Where the Forest Meets the River
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A SEPTEMBER 2024 INDIE NEXT PICK
Return to Dalton as Shannon Bowring draws another stunningly human portrait of small town America.
It’s been five years since Bridget Theroux’s death shocked the small town of Dalton, Maine, leaving behind husband Nate and daughter Sophie, now a vibrant young child. Nate doesn’t always know how to answer her questions, but he is intent on raising her with joy—and shielding her from her grandmother, Annette, who remains dangerously locked away in her grief.
After his first year away at college, Greg Fortin is back in town for the summer to work at the family store. It’s expected he'll take over the hardware business eventually, but finding the words to tell them no—and the truth about who he is—has become his own Everest. Rose’s abusive ex, Tommy finally disappeared a few years ago, though sometimes his presence in the eyes of her oldest son unnerves her. She and Nate are finding themselves drawn together by their children’s playdates, and into a delicate balance between friendship and the possibility of more.
And Trudy and Bev, always so sure of their love for each other, find themselves rocked when Trudy’s husband Richard suffers a heart attack, bringing into focus all the guilt she has felt about their empty marriage for years.
Shannon Bowring demonstrates once again that she understands exactly where the heart of a story lies. Where the Forest Meets the River is a poignant return to the small town of Dalton, whose inhabitants continue to startle and humble both themselves—and us.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bowring follows The Road to Dalton with another engrossing tale that tracks the residents of Dalton, Maine, as they wade through grief and interpersonal drama. It's 1995, five years after the suicide of Bridget Theroux, who dealt with postpartum depression in the previous novel. Bridget's widower, Nate, has left his job with the local police department for a less demanding gig at the lumber mill, to better raise the couple's five-year-old daughter, Sophie. Meanwhile, Nate's mother-in-law, Annette, deals with her addictions to shopping and alcohol, and his mother, Bev, who's carried on a long-running secret romance with Trudy, the library director, contends with the limits of Trudy's devotion as Trudy cares for her husband following his heart attack. Other plot threads are given equal weight but have less traction, among them the stories of bisexual college student Greg Fortin, who's expected to take over his family's hardware store but would rather pursue his interest in horticulture, and Rose, a single mom who's dodging her abusive ex-husband while building a friendship with Nate. Still, Bowring effectively conveys the ways in which Bridget's suicide reverberates in the characters' lives, reshaping their perceptions of love and death to a degree that disproves what a doctor tells Annette in an attempt to be comforting: "Suicide is just a moment." This slice of life cuts deep.
