WHERE THE RIVER RUNS by Patti Callahan Henry
Patti Callahan Henry made her debut as a published novelist with LOSING THE MOON. That book was impressive enough to get her name recognized in literary circles. Now she comes forward with her second novel WHERE THE RIVER RUNS and it should bring her renown and popularity with readers.
WHERE THE RIVER RUNS focuses on Meridy McFadden, a young woman who grew up in the low country of South Carolina. At an early age Meridy knew herself, but when she was a senior in high school a tragic accident made her lose herself. Now as an adult she is trying to find herself. It is not an easy thing to do.
Meridy is married to a successful attorney and has a son who is in his freshman year of college. She has become a perfect Stepford wife, great looking but without an original thought. She does everything for the way it looks and has left the headstrong girl she once was firmly in her past.
One day Meridy gets a chance to go to her hometown for a visit. While there she bumps into her childhood friend, Tim. While getting reacquainted with him and others from her past she realizes that she has lost herself. Now she begins her search for her soul and her heart. She has lost them in the churning river of her life, but hopefully they can be reclaimed.
Patti Callahan Henry writes this story from her heart, and creates characters who reach out to us as we read. Meridy is caught up in finding the person she used to be, and most of us can relate to that situation. We, and she, get so caught up in the everyday business of being who and what we think we should be that we forget who we basically are. It's a common problem but it makes for a unique story. At least it does in the hands of a good storyteller like Henry.
Southern writers have a sweet melancholy inside them. It permeates every story they tell. Terry Kay has it. Anne Rivers Siddons has it. Pat Conroy definitely has it. It has become the defining trait of the great southern storytellers. Patti Callahan Henry has it.
WHERE THE RIVER RUNS soars and flows with Meridy's story. It is a story about a love lost and found. It is a story about a life lost and found. Most of all it is a story about being true to one's self.
Meridy's story will affect you and entertain you. It will touch your heart with its sweet melancholy, and it may just hold up a mirror to your own forgotten used to be you.
WHERE THE RIVER RUNS is published by NAL Accent. It contains 256 pages and sells for $12.95.