In the River Sweet

By Patricia Henley

Book Overview

National Book Award finalist Patricia Henley captivates us with this engrossing novel of a woman whose long-held secret will transform her life and her marriage. From all appearances, Ruth Anne Bond is enviably lucky. Her husband, Johnny, still treats her like a young lover. Her grown daughter is a staunch friend. Her steady work and devotion to the church have quietly made her a pillar of the community. Then one long Indiana summer brings some unexpected communiques-including one she has both craved and feared for thirty years. As long-hidden truths threaten to emerge, for the first time in her marriage Ruth Anne is faced with memories she and Johnny never discuss- of a year spent in Saigon in 1968-and a past she has yet to acknowledge. Probing questions of family and faith, Patricia Henley offers us a tender, far-sighted novel about seeking answers and achieving grace.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385721323
• ISBN13: 9780385721325
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Length: 306 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Satisfying, compelling, and dense.

I first became familiar with Henley through "The Secret of Cartwheels". In the River Sweet is an amazing story of a family who, like most of us, appear "normal" to our friends and neighbors. If you're looking for a quick read - buy something at the airport. You need time to digest this. For those who think that Henley's stream-of-consciousness is difficult to read, skip Faulkner. Frankly, she does it better than he does, but it takes a little bit of thought to be able to absorb it all. In this book, we get to hear the inner thoughts of the characters, and thus, learn some of their deepest secrets, and watch what happens when decades-old secrets come to surface at the same time as other life-changing events. Buy the book. Make a cup of tea, and read a few chapters at a time whenever you get a quiet moment, and you'll be deeply rewarded.

A great read

This book is a wonderful, emotionally raw story. There is just a real honesty to it, a pretty hard thing to come by when you're reading a made up story. You really just get into the characters' skins. I wish I could find more books by this person. An excellent author, and a fantastic novel.

Beautifully written -wonderful characters

This book was about people I really came to respect and care about deeply. It's also thought-provoking on a number of levels - secrets v. openness, the legacy of Vietnam, the failure/disappointment Ruth feels in her traditional Catholicism, making peace with the past, etc. I would recommend this book strongly . Didn't find it at all confusing, as some others have said. Can't wait to read Hummingbird House now.

A Sweet Read

I thoroughly enjoyed In The River Sweet. Henley addresses several intense, important issues but the book is not confusing or overwhelming. Her stories are so touching and give a very rich picture of each character, without becoming bogged down in unnecessary details. I couldn't put this book down!