Review: The River We Remember (by William Kent Krueger)

My Rating:  4.5 stars

I loved William Kent Krueger's previous stand- alone novel This Tender Land and since finishing that book, I've been highly anticipating his next one for some time. Though he did release 2 Cork O'Connor novels in between, I hadn't started reading that series yet, so I didn't read those 2 when they came out (I'm very particular when it comes to book series and prefer to start from the first book as much as possible).  Of course, it should come as no surprise then, that when I heard his newest novel, The River We Remember, would be another standalone, I knew I had to read it as soon as possible.  I'm happy to say that the wait was well worth it, as Krueger gives us another poignant, atmospheric, multi-layered story with complex, nuanced characters.  In the Editor's Letter at the beginning of the novel, Krueger's editor Peter Borland introduces the book this way:  "This is a spellbinding novel that asks big questions about justice, redemption, and the fragile ties that bind a community together. In this book more than any of his others, Kent shows us that heroes have flaws, villains have virtues, and our lives are made better when we can feel compassion instead of hatred for our enemies."  Such a fitting description that perfectly encapsulates this brilliantly-written story!

The story starts on Memorial Day 1958, in a small town called Jewel, located in Black Earth County, Minnesota, where the Alabaster River "runs seventy miles before crossing the border into Iowa."   When the body of Jimmy Quinn, the richest man in the county who also owns most of the land in the area, is found in said river, it sets off a series of events that profoundly changes this small rural community. The gruesome death triggers an investigation by the town's local sheriff Brody Dern (who is also the story's main protagonist).  As we follow the investigation that forms the "mystery" at the heart of the story, we soon come to understand that the narrative is actually much more complicated than what we initially thought.  In essence, this story is an exploration of life in a small, tight-knit community where things are never as simple as they seem and one event can cause underlying tensions to rise to the surface. Krueger covers a lot of ground here in terms of bringing to light many of the issues in society — such as the deep-seated prejudices resulting from the lingering effects of war, the country's history of mistreatment toward Native Americans and indigenous population, the divide between rich and poor, family conflict and dysfunction, abuse and trauma and grief, etc.  

There is a large cast of characters, all of whom are realistically portrayed in that they are flawed and morally ambiguous, with things in their pasts that they have to constantly contend with while dealing with present struggles that they try to overcome.  Also, as with most of Krueger's stories, the setting here — in the form of both time and place — plays a hugely important role in the narrative arc.  Even though it has been over a decade since the end of WWII, the wounds from the war still run deep in Black Earth County, which has the effect of shaping the attitudes and behaviors of its residents.  I mentioned the Alabaster River earlier, which has such an outsized role in the story that it can essentially be considered a character itself.  One of the things that always stands out to me in Krueger's works is his ability to incorporate the local landscape to great effect and also write about it in a way that makes us (the readers) care about it as much as the characters do.  I'm not much of a "nature" reader in the sense that I typically get bored with too much description of physical settings (i.e.: natural habitats and surrounding areas), but the way Krueger does it, I always find myself being drawn in — no doubt this is a testament to Krueger's powerful writing and storytelling.

Needless to say, I recommend picking this one up, though be forewarned that the book deals with some difficult topics, so trigger warnings abound.  Krueger fans definitely won't be disappointed with the masterful storytelling and the unforgettable characters presented here.

Received ARC from Atria Books via NetGalley.

Review: This Tender Land (by William Kent Krueger)

My Rating: 5 stars

Wow, what a story!  It's not often that I start a review off this way, but I'm a bit speechless right now — all I know is that this book is absolutely deserving of all the accolades it had gotten up to this point, so what better way to start this review than with the first thought that came into my head after finishing this one.  The summary for this book refers to it as a "big-hearted epic" that has "the feel of a modern classic," which is a description I definitely agree with, though beyond that, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to also use the word "masterpiece" to describe William Kent Krueger's beautifully written newest novel.  This is a book I would heartily recommend – one that packs a lot of heart and plenty of soul into a powerful, absorbing story with some of the most richly developed, endearing characters I've come across in awhile.

The story opens with our main protagonist Odie O'Banion, an elderly man now well into the eighth decade of his life, who is asked by his great-grandchildren to tell them a story — which, as a lifelong storyteller, is a task he is more than willing to oblige.   He starts to recount for them the story of what happened to him during the summer of 1932 and from there, we are taken back several decades to when Odie was 12 years old and ends up with his older brother Albert at the Lincoln Indian Training School in Minnesota after their father dies.  Odie's lively personality and mischievous nature gets him into constant trouble with the school's superintendent Thelma Brickman, who is given the moniker 'the Black Witch' for her cruel and ruthless treatment of the hundreds of children in her care, many of whom were Native American children forcibly separated from their parents and sent to the school to be educated.  It is not long before circumstances force Odie to flee the school and together with his brother Albert, along with their best friend at the school, a mute Native American boy named Mose,  and 6-year-old Emmy Frost, whom they all adore as a little sister in tow, they set out in a canoe, journeying along the Gilead River toward Mississippi in search of a place they could call home.  On their journey, these 4 orphans, who nicknamed themselves "the Vagabonds," encounter an eclectic mix of characters from various walks of life — people with good intentions as well as bad ones; depraved families displaced as a result of the Great Depression; people who themselves are struggling to survive, yet display a generosity of spirit that is unparalleled; a faith healer who helps Odie and the others discover their true selves; Gertie and the others they meet in the backwater shanty towns of Saint Paul.  Along the way, the 4 of them must also reckon with the past and confront a cruel history — specifically the country's inhumane treatment of Native Americans.  In the end, the journey becomes one of self-discovery and regardless of the outcomes, each child's life becomes enriched from what they experienced during that fateful summer.

Clocking in at  nearly 500 pages, this book covers a lot of ground both thematically and historically, yet never once does it feel overwhelming or tedious to read.  Krueger's prose here is masterful, and as our narrator, Odie's voice and the amazing story he tells is poignant as well as absorbing.  This is very much a character-driven story with Odie and his fellow "Vagabonds" as the driving force of the entire narrative,  however with that said, all the other characters that they crossed paths with at different points in the  journey were equally important in shaping this into the powerful story that it became.  For me, the best historical fiction novels are the ones that have the ability to transport me to a time and place where I feel as though I am experiencing the events personally alongside the characters, and without a doubt, this book absolutely accomplished that.  More significantly though was the emotional resonance of the story, as I felt like I experienced the entire spectrum of emotions while reading this – whether it was anger at the way the children were being treated at the school, sadness at the plights of the families displaced due to circumstances not of their doing, joyfulness when Odie and the gang triumphed over one obstacle after another, hopefulness during those moments when even those people with the hardest of hearts were moved enough to help others in need (those were just a few  examples).  This was a story where every character touched my heart in some way, to the point that I was reluctant to see the story end because I wanted to be with these characters for as long as I could.

I don't give 5 stars very often, but this book definitely deserved it (actually, if I could give more stars, I would)!  I've heard a lot about Krueger's works over the years, though (I am a bit ashamed to admit) this is the first book of his that I've actually read (a wrong that I hope to rectify some time in the near future!).   In a letter to his readers at the beginning of this book, Krueger talks about "pouring the best of himself into this story" and in asking us to read it, he is "offering [us] his heart" --  I am honored to have taken up this offer and in so doing, I can now count this among one of my favorite reads this year!    If you get the chance to read this one, I hope that you will also love it as much as I have!

Received ARC from Atria Books via NetGalley