Time Is a River |  | Author: Mary Alice Monroe
Publisher: Pocket
Category: eBooks
This item is no longer available
Rating:  152 reviews
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Pages: 384
Number Of Items: 1
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
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Product Description
With a strong, warm voice that brings the South to life, New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe writes richly textured stories that intimately portray the complex and emotional relationships we share with families, friends, and the natural world. "Every book that Mary Alice Monroe has written has felt like a homecoming to me," writes Pat Conroy, bestselling author of The Prince of Tides. Time Is a River is an insightful novel that will sweep readers away to the seductive southern landscape, joining books by authors such as Anne Rivers Siddons and Sue Monk Kidd. Recovering from breast cancer and reeling from her husband's infidelity, Mia Landan flees her Charleston home to heal in the mountains near Asheville, North Carolina. She seeks refuge in a neglected fishing cabin belonging to her fly-fishing instructor, Belle Carson. Belle recently inherited the cabin, which once belonged to a grandmother she never knew -- the legendary fly fisher and journalist of the 1920s, Kate Watkins, whose life fell into ruins after she was accused of murdering her lover. Her fortune lost in the stock market crash and her reputation destroyed, Kate slipped into seclusion in the remote cabin. After her death the fishing cabin remained locked and abandoned for decades. Little does Belle know that by opening the cabin doors to Mia for a summer's sanctuary, she will open again the scandal that plagued Belle's family for generations. From her first step inside the dusty cabin, Mia is fascinated by the traces of Kate's mysterious story left behind in the eccentric furnishings of the cabin. And though Belle, ashamed of the tabloid scandal that tortured her mother, warns Mia not to stir the mud, Mia is compelled to find out more about Kate...especially when she discovers Kate's journal. The inspiring words of the remarkable woman echo across the years. Mia has been learning to fly-fish, and Kate's wise words comparing life to a river resonate deeply. She begins a quest to uncover the truth behind the lies. As she searches newspaper archives and listens to the colorful memories of the local small-town residents, the story of a proud, fiercely independent woman emerges. Mia feels a strange kinship with the woman who, like her, suffered fears, betrayal, the death of loved ones, and a fall from grace -- yet found strength, compassion and, ultimately, forgiveness in her isolation. A story timeless in its appeal emerges, with a power that reopens old wounds, but also brings a transforming healing for Mia, for Kate's descendants, and for all those in Mia's new community.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 152
 A lovely moment in time...past and present August 28, 2008
Emlyn54 (Manhattan Beach, Calif.)
16 out of 17 found this review helpful
I have to admit this is the first novel I've read by this author. In addition, for the last several years, as I've approached a certain age (I'm 61), I've tended to veer away from "reality" in my choice of reading materials and gone more for "fantasy", i.e., romance novels (hey, don't knock them until you try them), alternate universe stuff and books filled with mythical creatures. I love a good vampire story (maybe the age thing again, although I loved vampires even as a kid, oh well).
Anyway, this book. I wanted something different and this book delivered. Mia is "everywoman", despite the fact that not all of us have had to battle cancer. I wondered initially whether I could relate, and boy did I. I also wondered as I started the book whether this was going to be a female "ripoff" of A River Runs Through It". Well, I needn't have worried. It's anything but. It stands completely on its own. There is so much good stuff in this book including the fact that it is filled with wonderful, memorable characters.
It was lovely (and completely believable as written) to find a book full of people wanting to "help", as Mia struggles to realistically view her life and marriage before and after the cancer, and the truth of both, and to unravel the decades old mystery of the family the town is named after. Her journey is inspiring in so many ways, simply in recognizing her humanity, aside from the cancer survivor stuff.
It's hard to discuss the story itself because I don't want to reveal too much. This is a story that deserves to be savored. Each reader needs to discover the wonders of Watkins Mill, its human inhabitants, its natural wonders, and the spirit of Kate Watkins which lingers there, to help Mia with her journey toward not just recovery, but change, growth and enlightenment.
There are characters here we've all met, Charles for example, and even Belle to some extent. But so many others we'd love to meet, to spend time with. And although the author chose not to show it, I have no doubt that Mia will take care of her unfinished business in Charleston with all due speed, then return to Stuart and her river. We all need to step into that river, with or without a fly-fishing rod in our hands, and recognize it's truths.
I have to say, it was lovely to simply read this book with the same slow, lazy rhythm as that moving river. No car chases, no blazing guns, no gore, no gratuitous sex or violence. Just a wonderful story full of wisdom and insight and gentle lessons.
I could go on, but I think rather I'll take a look at some of Ms. Monroe's other offerings.
Amazing, just amazing. July 15, 2008
Jackie Blem (Denver, CO)
23 out of 27 found this review helpful
This is a soothing and rare treasure of a book. Monroe has really outdone herself this time with the story of breast cancer survivor Mia Landan. After a year of surgeries, radical chemo and radiation, Mia is a ghost of who she once was--a socially polished public relations guru married to an equally driven and sophisticated lawyer. Mia's sister sends her on a 3 day weekend with Casting For Recovery (a real and very amazing group, by the way), a group of survivors who bond and heal, physically and emotionally, through fly fishing. Energized from the experience, she comes home to find her husband in bed with another woman. She blindly races back to the mountains and into the arms of Belle Carson, the fishing guide and infinitely kind hearted woman.
