by Wally Lamb

Wally Lamb has written an unforgettable novel in The River is Waiting. 

I can also tell you it is the hardest book I have read since A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. They’re completely different stories, mind you, but they have one thing in common. The subject matter is heavy. 

I mean HEAVY. 

It’s a lot. 

The story is centered around something that tragic that happened which may not sit well with some readers. It didn’t with me, to be frank. But someone whose opinion I value told me to stick with it. So I did. 

Damn her (lol).

A part of me is so glad I did. Wally Lamb is an exceptional writer. Exceptional. You probably already knew this and that’s the reason I continued. I love terrific writing. I also know I did the right thing in completing it. 

But if, as you read this, you’re getting some feelings of hesitancy from me, you’re not off base. It is because it demanded so much of my emotions. 

So much. 

When I closed the book I was exhausted. 

You can’t sit and read this and not look inward. Deeply inward. It’s not that kind of book.  The River is Waiting will require your undivided attention and you WILL give it. This is a book that will demand so much from you and you will let it. 

If you read it, all the way through to the end, you will have no choice but to surrender yourself to what has been asked of your heart. 

If you are not prepared for that to happen – and I am not bulls****ing you – do not read this book.

If you are, then buckle up buttercup.

I won’t give any spoilers of course, but … that ending? Damn.

It was so many things. It was beautiful and sincere. It was sweet and torturous. It fills your heart and gives you hope. It shreds it in two and devastates you. There was a sense of understanding which humanizes us. It did for me.

In it, I found grace.

But it’s really hard getting there.

Like I said, Lamb is an exceptional writer. Exceptional.