The River Between Us

Sometimes, a book goes by decently well and yet it doesn't impact you as much as you had expected. This is one such book.

After the dissolution of her loveless marriage, 54 year old Theo moves into an old cottage on the banks of the river Tamar. Known as the Boatman’s Cottage, it provides Theo with the right opportunity to get away from her past pains and put her skills as a garden specialist to good use. During the course of her renovation work, she discovers an old bundle of letters, all addressed to “My Lady” and signed by “Z”. These letters are set around WWI, and talk of Z’s love for some upper class lady living in the nearby manor house. While Theo uses her contacts and the modern day technology to piece together the show more story of the unfortunate lovers, a parallel narrative takes us into the historical timeline and gives us a direct glimpse into who the lovers were and what happened to their romance.

Usually in a dual timeline book, I prefer the historical story to the contemporary one. This book is a rare exception as both the narratives have equal pros and cons.
- The contemporary narrative moves ahead smoothly. The writing in this section is almost atmospheric at times, what with the old house, gushing river, secret letters and lost loves. I was intrigued, impressed and annoyed by Theo. That makes her as real as a character can be. On the down side, the other characters are quite predictable and stereotypical. There’s hardly any other memorable character in this timeline.
- In the historical narrative, what works fabulously are the characters. Every single character, whether main or secondary, is pretty well-formed and their struggles are depicted wonderfully. The main female character is a woman beyond her times as she loves fishing, swims nude in the river when it catches her fancy, endorses women’s right to vote, and is very clear about not wanting to marry. But the flip side is that you struggle to remember who’s who, especially if you are listening to the book. There are too many characters to keep track of. Plus, the detailed description of physical desire in this narrative turned me off. (Kind of ironic, if you think about it!)

The link between both the timelines goes much beyond the letters and everything is tied together a little too neatly at the end. The writing in the last 25% of the book is repetitive and contained too many coincidences to be believable. The resultant family tree is a complicated and convoluted one where almost every main character is related to another! I struggled to keep track of the network of relationships in the audio version. This is a book where a family tree would have worked wonders but wouldn’t be feasible because a part of the mystery was to figure out the interconnectedness between the characters.

One point that worked well in the book for me was the abundance of themes covered in the historical narrative: class distinctions, women’s rights, same-sex relationships, universal suffrage, marrying for titles and status rather than love… All are blended seamlessly into the narrative without overburdening the reader. Just like a river, the story progresses at its own sweet time. The historical narrative especially takes a long time to establish itself. But the writing is beautiful so the slow pace shouldn’t deter. Fenwick brings Cornwall and Devon to life with her picturesque words. This is one of the few books where the author does complete justice to the locations by incorporating them into the storyline rather than only mentioning them when suitable.

The audiobook was narrated by Lucy Scott and she does complete justice to the characters. Her narration is perfect. At the same time, there is a big disadvantage to the audiobook in that you will find the number of characters in the historical timelines overwhelming and tough to keep track of. I would recommend the audio version only to seasoned audiobook listeners. But the book is certainly worth a try for lovers of this genre.

Thank you, NetGalley and HarperCollins UK Audio, for the audio ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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What a wonderful book! It combines my love of romance, history, Cornwall, and genealogy into a delicious brew of a story. Theo buys a cottage on the Devon/Cornwall line after her divorce. It needs fixing up but she's up to the task. She discovers many fascinating links to her own family.
The story goes back and forth between the present time of Theo and 1914 when Lady Alice is sent in disgrace to the family home at Abbottswood because of her suffragist actions. Alice is a fascinating character, headstrong but determined not to live the life her family is forcing her into. There's nothing to do but fish but the young gillie Zach is handsome and willing to accommodate her.
Meanwhile, Theo is exploring her own links to the past as she show more settles into the cottage where Zach once lived. The family links can be confusing though it straightens out as the story goes on, but I confess I peeked at the author's website where there's a handy family tree.
I loved the descriptions of Devon and Cornwall. The author does a nice job of describing flora and fauna, weaving them into the story seamlessly. I definitely have to explore more of her catalog. show less