Review: The River Home

Title: The River Home

Author: Hannah Richell

Publisher: 25th February 2020 by Hachette Australia

Pages: 357 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: fiction, contemporary

My Rating: 5 cups

Synopsis:

The river can take you home. But the river can also drag you under... The new novel from bestselling author Hannah Richell. A wise and emotionally powerful story of a broken family and the courage it takes to heal.

The river can take you home. But the river can also drag you under...

'It's something she learned years ago - the hard way - and that she knows she will never forget: even the sweetest fruit will fall and rot into the earth, eventually. No matter how deep you bury the pain, the bones of it will rise up to haunt you ... like the echoes of a summer's night, like the river flowing relentlessly on its course.'

Margot Sorrell didn't want to go home. She had spent all her adult life trying not to look behind. But a text from her sister Lucy brought her back to Somerset. 'I need you.'

As Margot, Lucy and their eldest sister, Eve, reunite in the house they grew up in beside the river, the secrets they keep from each other, and from themselves, refuse to stay hidden. A wedding brings them together but long-simmering resentments threaten to tear the family apart. No one could imagine the way this gathering would change them all forever. And through the sorrow they are forced to confront, there is a chance that healing will also come. But only if the truth is told.

My Thoughts

“The memory brings an ache - nostalgia for the past, when everything felt so simple and uncomplicated, for a time when they didn’t have to let go of anything more weighty than dandelion seeds.”

I have been eagerly anticipating my first book of Hannah’s and I was not disappointed. The River Home is a story about family secrets, past and present, and the impact it has on the various members. With a strong focus on the three sisters, events slowly unravel over the course of the novel with far reaching ramifications. 

The story moves between past and present with Hannah masterfully moving all the puzzle pieces, slowly revealing the fallout from each of the various characters' interactions over the years. Can this dysfunctional family, broken apart through miscommunication and failure to be honest, heal itself? A story of several characters is easy to follow thanks to Hannah’s skill in writing - each being so real and their individual tale, as part of the whole, is seamlessly presented. Overall themes of tragedy and heartbreak make you wonder if they will each find their closure and be able to move on. The plot lines speak to the heart and you will reflect and ponder how you may have reacted when in such dire circumstances. 

What is so appealing about this novel when there are a plethora of books out there on dysfunctional families? It all comes down to how engaging Hannah's writing is. Her eloquent prose is engaging with its imagery and nuances to make it feel as if you are sitting at the kitchen table as events unfold - a spectator to both the joy and grief. Featured throughout is the river ... symbolic as it too winds its way through events with a role of its own to play.

“She would never, ever utter a word about what happened that night, down by the river.”

The River Home by Hannah Richell is an emotional mystery, filled with family drama -  from the long felt bitterness and resentment to the hope of a brighter future. 

“You’re not empty. You’re afraid. Let yourself feel. Let yourself feel it all. What’s the worst that could happen?”
“I’m afraid I will crack”.

“If you crack, perhaps you might start to heal?”

“What if I don’t? What if I break?”

``Then I will be here to hold the pieces.”

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.