Set in the
Pacific Northwest, Riversong is a
novel about Lee, a young English teacher with more than a few tragedies under
her belt. Her husband commits suicide and leaves her pregnant and in massive
debt to a shady loan shark. She retreats to her tiny, Oregonian hometown where
the reader learns more about her childhood and her abusive, alcoholic mother. The
heroine’s anxiety about starting over and about the loan sharks who are looking
for her increases as she tries to rebuild her life in a place where she never
desired to return. With some good luck and friendly townspeople, Tess gets back
on her feet, finding success in running a restaurant, and even falling in
love.
Though the
storyline was predictable, it was fairly easy to like the characters in Riversong. The people in this story
seemed familiar and genuine, and readers can relate to Lee’s ambiguous feelings
of resistance to and comfort in the way she is treated in her small hometown. Overall,
the characters and the tone set in the novel were enjoyable.
Unfortunately,
the likeability of Hardwick’s characters could not overcome the glaring editing
problems. Prominent spelling and grammatical errors throughout the entirety of
the work make it a frustrating read overall. Hardwick seems to pay close
attention to detail with different elements of plot, character, and setting,
but she has missed one of the most crucial steps in the writing and publishing
process: editing.
Overall,
the characters and plot were well done and with a great editor to clean up the
grammar and inconsistencies, this would make for an enjoyable read. You can find Riversong for at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
-Joan
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