The River, By Moonlight by Camille Marchetta, tells the story of a woman’s death. The story is told from a multitude of viewpoints, including the woman’s own. It would be easy to get lost in the many different perspectives, especially as the story often skips around its own timeline, except for the skill with which the author crafted each character and each chapter. The author’s flowing and detail-rich style is apparent with each character, however the voice with which she writes changes: she seems to dig deep into the mind of each character. No stone is left unturned as the book explores each person’s reaction to the death, revealing both selfish and selfless thoughts about the dead woman and her death.
I eagerly read, waiting for the chapter written from the dead woman’s perspective –Yes, I peeked ahead to see which characters were given chapters of their own! –I wondered, would it tell the incident from her point of view? Would it be a glimpse of Lily in the afterlife? Would it answer the many questions around her death? It did answer many questions, it also asked a few, but more than that, it put me terrifyingly in touch with a mind that works so much like my own: the constant battle to stay afloat against a seemingly endless tide of sadness, grief and hopelessness. In the chapter, she explains how one day she can be at the top of the world, with energy to spare and the next, deep in the dregs of a hopeless future. When she wondered if things would have been better had she stayed home instead of haring off to New York on her own, it made me realize just how much my family keeps me grounded.
Lily’s story is set in the time just before World War I. I found it very easy to relate to the worries of the characters about the war. I did, however, at times have trouble reconciling the setting with the style of the writing. My guess is that the grace of the writing, and the way the author layered so many details into each scene, put me more in mind of an earlier era: perhaps the mid to late 1800′s or perhaps even earlier into the time of the Revolutionary War. The story itself was always true to its established time period though, it was just the visions the writing evoked in my head that placed it at an earlier time.
This book earned a prize for the Eric Hoffer Award for Excellence in Independent Publishing in 2008 and it’s easy to see why. The story is told beautifully, and although it deals with a subject of deep sadness and despair, it was easy to walk away from the book with a feeling of hope.
This book review has been brought to you by Blog Stop Book Tours. If you’d like to learn more about the author or the book, head on over there. You’ll find an interview with the author, places you can purchase the book, as well as other books that Blog Stop Book Tour bloggers have reviewed. Check out these other blogs if you’re interested in reading other reviews written about this book:
Jenn Hollowell: Author and Mixed Media Artist
From The Cheap Seats… Reviews, Writings and More
September 26th, 2008 at 7:40 pm - Edit
Thanks a lot for the wonderful review. I was very pleased, to say the least, by your reaction to the book, but interested as well to read your comment about its style. It’s made me want to go back and reread it to see what evoked that response in you.
All the best,
Camille
September 26th, 2008 at 7:49 pm - Edit
Ms. Marchetta, I was trying to figure it out myself, because you never lapsed in the descriptions of the period you were describing. There was just something about it all that put a different era in my mind.