The River We Remember
What’s not to love in this absorbing, moving novel? The River We Remember has all the page-turning propulsion of an intriguing murder mystery, matched with deeply believable characters, a hint of romance, and a historical setting that oozes authenticity.
Memorial Day, 1958. Although he’s a veteran, Sheriff Brody Dern doesn’t get involved in the parade in the small town of Jewel, Minnesota, on the Alabaster River. That means he’s free to answer the call when news reaches him that the mutilated body of an unpopular local farmer, Jimmy Quinn, has been found washed up under a bridge in a jumble of driftwood. Brody, unlike too many of the population of Jewel, doesn’t rush to suspect Noah Bluestone, a Native American with a Japanese wife, recently sacked by Jimmy Quinn. He’d rather pass the whole event off as an accident. But the facts don’t lie, and the circumstantial evidence against Bluestone is hard to ignore. As Brody investigates, Quinn’s unpleasant character suggest a range of possible murderers, but local prejudice isn’t easily extinguished.
With a stellar range of secondary characters, Krueger brings the light and the dark of humanity to life. Jewel lives and breathes in these pages, and the opaque Alabaster River is almost a character in its own right. As thoughtful as it is dramatic, The River We Remember also offers writing to savor. Take this one, for example: “When the world throws at you nothing but stones, maybe to survive you simply become a stone yourself.”
One of the best books I’ve read this year.
