A review by pomoevareads
The River Is Waiting by Wally Lamb

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Corby Ledbetter is not a necessary likeable character. Father to 2 years old twins, husband to Emily, currently out of work, taking benzodiazepines to calm his anxiety, and mixing it will alcohol that he is hiding from his family, Corby is involved in a tragedy that will change his life forever and also mean a stint in prison. The River is Waiting asks if redemption and forgiveness are possible. 

I was so happy to have a new book by Wally Lamb after many years. This is my fifth book by this author and I mostly loved it. The flawed characters Lamb has written, the questions about the justice system and its purpose (punishment + rehabilitation), how trauma affects an individual and those around them, addiction and the addict, goodness, and the role of art.

This author has been a volunteer teacher at a women’s prison for 20 years and has personal experience with alcohol abuse and having a family member in prison. This gives the book an authenticity that another writer might not achieve. Corby, as a main character, comes across as privileged and querulous and thus may irritate some readers but that doesn’t make him any less ‘real.’ The question of whether his crime is unforgivable is an interesting one and I really like the way Lamb handled how the other characters approached this question. No hard and fast answer to this dilemma is given. 

The structure of the heft of the novel is the countdown to Corby’s release date. I never felt this dragged and found myself very engaged in the goings on within the prison and his special relationship with a librarian at the prison. With the exception of one chapter, we get his wife’s POV only through his eyes. We see how Corby is able to both make judgements in regard to how she reacts to the situation, and how he makes efforts to see things from her point of view. 

The ending is not wrapped up neatly so if you like your reads to be HEAs or perfect, this isn’t it. I appreciated that.

A half star has been subtracted for use of racist slurs by a white man. It only happens in one section but shouldn’t have happened IMO. Check my StoryGraph for TW.
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