On the Shelf: Stony River

STONY RIVER | TRICIA DOWER | PENGUIN CANADA | 2012

Stony River, New Jersey, 1955: On a sweltering June afternoon, Linda Wise and Tereza Dobra witness a disturbing scene. A pale, pretty girl who looks about their age is taken from Crazy Haggerty's house by two uniformed policemen. Everyone in Stony River thought Crazy Haggerty lived alone. The pale, pretty girl is about to enter an alien world, and as Tereza and Linda try to make sense of what they've seen, they're unaware their own lives will soon be shattered as well. Set in a decade we tend to think of as a more innocent time, Stony River shows in dramatic and unexpected ways how perilous it was to come of age in the 1950s with its absent mothers, controlling fathers, biblical injunctions, teenaged longing, and small-town pretence. The threat of sexual violence is all around: angry fathers at home, dirty boys in the neighbourhood, strange men in strange cars, a dead girl, and another gone missing.

Sometimes the best books are the ones that take you by surprise. The cover caught my attention at the book store and the synopsis sounded vaguely interesting - so I gave it a try. As you can see from my five-star rating, it instantly made it to my favourites shelf. 

I was so impressed with Dower's writing. I couldn't put the book down. I think I could ramble on and on about how perfect this book is without ever being able to pinpoint exactly what makes it special. It just has that spark. And I highly recommend that you read it.

Stony River is nothing like a period piece. Although it's set in the 1950s, the content is nothing like what you'd expect from the setting. I had no idea where the book was going at any given moment and I absolutely loved the journey it took me on. I was so sad when it ended. I didn't want to leave the characters behind.

When books are split into different narratives, I often find myself caring more about one of the stories than the others. This wasn't the case for Stony River. All of the main characters were relatable, unique, and enthralling. I wanted to get to know every single one of them more, keep learning about their histories,  go with them into the future.

---

"Quickly now she unpacks the remaining volumes, setting them end to end, alphabetically by author, forming a serpent of books across the floor, her hands agile with purpose. Ah, here are those whose worlds she naively once believed existed outside their pages. Don Quixote de la Mancha. Ivanhoe. Gulliver's Travels. And others that befriended her all those lonely years. Oliver Twist. Emma. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. The Hunchback of Notre Dame. For Cian,  Carolyn and Mickey she set aside Winnie-the-Pooh, The Jungle Book, and children's versions of the Iliad and the Odyssey.

James said that if words could be held and tasted and smelled they might be enough to live on."