Time Is a River (Hardcover)

by Mary Alice Monroe (Author)
Key Phrases: fishing diary, Kate Watkins, Watkins Mill, Watkins Cove (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Monroe delivers another novel of strong Southern women, and though this one has its share of weak moments, the author's love for her characters is palpable throughout. Mia Landan, a cancer survivor, returns to Charleston after a fly-fishing retreat and finds her husband in bed with another woman. Shocked, Mia rushes back to the mountains where she'd been fishing and seeks the help of fly fisherman Belle Carson, who offers her the use of a ramshackle cabin for the summer. Upon Mia's first trip into town, she learns why the cabin looks like it hasn't been opened in years—it's where Kate Watkins, Belle's grandmother, allegedly murdered her lover. But after Mia conveniently finds Kate's diary tucked away in the cabin, she becomes determined to get to the bottom of things, despite Belle's warnings not to stir up the mud. Through a series of occasionally contrived diary entries, flashbacks and folksy recollections from locals, the narrative juxtaposes Kate's story with Mia's self-discovery, and while the predictable ending results from implausibly convenient plot twists, Monroe's fans will still enjoy the author's spin on love, mystery and the power of self-determination. (July)
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From Booklist
Breast cancer survivor Mia Landan returns home to find her husband in bed with another woman. Still weak from the cancer treatments, and not ready to make decisions about her failed marriage, Mia asks Belle Carson, a fly-fishing guide and the head of Casting for Recovery, if she can stay in Belle’s isolated mountain cabin. At first, the solitude isn’t easy, and Mia has to overcome some major fears. Her real healing begins after she discovers the long-forgotten diary of Kate Watkins, a controversial woman ahead of her time, who used to live in the cabin. Kate loved fly-fishing, too, and, guided by her journal, Mia begins to get in touch with the mountains, the wildlife, the river, and herself. A broken woman rediscovers her sense of self-worth in this moving work by a writer known for her lyrical writing style and love of the environment (The Four Seasons, 2004). Monroe once again treats her readers to lush descriptions of nature in this exquisite, many-layered novel of an unsolved mystery, an obsession, a reconciliation, and a little romance. --Shelley Mosley

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Pocket (July 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416544364
• ISBN-13: 978-1416544364
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (141 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #324,798 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, just amazing., July 14, 2008

By	Jackie Blem (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews

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.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lovely moment in time...past and present, August 28, 2008

By	Emlyn54 (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) - See all my reviews

(What's this?)

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.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone needs a safe place, July 15, 2008

By	Marguerite Martino (Hinsdale, Illinois) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.