Brutal.  Timely.  Impactful.

 

I finished this book last night and still feel completely raw.  My soul aches. 

 

Who are we?  Are we defined by one moment in time or the sum of our deeds?  Does all good become void in the shadow of a life-altering mistake?  Are all mistakes forgivable?  Justice or punishment?  

 

Those are some of the many questions I’ve ruminated on since finishing The River is Waiting. 

 

The storyline follows Corby, a dad incarcerated following a tragic accident, on a journey through guilt and grief.  It’s a fight for survival and forgiveness.  It’s a look at a life scarred by one horrendous moment in time that begs the question as to whether a person can be both deeply flawed yet innately good.  It’s a rich portrait of a fully complex character. 

 

As this book unfurled, I became keenly aware that the narrative felt deeply personal to Lamb, who volunteered at a correctional facility for two decades.  The writing is intimate and honest.  But with the narrative hard to stomach, I often found myself mired in the slowness of the plot.  There was a lot of layering that felt important and impactful.  And yet, at nearly 500 pages, a better edit could’ve helped the pace and kept me more engaged in the middle section.  But what to cut...?

 

Most importantly, Lamb provides a necessary reflection on how we view other people— who we willingly seek justice for verses who we judge; who we willingly extend empathy to verses who we refuse to see as human; who we allow to make mistakes verses who we sternly expect more of; and who we choose to SEE verses who we choose to overlook.  

 

I am so thankful that @rachelllovesbooks and I read this one together.  I desperately needed to unpack the range of emotion I felt after finishing this book.  

 

The River is Waiting will stay with me for some time.  It’s deeply impactful and a necessary reminder that we are all more than the boxes or labels we get assigned.  

 

 Many thanks to my friends at @marysueruccibooks for the free #gifted copy.  #partner