Still River
Dawn Paul
Corvid Press
a review by
BRIAN JEWELL, BAY WINDOWS
The connections, actual and potential, between three young people are at the heart of this melancholy novel.
The characters are caught in the gentle eddies of the river of time, as well as the fascination of an actual river,
and a love for wetlands and woodlands binds them together. Southern New England's Still River dominates the
novel, a chattering reminder of death (a winter suicide) and life (tadpoles clogging the brooks in summer.) It's
a delicate, carefully observed tale of two families and two friendships, and the unexplored erotic undercurrents
that take people by surprise, like unexpected white water leaving you exhilarated but shaken. The Brownells
are a typical family with pretensions of propriety and upward mobility. The Bruleys are strange, insular and
woods-wise. David Brownell's inability to deal with his unwelcome crush on a male schoolmate leads to the first
connection between the families: Jay Bruley discovers his frozen body in the chilling waters of the Still River.
Years later, an awkward friendship grows between Jay and David's sister Eleanor, two young women who have
nothing common except that they have nothing in common with anyone else, either. Inevitably, they are parted
and their cool friendship lapses into cool memories. In Paul's clear prose, even the landscape seems to take
up the mourning for lost opportunities and days gone by. Although the tone is wistful, there's something oddly
life-affirming about the book; there's a just-so quality to it that feels right. "Life's hard but it's good," sighs the
river, if we only take the time to listen.
Dawn Paul
Corvid Press
a review by
BRIAN JEWELL, BAY WINDOWS
The connections, actual and potential, between three young people are at the heart of this melancholy novel.
The characters are caught in the gentle eddies of the river of time, as well as the fascination of an actual river,
and a love for wetlands and woodlands binds them together. Southern New England's Still River dominates the
novel, a chattering reminder of death (a winter suicide) and life (tadpoles clogging the brooks in summer.) It's
a delicate, carefully observed tale of two families and two friendships, and the unexplored erotic undercurrents
that take people by surprise, like unexpected white water leaving you exhilarated but shaken. The Brownells
are a typical family with pretensions of propriety and upward mobility. The Bruleys are strange, insular and
woods-wise. David Brownell's inability to deal with his unwelcome crush on a male schoolmate leads to the first
connection between the families: Jay Bruley discovers his frozen body in the chilling waters of the Still River.
Years later, an awkward friendship grows between Jay and David's sister Eleanor, two young women who have
nothing common except that they have nothing in common with anyone else, either. Inevitably, they are parted
and their cool friendship lapses into cool memories. In Paul's clear prose, even the landscape seems to take
up the mourning for lost opportunities and days gone by. Although the tone is wistful, there's something oddly
life-affirming about the book; there's a just-so quality to it that feels right. "Life's hard but it's good," sighs the
river, if we only take the time to listen.
Dawn Paul reads from STILL RIVER
Thursday, OCTOBER 25, 2007 7 PM
at MONET'S GARDEN ART CAFE
95 Rantoul Street, Beverly, MA
www.monetsgardenartcafe.com
Monday, DECEMBER 3, 2007 10 AM
at BEVERLY PUBLIC LIBRARY
32 Essex Street, Beverly, MA
978-921-6062
Thursday, OCTOBER 25, 2007 7 PM
at MONET'S GARDEN ART CAFE
95 Rantoul Street, Beverly, MA
www.monetsgardenartcafe.com
Monday, DECEMBER 3, 2007 10 AM
at BEVERLY PUBLIC LIBRARY
32 Essex Street, Beverly, MA
978-921-6062
