This Bright River

This Bright River: A Novel by Patrick Somerville
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ben Hanson has made a few mistakes - well maybe more than a few - so he hesitantly takes the offer to head home to St. Helens, Wisconsin (where everyone has come up with their own story of why Ben went to jail)and clean up his favorite uncle Denny and cousin, Wayne's house, recently vandalized, to put on the market. Lauren Shehan, an classmate of Ben's, has headed home to St. Helens as well - hiding from the many tragic events in her past. When the two finally meet up again, Ben is trying to solve the mystery surrounding his cousin, Wayne's death - they are slowly, awkwardly, drawn to each other in their loneliness and need for love and understanding.

Right of the start the prologue pulled me in - there are places where the author rambles and weaves a bit before getting back on track and a few bogs, but overall you'll find yourself rooting for the two protagonists, hoping they work through their own private misery and move toward each other. A deep, moving story with many layers..

Favorite quote: "I hadn't seen her in almost five years. Such an extremely sad number, thinking it, and there was a time when such gaps within the family would have been impossible. Yet it happened, and I imagine it happens to a lot of families. You look up and half a decade is gone. The people you loved - not just that, but the people who were the first objects of your love, the people through whom you learned love - are no longer a part of your life."

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