Book Review: “Where the Forest Meets the River” by Shannon Bowring
Ask, and Ye Shall Receive
When I reviewed Shannon Bowring’s previous novel, The Road to Dalton, I wrote that readers “will wish that Bowring isn’t done with Dalton and a sequel may be in the works.” Well, a little more than one year later, I have received what I had asked for. Where the Forest Meets the River is the sequel to The Road to Dalton, set five years later in the same small town. The book ends on a cliffhanger or two, so the Dalton saga should become a trilogy. However, this series may warrant multiple books to tell its tale, even if Where the Forest Meets the River is typical as far as sequels go in that it is a slightly lesser work. It is still readable and worth checking out. It’s just that the pacing is a little more laid-back. One must additionally have an excellent memory of the first book, as there are things alluded to here that a reader such as I — a machine vis-a-vis books read — will have already forgotten from the previous year’s worth of reading. Still, your mileage may vary, especially if you read the two books back-to-back. And even if this book doesn’t have as much explosive drama as the first book, it’s interesting. That’s not meant to be a backhanded compliment, either.
Set in the year 1995, Where the Forest Meets the River is again set in northern Maine. Nineteen-year-old Greg is now a slimmer college student who is spending the summer working at his father’s hardware store to pay tuition, a job he doesn’t want. At the same time, he continues to grapple with his sexuality. Nate is now no longer a policeman following the death of his wife, Bridget. He spends his days looking after his five-year-old daughter Sophie and working in the local lumber mill. He is coming to grips with his designs for Rose, a woman he saved from an abusive marriage. Elsewhere, Bev and Trudy are still an item but are fighting. Richard, the local doctor, who is married to Trudy, has a heart attack, necessitating a replacement for him at his clinic. Meanwhile, Annette — Sophie’s maternal grandmother — is coping with Bridget’s death by drinking and excessively shopping. All of these plot strands come together to weave the story. And I must say that the plot is woven together a little better this time out. Where the Forest Meets the River feels less episodic than its predecessor.
What else can I say about this book? Well, I think it’s telling when a five-year-old practically steals every scene she’s in. Without the domestic abuse angle of the first book and its propensity for dramatic events, that’s probably a given that she’s the most intriguing thing about this book. Otherwise, we watch characters going through their paces, even if some refuse to grow and mature. I was a little disappointed that the Bev and Trudy arc got pushed to the side this time and that Greg is more of a periphery character, too; he’s there to help Nate plant a flower garden in this book. As a result, the story kind of just ambles along at a slow, refined pace. The book’s ending feels a little sentimental and pat — almost as if it existed in sitcom land — but it is still somewhat affecting. So I really can’t put a finger on it. Still, there’s a quantity that makes this book paradoxically better and worse than the previous book. And I think the worst qualities sometimes rear their head just because this is such a literary story. The worst thing I can probably say about Where the Forest Meets the River is that it is slow. It kind of pokes along for more than 300 pages without a big scene, such as the winter river rescue of The Road to Dalton or Tommy’s (Rose’s husband’s) comeuppance in the same book.
I hope this isn’t a case of being careful about what one wishes for. Overall, I liked Where the Forest Meets the River even if it felt like a slighter book — even if it felt less like a collection of short stories strung together than The Road to Dalton. Still, a certain je ne c’est quoi about this book escapes me. It’s likable and pleasing, but not so much so. Perhaps it’s just the case that this will probably be the middle book in a trilogy (at least), and middle books happen to be the more difficult ones to read. Still, those who liked The Road to Dalton — and I wouldn’t recommend starting with Where the Forest Meets the River as it gives away the plot points of the former book throughout, and most readers probably wouldn’t have a clue what’s going on — will probably find things to admire about this volume. Seeing a smaller publisher taking a chance on a series is excellent. It’s nice to revisit characters that were appealing and interesting the first time around. And, overall, it’s simply lovely. However, it doesn’t hit quite the home run that The Road to Dalton was. Still, only getting to third base can’t be all that bad, can it? I’m glad I asked for this book a year ago. As far as sequels go, this one isn’t all that bad.
Shannon Bowring’s Where the Forest Meets the River was published by Europa Editions on September 3, 2024.
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