Next Meeting: 12th May at 6:30pm to discuss Seascraper by Benjamin Wood.
The River Wife by Heather Rose: I came across this book by chance.
On Goodreads there are only 40 reviews with a 3.97 rating. In reading the reviews I kept coming across the following words to describe the book. Lyrical, mystical, beautiful prose, a love story, full of magic.
The book won the Varuna Eleanor Dark Fellowship in 2007 as an unfinished manuscript.
I thought the book, first and foremost, honors nature. Centred around the river, it is a story of how there is unseen magic in nature that sustains it, despite human interference. Interestingly the River Wife has no other name in the story. Her mother was also a River wife and fell in love with a man and had a child who was also destined to be a River wife. Her father was kind and cared for her and I loved the fact that he had a transformation rather than a death, turning into a tree on the riverbank.
One day she sees a man at the river and they develop a relationship. Wilson James is a writer of stories who fell in love with the River wife and she with him. Their love changes the course of both their lives. Wilson James starts to grow scales and eventually he becomes a fish and while she tries to coax him back to human form she cannot and must seek guidance from the elder River Wives on how to return him to a human. She now has to make a choice with the understanding that her love for him and their time together must be the sacrifice. She makes the sacrifice and releases him from the magic but is now herself doomed to a life alone without the love of her life.
I like fables and fairytales, so an Australian fable was something new. I loved the story, for me it had some faint resemblance to the Celtic Selkie story but I can see where the Orpheus myth could sit in it too.
I think one of the things that sticks with me from reading the story is the softness of the narration and the rhythm of the narrative. I thought the writing was very clever to be able to create such a movement and rhythm through the sentence structures and word choices.
The story had an undercurrent of melancholy from start to finish but also acceptance. Acceptance of solitude and acceptance of fate. I found the book quite moving although I acknowledge that it wouldn’t be a book for everyone’s taste. But my question is, is there a moral to the story, and if so, what lesson did people take from it?
There were mixed reviews from the group. Some could not connect to the book at all, and some loved it. It was felt that in the hands of a less skilled author it could have been a disaster. There was a lot of discussion on how different this novel was from Heather Rose’s other novels. Most people thought the book was just the right length but that it wouldn’t be a story which would transfer well to audio or film. It was a good reflection on human existence and how we as humans have messed things up. The story highlighted the environmental loss. Some felt the story had a biblical feel.
Ratings: Kim 3.5, Lynda 4, Nicola 3, Dianne 3.5, Sandy 2.5, Hetta DNF, Veronica DNF, Vivienne 3, Lesley 3.5, Margie 4, Janet 3, Pauline 3.5
We look forward to seeing you again at our next meeting at 6.30pm, Tuesday 12th of May
to discuss Seascraper by Benjamin Wood.
About Us
We are a group that gets together once a month to discuss good books. Each of us gets to choose a book on a rotational basis, preferably one outside our personal comfort zone – we try to keep the trash to ourselves. After the discussion, we comment on other books we read that month. Most of the time we remain friends after the meeting.
We normally meet at Room 2.1 of the Robina Community Centre’s Boadroom. This building is located opposite the Auditorium entrance of the Robina Library on the second Tuesday of every month from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
A small contribution is required towards the rent of the room, but not if you are a first timer. The amount depends on the number of people attending.
One book title is chosen each month and we all read that book. There is a ‘host’ who introduces and co-ordinates the discussion. The role of host is rotated around the group so that each member has the opportunity to nominate their book (it could also be an author, theme or genre). The host also acts as chairperson for that meeting.
Although we are not a social club (we are readers), we occasionally attend literary events, relevant movies or plays here at the Gold Coast, Brisbane or Byron Bay. We conform to basic meeting practices, and everyone has an equal opportunity to express their opinion. Everyone’s interpretation is valid, as long as it’s expressed respectfully.
We welcome any new members who share our aims and are happy to contribute to our group. Newcomers are not required to have read the book to attend the first meeting and no contribution is required from them at the first meeting attended.
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