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Follow the River Home by Corran Harrington

tlc tour hostSource: TLC Book Tours
Paperback, 220 pgs.
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Follow the River Home by Corran Harrington is a novella and collection of short stories that at the heart follow the Rio Grande river that splits New Mexico in two and its surrounding landscapes — the flat lands, the mountains, the dams, the dust, the heat, and heavy rains.  Harrington’s literary fiction treats the subject of PTSD with careful precision in the story of Daniel Arroyo, a Vietnam veteran unable to forget even his earliest trauma, the death of his sister.

“For Daniel, the migration of the sandhills became the promise never broken, the putting to rest of old seasons, the beginning of new.  Grandmothers would tell grandchildren, as they held hands during walks along the river, and pointed toward the sky.  His own grandmother would soon tell him about the cranes, only in Spanish.” (pg. 3 ARC)

Arroyo’s childhood was full of familial argument and happiness, but the death of his sister nearly rips them apart, sending his family flying apart.  His struggles are compounded by his guilt and by his confusion over his own feelings for his friend.  Off to war, his mind and heart returned more burdened than before, and it is clear that his nightmares are affecting his marriage to his high school sweetheart and his relationships with his son and daughter.

In the second half of the book, Harrington explores the moments in Arroyo’s life and those who lived in the home before and who purchased various pieces of furniture.  She explores the sadness these families have seen, their most intimate moments, their struggles, and even their contentment with one another.  Told through the eyes of furniture or those who have known the Arroyo family, Harrington paints a broader picture of this microcosm.  The second half may at first blush appear separate from the first, but readers will soon draw the connections from the strands she leaves.

Follow the River Home by Corran Harrington is a wonderfully written look at our roots, our fears, our guilt, and all of the moments that make up our lives.  The good, the bad, the happiest, and the saddest moments.  Harrington’s work is detailed and emotionally grounded, but she never shies away from the dark moments of war and death.

RATING: Quatrain

About the Author:

Corran Harrington is a Pushcart Prize nominee, a Santa Fe Writers Project finalist, a Hidden River Arts Eludia Award finalist, a Bosque Fiction Contest finalist, and a New Millennium Writings Award semi-finalist whose short fiction has appeared in numerous literary journals. A former lawyer, Harrington also has a background in cultural and linguistic anthropology. She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Visit her on Facebook and Twitter.

Mailbox Monday #375

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page, has a permanent home at its own blog.

To check out what everyone has received over the last week, visit the blog and check out the links.  Leave yours too.

Also, each week, Leslie, Vicki, and I will share the Books that Caught Our Eye from everyone’s weekly links.

Here’s what I received:

Sunshine Beach by Wendy Wax for review.

After losing their life savings in a Ponzi scheme, Maddie, Avery, and Nikki have banded together to make the most of what they have left, using their determination, ingenuity, guts, and a large dose of elbow grease. It’s Maddie’s daughter Kyra who stumbles across a once glorious beachfront hotel that has fallen into disrepair. The opportunity to renovate this seaside jewel is too good to pass up—especially when they come up with the idea of shooting their own independent television show about the restoration. What could possibly go wrong?

Everything. With the cameras rolling, Maddie’s second-chance romance with her all-too-famous new boyfriend gets complicated, Avery struggles with grief over the loss of her mother, and Nikki’s reluctance to commit to the man who loves her could leave her to face the biggest challenge of her life. Even the hotel seems to be against them, when their renovation uncovers a decades-old unsolved murder which just might bring their lives tumbling down all over again

Follow the River Home by Corran Harrington for review for TLC Book Tours in June.

DANIEL ARROYO has suffered a lifetime of guilt over the sudden death of his infant sister, who died when he was eight years old. He now lives his middle years between that guilt and worsening episodes of PTSD from a Vietnam he left thirty years ago. When a violent encounter on a dusty highway forces Daniel to face what haunts him, he finds himself pulled back to the neighborhood of his youth, where old houses hold tired secrets. What really happened on that steamy August afternoon? The answer comes spilling from the old neighborhood, and Daniel begins to find his way home. Corran Harrington takes the reader along the Rio Grande, from its headwaters to the sea.

The Girl from the Savoy by Hazel Gaynor for a TLC Book Tour in June.

Dolly Lane is a dreamer; a downtrodden maid who longs to dance on the London stage, but her life has been fractured by the Great War. Memories of the soldier she loved, of secret shame and profound loss, by turns pull her back and spur her on to make a better life.

When she finds employment as a chambermaid at London’s grandest hotel, The Savoy, Dolly takes a step closer to the glittering lives of the Bright Young Things who thrive on champagne, jazz and rebellion. Right now, she must exist on the fringes of power, wealth and glamor—she must remain invisible and unimportant.

But her fortunes take an unexpected turn when she responds to a struggling songwriter’s advertisement for a ‘muse’ and finds herself thrust into London’s exhilarating theatre scene and into the lives of celebrated actress, Loretta May, and her brother, Perry. Loretta and Perry may have the life Dolly aspires to, but they too are searching for something.

Now, at the precipice of the life she has and the one she longs for, the girl from The Savoy must make difficult choices: between two men; between two classes, between everything she knows and everything she dreams of. A brighter future is tantalizingly close—but can a girl like Dolly ever truly leave her past behind?

What did you receive?