Belle owns a dilapidated cabin that she "rents" to Mia for the summer--it's Mia's job to fix the place up so that Belle can rent it out to fisherfolk come fall. But the cabin has a mysterious past that Mia gets completely obsessed with, involving her in the life, present and past, of small town Watkins Cove and the characters that live there. The mystery, the river, the fish, and the friendships bring Mia back to the land of the living and heal more than one person.
Told partly in narrative and partly through well researched historical diaries and letters, this is a very powerful story of forgiveness, redemption and new birth. Vitality flows through this book just a surely as the river flows next to the cabin. Any woman who believes--or least longs TO believe--in second chances should read this book.
Everyone needs a safe place July 15, 2008
Marguerite Martino (Hinsdale, Illinois)
18 out of 21 found this review helpful
With the rise in cancer statistics and a world in turmoil, I believe we all have a deep seated urge to seek refuge with our friends, family, and when those aren't available, this novel reminds us of the solace in nature and our imaginations. I just finished, "Time is a River", and found the experience of a safe place through the power of Monroe's beautiful language and gift of storytelling. And this is a tough topic to write about; every woman's greatest fear, the loss of health, strength and her family. And even if we do have a more viable support system, let's face it, we have to walk down those corridors of fear alone. Monroe helps dispel those fears.
I believe that this book satisfies every persons dream of living "away from it all", in a cabin, by a beautiful river, with something to keep our mind off ourselves; and here it is the fascinating and unlikely sport of fly fishing. Wow, I really want to try it out! But more importantly, Monroe's novel demonstrates the keys to recovery; acceptance, forgiveness and staying in the present. Nature, art, and relationship keeps all five senses alive and well in this very exciting tale of adventure and recovery. BTW, I "conveniently found" a time capsule in my house in St. Charles, IL., when we were renovating the attic. There were diaries, journals and homemade artifacts of a family 175 years ago. It was an awesome experience, and it happens! People leave things behind for others to find. Isn't that what art really is? Thank you Mary Alice Monroe for stirring up the mud of my imagination.
Ms. Monroe may just have another fan October 20, 2008
Backroads (Northern Utah)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I had never heard of Mary Alice Monroe before. Ever. But... this looked pretty good. And it was. Ms. Monroe paints a picture of the Carolinas that absolutely haunted me. I'm quite a nature girl myself, but a completely different part of the country. But I found myself willing to give up my desert and mountains to find some quite river in the hills of Carolina to do some fly-fishing. It made sense when I read about the author and found out that Monroe is quite the conservationalist. No one, and I mean no one, could write about this kind of natural beauty and wonder without being passionate about the outdoors.
The rest of the story is, and I say this is in the best way possible, chick lit. If you don't like sappy womanly stories, you won't like this. If you do, you will. It's that simple. However, I am happy to say that this is not just a romance. Yes, it has romance which I happily welcome. But this is also a story of independence, nature, quirky community, and a murder mystery. The characters tend to fall toward stereoypes, but oddly enough I did not mind. To me, it just made them cute. What more could you want?
Monroe's writing is not exactly simple, but she writes her complex prose like poetry, applying words where they will be welcomed, so I never found myself bogged down in the words. The passion here is the river, and this is a theme and motif with which Monroe runs.
This is a beautiful piece of literature that will have something for everyone who enjoys this kind of work.
Now excuse me while I go search out more Mary Alice Monre books.
Brilliant... October 21, 2008
Readers Favorite (Hawesville, KY USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Brilliant...
Mia had faced some trying times in the past year. The trials had left her uncertain of herself. She was not sure she could go on or that she even wanted to. Her fight with breast cancer and her husband's unfaithfulness had beaten her into the ground. She retreated to heal in a rustic isolated old cabin in the mountains. She found the previous owners diary; it was almost a hundred years old. Kate Watkins story was engrossing, from young Kate growing up to the young woman desperately in love, facing insurmountable challenges, accused of murdering her lover. Slowly Mia began to heal and to move on with her life.
She could relate to Kate's wisdom in comparing life to a river. "Now she was standing knee deep but steady in the river, facing the current head on..." "Mia rose slowly and looked out at the river that flowed through time. She was going to make it; she knew that now...She was a survivor."
Time Is A River is a remarkable read. This is the first book by Mary Alice Monroe that I have read; it will not be the last one. Her characters are multifaceted. It was as though I became part of their life. I felt their pain and their triumph. We can learn much from this book. When Belle reaches out to Mia offering her assistance she never suspects that Mia will make a profound difference in her own life. The plot is brilliant! Monroe's portrayal of southern women is fascinating. Having grown up in Kentucky, I could easily relate and recognize the southern culture Monroe describes. There is something special about watching a character evolve in to a stronger person. This book captures the essence of growth. I highly recommend this book to fans of fiction.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 152
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