Publication Date May 6, 2025
Years ago, I read two Wally Lamb books that knocked me out: I Know This Much Is True and She’s Come Undone. Both were, for different reasons, deeply affecting and emotionally intense. When I had the opportunity to read Lamb’s new book, The River Is Waiting (thanks to Simon Element/ S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books and NetGalley, I had conflicting emotions: “Yay!” and “Can I handle this right now?” because I just knew a Wally Lamb book would be…a lot.
The story revolves around Corbin “Corby” Ledbetter. He is struggling: he has young twins, he loses his job, and he’s becoming secretly addicted as a desperate way to deal with everything going on in his life. Throughout, he is deeply introspective: “Sometimes I think we’re all wandering in the dark and that it’s random and pointless. But I’m trying to open my mind to the possibility of some deeper truths. Trying to see the light and move in that direction.” There are multiple themes including the inequities in the criminal justice system related to issues of race, class, and heritage, and Corby struggles while he learns that things are truly much different from what he learned as a kid: “In school, they taught us that we were the good guys – the descendants of brave freedom seekers who had crossed the Atlantic and established their claim to the “New World.”…That was just propaganda…To us white victors had gone the spoils and the right to flip the narrative.” Wow.
There are other lessons he learns as the story follows his desperate and sometimes terrifying experiences: “…how most of us must carry our bruised childhoods on our backs…” and”…to live means to suffer, then to die alone.” But along with the difficulties he endures, he also views small acts of kindness and unexpectedly positive relationships with a variety of characters including a troubled teen and a prison librarian (yay for librarians!) Along the way, Lamb explores white supremacy, addiction, mental illness, and brutality from and toward pretty much everyone in or adjacent to the correctional facilities he explores so vividly.
Difficult topics, emotionally affecting, and beautifully written, I know looking back why it sat for awhile on my TBR list – I had to be in the right frame of mind and to have a nice block of uninterrupted time to read and reflect on what I expected (correctly, as it turned out) to be an extremely impactful book. Five stars. Highly recommended.