being lost but it does tie in with the main narrative. The main plot was great - it starts with a Columbine type incident and it's the aftermath of that we follow.

We Are Water has the pedophile character and my other main recollection is that a lot was set in the rich art world with characters I found unrelatable and didn't care about. That was the least engaging for me.

There's also really short one Wishin' and Hopin' set at Christmas with a child as the central character which is fun and enjoyable read but doesn't fit with the rest of his work.

That’s amazing, thank you!!