Saints at the River: A Novel

Ron Rash

Apr 2007 · Sold by Henry Holt and Company

About this ebook

From a major voice in Southern literature comes award-winning author Ron Rash's Saints at the River, a novel about a town divided by the aftermath of a tragic accident--and the woman caught in the middle.

When a twelve-year-old girl drowns in the Tamassee River and her body is trapped in a deep eddy, the people of the small South Carolina town that bears the river's name are thrown into the national spotlight. The girl's parents want to attempt a rescue of the body; environmentalists are convinced the rescue operation will cause permanent damage to the river and set a dangerous precedent. Torn between the two sides is Maggie Glenn, a twenty-eight-year-old newspaper photographer who grew up in the town and has been sent to document the incident. Since leaving home almost ten years ago, Maggie has done her best to avoid her father, but now, as the town's conflict opens old wounds, she finds herself revisiting the past she's fought so hard to leave behind. Meanwhile, the reporter who's accompanied her to cover the story turns out to have a painful past of his own, and one that might stand in the way of their romance.

Drawing on the same lyrical prose and strong sense of place that distinguished his award-winning first novel, One Foot in Eden, Ron Rash has written a book about the deepest human themes: the love of the land, the hold of the dead on the living, and the need to dive beneath the surface to arrive at a deeper truth. Saints at the River confirms the arrival of one of today's most gifted storytellers.

Ratings and reviews

I was attending an conference and saw that Ron Rash was going to be speaking about his current release. Of course I had not read his book yet. Funny thing was is I was waiting in the lobby actually working on my first novel (being published this month) and I looked up as a man walked by wearing a name badge that read, you guessed it, Ron Rash. So I walked over and said hi. What an incredibly nice guy. Mr. Rash was gracious enough to talk about the writing and publishing process sharing some of his frustrations and triumphs in the time leading up to the time he was speaking. So needless to say I immediately went out and purchased some of his titles. Saints at the River was the first one I read and oh how I wish I had read it before I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Rash - there is so much I would have loved to have talked about with him. The pacing and the organization of the entire book yields to making the book a compelling read. The character development is amazing and the plot is effortless. Many people tend to avoid Southern literary fiction, but with Ron Rash out there, I believe that may soon change.

The storyline was okay. I didn't find the characters likeable.

H

About the author

Ron Rash is the author of the prize-winning novels One Foot in Eden, Saints at the River and The World Made Straight, as well as several collections of poetry and short stories. He is the recipient of an O. Henry Prize and the James Still Award from the Fellowship of Southern Writers. For Saints at the River he received the 2004 Weatherford Award for Best Novel and the 2005 SEBA Best Book Award for Fiction. Rash holds the John Parris Chair in Appalachian Studies at Western Carolina University and lives in Clemson, South Carolina.