Peace Like a River
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Peace Like a River, the latest novel from acclaimed Southern writer Scott Gould, weaves a lyrical and heartwarming tale of fathers, sons, and grandfathers, and the intricate bonds that define them. Sixty-something Elwin McClennon returns to the hometown in Lowcountry South Carolina— and the dying father— he fled fifteen years before. Accompanied by Thom, his odd and precocious thirteen-year-old son, Elwin embarks on a journey to reconcile with his father, and their complicated pasts, along the banks of the syrup-slow Black River. A captivating exploration of forgiveness, redemption, and the enduring bonds of family, Peace Like a River invites readers into a world where love and loss intersect with the healing power of nature and introspection.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This piquant outing from Gould (The Hammerhead Chronicles) examines the fraught but loving relationships among a father, son, and grandson. When retired English teacher and part-time shoe salesman Elwin learns his father is dying, he returns to the tiny river town of Kingstree in the South Carolina Lowcountry for the first time since his mother's funeral 15 years earlier. He's accompanied by his precocious 13-year-old son Thom, the product of a one-night stand with Roma, 25 years Elwin's junior, with whom he shares custody. Back in town, Elwin strikes up a tentative rapprochement with "the Old Man," whom he's resented for quickly moving on from his mother's death by taking up with the woman next door. Thom, meanwhile, develops a sweet romance with the bookish daughter of the perpetually stoned owner of the motel where he and Elwin are staying. Gould's sly sense of humor and talent for old-fashioned storytelling keep the narrative flowing briskly along over an eventful few days, as a death takes place, a boat overturns, a snakebite threatens a life, Roma unexpectedly shows up, and Elwin contends with the past. It's a rewarding slice of life.
