This Bright River by Patrick Somerville: A Review

This Bright River: A Novel by Patrick Somerville
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a wild weird ride this book is.

This Bright River tells the respective stories of Ben (a sort of hapless guy who has returned home to Wisconsin after a brief stint in prison) and Lauren (a haunted woman who is also returning to her home town) as well as what happens when they come together. It's all prefaced by a prologue (which you may have heard about here -- though don't read this unless you've finished the book) which hooked me initially and then plagued me throughout (thank God it all comes together at the end).

More than anything I loved the structure of the novel. It, like the river of its title, is meandering, at times still and contemplative, and other times violent.

I was happily confused for much of the novel...content to just keep moving. And, again, the end clarifies almost every question I had. The others I may just have to email Ben about :)

P.S. Here is an amazing trailer for the novel.
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