Book Buzz: The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb

southernbooklady

10 months ago

There’s a part in the novel when [the protagonist] Corby says he thinks that women are just stronger than men because it’s women who come and visit the prisoners. Whether they are grandmothers who are taking care of the kids and wearing their convalescent home pinafores, girlfriends, or so forth—it’s women who show up. That was my experience when I would go to visit our son. Often, I’d be one of the few men who went into the visiting room; usually, it was another father. And sometimes I would be the only guy in the visiting room. I don’t think it’s because men are necessarily cold. They don’t necessarily detach from loved ones who are male. I think so many of men’s problems come down to fear. It’s not that women don’t live with fear, but that they can more easily voice that fear.

― Wally Lamb, Interview, Oprah Daily

What booksellers are saying about The River is Waiting

The gut punch near the end of this book is almost visceral, even when your suspicions have been aroused, as the story progresses. How can so much love among people lead to so much tragedy? Earned redemption is not guaranteed. Lamb’s slow burn sets the perfect tone for this pre-Pandemic family story.
― Doloris Vest, Book No Further in Roanoke, Virginia | BUY
Wally Lamb ripped my heart out early on — and then did it again and again. This novel is layered and intense, exploring addiction, prison, and the fallout from one devastating choice. I couldn’t stop reading—I had to know how Corby and his family could survive the wreckage of what he did. Heart-wrenching and unforgettable.
― Serena Wyckoff, Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda, Florida | BUY
I haven’t stopped thinking about this book, and I finished it more than a week ago. It is a propulsive story about choices, forgiveness, justice, and fairness. There is so much to consider and discuss. A fantastic read for anyone, but this one is a great choice for a book club willing to delve into complicated issues.
― Christina Tabereaux, The Snail on the Wall in Huntsville, Alabama | BUY
Wally Lamb has written another masterpiece! Authentic and moving, this book hits at the bone of mass incarceration and the stigma of addiction. Hope and friendship abide, however, and the reader is left to ponder grief and guilt, innocence and forgiveness.
― Caylee Wilson, Midtown Reader in Tallahassee, Florida | BUY

About Wally Lamb

Wally Lamb is the author of six New York Times bestselling novels: I’ll Take You There, We Are Water, Wishin’ and Hopin’, The Hour I First Believed, I Know This Much Is True, and She’s Come Undone. Lamb also edited Couldn’t Keep It to Myself and I’ll Fly Away, two volumes of essays from students in his writing workshop at York Correctional Institution, a women’s prison in Connecticut, where he was a volunteer facilitator for twenty years. Lamb lives in Connecticut with his wife, Christine, and they have three sons..

Share: