Where the Forest Meets the River
A SEPTEMBER 2024 INDIE NEXT PICK
Return to Dalton as Shannon Bowring draws another stunningly human portrait of small town America.
It's been five years since Bridget Theroux's death shocked the small town of Dalton, Maine, leaving behind husband Nate and daughter Sophie, now a vibrant young child. Nate doesn't always know how to answer her questions, but he is intent on raising her with joy--and shielding her from her grandmother, Annette, who remains dangerously locked away in her grief.
After his first year away at college, Greg Fortin is back in town for the summer to work at the family store. It's expected he'll take over the hardware business eventually, but finding the words to tell them no--and the truth about who he is--has become his own Everest. Rose's abusive ex, Tommy finally disappeared a few years ago, though sometimes his presence in the eyes of her oldest son unnerves her. She and Nate are finding themselves drawn together by their children's playdates, and into a delicate balance between friendship and the possibility of more.
And Trudy and Bev, always so sure of their love for each other, find themselves rocked when Trudy's husband Richard suffers a heart attack, bringing into focus all the guilt she has felt about their empty marriage for years.
Shannon Bowring demonstrates once again that she understands exactly where the heart of a story lies. Where the Forest Meets the River is a poignant return to the small town of Dalton, whose inhabitants continue to startle and humble both themselves--and us.
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Praise for Where the Forest Meets the River
"This slice of life cuts deep."--Publishers Weekly
"Bowring brilliantly evokes people's inner lives through small, illuminating moments, not unlike Sherwood Anderson, and fills the novel with thoughtful and comic one-liners that ring true. . . A moving portrait of the ways people survive palpable, harrowing grief."--Kirkus Reviews
"Bowring focuses on inner lives. Her subtle, empathetic rendering of everyday joys and sorrows in the eddy of Bridget's death rings true."--Booklist
"Quotidian, yes: boring, no. Bowering weaves them together in their new aspects, giving hints of future possibilities in book three."--Lavender Magazine
"Like Elizabeth Strout and Richard Russo, Shannon Bowring excels in bringing families and small towns to life in all their interconnected complexity."--Read Her Like An Open Book
Praise for The Road to Dalton
★ "Bowring offers endless, rich details about life in Dalton, making a satisfying story of each chapter, expanding the emotional history of the place, yielding great depths of pain behind small, daily gestures of human connection... An impressive debut bursting with detail and love for the town it brings to life."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"An unexpected death touches everyone, a plot point that Bowring confidently steers away from melodrama, landing instead on poignant realism. Readers will want to take their time with this one."--Publishers Weekly
"Readers will get swept away by the kitchen sink drama of this read--and believe me, there's plenty of drama to be had here--and will wish that Bowring isn't done with Dalton and a sequel may be in the works. That's how powerful her writing is."--Zachary Houle, Medium
"The Road to Dalton is a book to sink into, and invites you to stay a while rather than rushing toward the road out."--Ilana Masad, Portland Press Herald
"The Road to Dalton is an auspicious debut. Shannon Bowring is operating in Richard Russo and Anne Tyler territory in this hybrid of a novel and interconnected stories."--Bill Wolfe, Read Her Like an Open Book
"Paved with beauty, grace, humility, and love...a triumphant work that reminds us what literature should be."--Morgan Talty, author of Night of the Living Rez
"The kind of book that too often flies under the literary radar these days: measured, wise, beautiful."--Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls
"Over and over, The Road to Dalton locates the miraculous in the mundane, then holds it up, glimmering, for the reader to see. In the end it reminds us that, no matter our circumstances, each of us is imbued with a dignity that cannot be denied or taken from us."--Ron Currie, Jr., author of Everything Matters and The One-Eyed Man
"In wise, tender, sharp-eyed prose, Shannon Bowring illuminates the interlocking lives of rural Mainers in her stunning debut. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from beginning to end, for its vivid portrait of time and place and its cast of instantly unforgettable characters, all portrayed in glorious and often heartbreaking humanity. Bowring is an immensely talented writer to watch."--Aaron Hamburger, author of Hotel Cuba and Nirvana Is Here
"A gentle and poignant portrait of small-town life in Maine--and of the spoken and unspoken truths that make a community. The Road to Dalton celebrates the better angels of our nature; a story of hope and family from a fresh new voice."--Cara Hoffman, author of Running and Ruin
"What a rare gift Bowring has for sly humor and nuance as she paints these unforgettable characters in their rawest pain and sweetest joy. A genius, stealthy love story and a beautiful ode to family and friendship."--Susan Conley, author of Landslide
