The River We Remember

By: William Kent Krueger

Libby audiobook 13.5 hours

Read by: CJ Wilson

Published: 2023

Genre: Realistic (historical) fiction

 

Wow. Krueger's writing is simply phenomenal. I don't want to give any spoilers, but there were times I had to pause the audiobook because I dreaded what would happen in characters' lives . . . 

 

Since I listened to this instead of reading the text, I do have to note that at times the reader (Wilson) spoke in such a low voice that it was hard to hear what he was saying. Hitting reverse (15 seconds) several times and cranking the volume up helped, but I think I definitely would have gotten more out of just reading the book myself. 

 

At the start of the book, I was trying to figure out where the actual location was for the fictional Jewel, MN in Black Earth County. Blue Earth County? Mapleton? And one cannot forget the prominence of the Alabaster River! Is it the Minnesota? The Blue Earth River? This was constantly on my mind . . . and it was set in 1958, which was supported by many, many details in the story.

 

Brody Dern, the sheriff, was the main protagonist. Jimmy Quinn, the nasty, greedy man who has been found in the river with catfish nibbling his body. There are so many characters! Read a synopsis online if you want to know more. I'm just typing up some of my scrawls. Evangeline ("Angie") Madison runs the cafe with her mother-in-law Ida(?). She is Scott's mom and has a past. Felix is the town drunk, but a really great guy.

 

Garnett, married to Brody's brother Tom, was my least favorite character. She just gave me the "ick" every time. For so many reasons. My second least favorite was the Landis guy. (Honestly, Jimmy Quinn was the worst, but he was already dead, so . . . )

 

One of the lines in the book was, "We're all broken." It made me think of all the times I've said to my husband, "Person X has issues." His response? "We all have issues, Jeanne. They're just different." I'm married to a pretty amazing guy. "Broken AND blessed" also came up in the book.

 

Ruth Coffey (?) was an English teacher who inspired people and died old. The contrast between her death and Jimmy Quinn's was notable.

 

War changing the men who went and fought . . . WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. It was interesting to see how so many of these men were tortured (literally and figuratively) but tried to just put on a brave face and not deal with the trauma.

 

Innocent until proven guilty . . . Noah Bluestone and Charlie. The newspaper guy. I loved these aspects of the story!

 

Del leading Scott to places he didn't want to go and knew he shouldn't . . . the evil of people like Tyler Creasy (and Jimmy Quinn) . . . this would be an amazing book club title! But then, I think all of Krueger's books are great fodder for conversation. 

 

It's interesting that of the many tense moments as I was listening, the fate of Angie's journals gripped me the most. There were several surprises along the way and I both love and hate the ending. This book was simply amazing.