By: Lo Patrick
Narrators: Daniela Acitelli, Paul Brion
Tantor Audio
ISBN: 9781728290447
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publication Date: 07/02/2024
Format: Other
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
Everybody's got good and bad in them. In the end, it just depends which side wins out.
Arlene has lived in a small town on the edge of nowhere Georgia her whole life. Now married to her long-time high school sweetheart, Tommy, Arlene is itching to start a family and become the mother she always dreamed of being. But that's proving more difficult than she thought, and Arlene is desperate to find something to do to keep her mind off things. And get some distance from her husband, who is increasingly getting on her nerves.
As the summer gives way to a chilly, lonesome fall up in the mountains of northern Georgia, she takes a part-time job bagging evidence at the local police department, which involves about twenty minutes of actual work, and the rest of her shift she reads over old cold cases. One in particular fascinates her: the mysterious deaths of three young brothers murdered on Deck River, followed by the suicide of Mitchell Wright, the prime suspect in the murders.
Arlene becomes obsessed with the case, and with the help of the police department's receptionist and a family friend of the Wrights, she sets out on discovering the truth. She can't help but feel that if she solves the case of the Broderick boys' deaths, she'll find her footing in her young marriage and maybe find what she's been looking for all along.
From the author of The Floating Girls, a finalist for the Townsend Prize for Fiction and a Reader's Digest Editor's Pick, Lo Patrick has once again crafted a story bursting with charm, heartbreak, and memorable characters that leap off the page, a true delight for fans of Southern fiction.
My Review
The author of the acclaimed debut, The Floating Girls, Lo Patrick, returns with her latest novel, THE NIGHT THE RIVER WEPT, another gripping, haunting Southern tale of heartache, trauma, crime, tragedy, wit, and dark secrets from past to present in this story of good versus evil in a small rural North Georgia town.
About...
How do three little boys get murdered in the middle of the evening right after Thanksgiving and then nothing is done about it for nearly two decades? Faber prided itself on its sense of community—a responsibility that was completely ignored.
PRESENT: Arlene is married to high school sweetheart Tommy and has lived in a small Georgia town her entire life. She wants more than anything to start a family and be a mother, but that has not worked out. She blames herself for her miscarriage.
PAST: Cedar, Colton, and Chase Broderick (brothers) died in November of 1983 on the edge of Deck River. Three innocent boys. Someone took their lives. They were suffocated. Who was the real murderer, and what was the motive? They thought the murderer was the one who committed suicide. But is the real murderer still living among them? Who helped cover it up?
It did not start with the murder or the memory of them, but it began with Arlene's miscarriage. The loss of her baby and the tragic murder of the Brodericks are intertwined in her mind, leading to a deep sense of unhappiness and guilt.
She drives to the police department and tells them she wants to be a detective. (sure, sign her up)? The next day, the Captain of the Faber Police Department called, looked over her application, and offered her a part-time job tagging evidence.
It does not take her long before she starts looking into cold cases. Twenty years earlier, three young brothers were murdered on the banks of Deck River; two weeks later, the main suspect, Mitchell Wright, committed suicide.
Arlene is intrigued by the case. The police department receptionist, Ronna, was a friend of the Wrights, and they appeared to be the picture-perfect family. She wants to make sense of things.
In the meantime, Arlene and Tommy do not get along. They constantly bicker back and forth. He drinks too much. Arlene is bored. He is supposed to be a high-powered real estate guy with his wife working for minimum wage at a local lockup (or so he says) that he thinks is nuts. He gets on Arlene's last nerve.
It is funny that Tommy thinks he is a big real estate tycoon when he is in commercial real estate selling strip space to a tire company and is embarrassed that his wife is working at a local lock-up making minimum wage. Arlene definitely puts him in his place, and in the end, they respect one another. He is more interested in golf, homes, society, and the right people, and Arlene is after a career, motherhood, or something to make her feel important and wants to be a detective. But in the end, after all is said and done, she finds her path.
Told from Arlene's POV, Natalie Wright's Journal entries from 1982-1984 (including removed pages from journal), and a condemned man (a sicko murderer, disturbing and unsettling), the narrative style of the book is as intriguing as the story itself.
The ongoing mystery revolves around the murderer's identity and all those who played a part in the coverup. Will there finally be justice for the boys? Natalie's journal entries are an essential key to solving the case.
My thoughts...
It is quite a challenging task to review a book with such a rich emotional tapestry with many conflicting emotions. The present is filled with humor, snark, and witty banter, particularly between Arlene, Tommy, and the women, which can be quite entertaining.
However, the past storyline, with its heart-wrenching murder and the surrounding mystery, is haunting, serious, heavy, dark, disturbing, and deeply unsettling. The book's direction is conflicting, a puzzle, and deciphering it is part of the reader's journey. This one will receive many different reviews and discussions, which would probably make it a good book club choice.
QUESTION: Is it a murder mystery, domestic suspense, literary, sleuth-detective mystery, historical narrative, Southern fiction, a coming-of-age story, a humor-filled family drama, or a satire? The book's genre is a delightful mystery in itself, keeping readers guessing and engaged. It blends drama, dysfunction, bleakness, darkness, and wit, making it a unique and intriguing read. But are you supposed to laugh or cry? There are very mixed signals and the overall tone of the book that will have trying to determine its direction.
While I sympathized with the struggles of the town and the poor uneducated families, the heartbreak, its characters, the poverty, the abuse, neglect, their dead-end lives, deaths, secrets, mental illness, and their losses, I think I enjoyed the murder historical part more than the present contemporary which overshadowed the murder mystery which should have been the main focus in my opinion.
