Where the Forest Meets the River is a gorgeous, poignant drive through the sun and shadow of shared grief in small-town Maine. Shannon Bowring deftly brings to life a collection of characters as they struggle with the long-term impact of Bridget Theroux's death by suicide, which happened in Bowring's first novel, The Road to Dalton.
Bridget's widower, Nate, cares for their child. He's bowled over by the love and affection he feels for his daughter while he tries to navigate his own needs. His mother, Bev, is having a long, intimate affair with cantankerous librarian and gardener Trudy Haskell. Bowring's depiction of their relationship is as tender as it is multilayered: "Nearly twenty years since they met... and still neither is a whole person unless the other is right there beside her." But their bond is threatened when Trudy's husband has a heart attack.
Although this is a sequel, it absolutely stands on its own. Its pace is deliberate and thoughtful as Bowring takes the time to examine her characters' inner worlds with moving complexity and to vibrantly depict summer in northern Maine.
These are characters to love--memorable and vividly rendered in elegant, understated prose. It's a large cast, but each member is so distinctly crafted that they are impressively easy to track. Bowring's writing shines just as brightly in its admirably specific descriptions of nature and setting. Catbirds imitating other birdcalls and "a bench beneath the lone elm that survived the plague of the 70s"--these are the kinds of details that elevate a novel into a literary gem. --Carol Caley, writer