A review by cosmicbookworm
The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger

emotional mysterious sad tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The River We Remember takes us back to 1958 Minnesota and a bit of Iowa. Small-town Minnesota. There are people who are racist, hateful, unfaithful, and dishonest. There are typical rural Minnesotans, Native Americans, and a couple who are here because of various circumstances of WWII. There are veterans, people with histories that they want to forget, people who forgive naturally, and people who are unable to forgive. There are people that I want to grow up and be just like them and there are people that I hope I never have to deal with. And there are people who choose to live their lives without reigning in their natural appetites, with no concern about whose life they might destroy.

This is my first Kent Krueger novel, and I will be putting his others on my TBR list. Krueger knows how to develop his characters and bring them to life, in such a way that we eventually want to give some of them a hug and shake our fists at others.

You might call this historical fiction. It has an element of mystery and an element of romance. Life struggles addressed include racism, war trauma, sexual assault, and rape and alcoholism.