This could have been a brilliant murder mystery, but the present-day back-bickering (about useless things) and dark humor did not fit with the overall theme. Maybe I read too many detective cop procedurals, and this one did not measure up there. It seemed disjointed and other reviewers have commented on this, with which I tend to agree.
The book delves into the lives of the 'haves' and 'have nots', those from the wrong side of town. It's a narrative filled with judgments, speculations, jealousy, mistrust, lies, and SECRETS in a small rural town, making for a compelling but questionable read.
Maybe because these ladies are not professional detectives but amateur sleuths (at best) which leaves you shaking your head at some of the things they do and think. Not by the book of course. Most books today, when looking at cold cases, involve a podcast, blog, social media, or sharp new detectives with new DNA. However, here we rely on two women with no education or credentials to be detectives or sleuths without proper evidence or protocols. Not their roles; however, they are tenacious and get the end result, but in a very untraditional way. Most definitely, not professional and by the book. So I would not take the investigation too seriously. They are impulsive and fly by the seat of their pants with no backup.
We are talking about a receptionist and an evidence bag tagger. How did they have enough time to be off sleuthing all the time? There is a lot of jealousy, bickering, lies, betrayal, and protecting one another. Then you have Alaina in the mix, further complicating the trio. Or did the writer portray the actual people who see things differently than the norm?
Arlene's obsession with the murders gave her purpose when she had nothing else eventful in her personal life. She wants to be a detective and make a name for herself, and all her husband, Tommy, wants is to attend dinner parties, golf, drink, connection, and mingle with the right people in upscale neighborhoods and pools. What is hilarious is that Tommy thinks Arlene is cheating on him with the women in her detective's club.
Arlene is quite naive at times for someone of her age. These women seemed like teens or younger. In the end, on her road to self-discovery, she learned something about herself and her marriage.
Overall, THE NIGHT THE RIVER WEPT is a haunting dark story of rural Georgia, gloom, sadness, and murder. However, the author uses the dialect of her characters cleverly for humor to balance the darkness. These small-town folks are a tangled mess. Almost a poor rural version of Big Little Lies.
You may reach a different conclusion after reading. I urge you to read and draw your own. Can you ever escape your past? PS There are several trigger warnings.
Recs... I'm sorry, but there are no recommendations here to compare to. I cannot think of any other book to compare this to. I have never read anything quite like it.
Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for providing a digital advanced reading copy.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 3.5 Stars (rounded to 4)
Pub Date: July 2, 2024
Praise
One of Atlanta Journal-Constitution's "Hot New Summer Books"!
"The Night the River Wept is a page-turning exploration of small-town secrets and the far-reaching effects of tragedy. With wit and wisdom, Lo Patrick weaves an unforgettable story of heartbreak, love, and second chances―and proves herself as a compelling new voice in southern fiction."
― Kristy Woodson Harvey, New York Times bestselling author of The Summer of Songbirds
"An increasingly gripping southern-crime tale. Patrick (The Floating Girls, 2022) interweaves themes of addiction, loss, and poverty alongside those of resilience and community bonds, especially those bonds held sacred between women. Readers who enjoyed the mysterious, character-driven plot of Where the Crawdads Sing or the atmospheric Georgia setting of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil will find an enjoyable page-turner here. In Arlene, Patrick has created a determined, likable, and charismatic heroine fit for a series of southern-crime novels."
― Booklist, STARRED review
"In The Night the River Wept, Arlene is a frustrated, lonely housewife until she finds a job at the local police station bagging evidence. There she immerses herself in a decades old murder, determined to solve the crime. Lo Patrick writes an original and moving tale brimming with mystery, heartache, and wit. Sure to be a Southern fiction favorite, Arlene's journey pulls the reader in and doesn't let go."
― Rochelle Weinstein, USA Today bestselling author of This Is Not How It Ends and What You Do To Me
"Lo Patrick introduces us to vivid characters populating an authentic small Georgia town, their lives tangled like kudzu vines. The Night the River Wept is an intriguing mystery that will have you turning pages until the wee hours of the morning."
― Beth Duke, bestselling author of It All Comes Back to You, Tapestry, and Dark Enough to See the Stars
"Haunting and unputdownable, The Night The River Wept is a gritty rendering of small-town tragedy and the far-reaching shadows it casts. Lo Patrick writes a stubbornly resilient heroine determined to untangle the secrets of a forgotten past and skillfully leads the reader along a twisty path to an unexpected yet satisfying ending!"
― Laura Barrow, author of Call the Canaries Home
"Smart, sassy, and utterly heartbreaking, this seductive Southern novel has to be my favorite mystery of the year. I rooted for Arlene as, struggling with her own loss, she becomes obsessed with the Broderick boys and their story. The Night the River Wept is a brave book that explores how difficult it can be to escape the past."
― Emily Critchley, author of One Puzzling Afternoon
"Lo Patrick’s sophomore novel, set in a small Southern town, explores what drives us to murder and how solving the mysteries of the past can captivate and even unite strangers. The tragic killing of three boys has repercussions that resonate through the town of Faber and in the heart of Arlene. On a journey of personal growth and redemption that pulls the reader along, Arlene becomes obsessed with solving the long cold case, and with her neighbors and coworkers who still live with the trauma of it. This is a gripping portrayal of a small town where everyone has their secrets and the lines between guilty and innocent blur."
― Quinn Connor, author of Cicadas Sing of Summer Graves
About the Author
Lo Patrick's first novel, The Floating Girls, was a finalist for the Townsend Prize for Fiction and a Reader's Digest Editor's Pick.
She lives in Georgia with her husband and two children. WEBSITE
