River of the brokenhearted /

Richards' New Brunswick saga spans four generations, and seethes with the greed, revenge, and guilt that tie two feuding families. The narrator, Wendell King, embarks on a personal journey to uncover the truth about his father, Miles, and his grandmother, Janie, lives twisted by years of rumor and lies. Janie McLeary marries George King around the turn of the century, and they own a movie theater. Two children, Miles and Georgina, are born, and when George dies young, Janie raises the children and runs the theater herself. She's in competition with another theater owner, and that rivalry leads to murders, divided families, and alcoholism. Janie is a strong-willed feminist before her time, but, unfortunately, her competitive drive induces her to neglect her children. The ensuing tragedy reverberates throughout Miles' life, and into Wendell's, until he attempts to break the cycle by unearthing the past. The plot builds with a pervading sense of doom as puzzle pieces gradually come into focus in this gritty probe into the repercussions of jealousy and greed. --Deborah Donovan Copyright 2004 Booklist

Richards, acclaimed in his native Canada, draws on his grandmother's life to provide emotional resonance for his latest novel (after 2001's Mercy Among the Children), a multigenerational family saga in which some generations are considerably more interesting than others. The narrator's grandmother, Hanna Jane (Janie) McLeary, is born toward the end of the 19th century in a small New Brunswick village. At 20 she marries an older Englishman, George King, who is poor in health as well as purse. They open a small cinema, which outdraws the town's other theater, owned by Joey Elias. When King dies, Janie has a son, Miles, and a daughter on the way-surely she can't also run a theater. Elias cunningly uses her bank's manager and her own father in attempts to gain control of her business, but Janie remains steadfast in the face of whispered scandal and threats of violence. But while she manages to keep her theater, tragedy strikes-her father is killed, and her daughter disappears while in the care of her son. Janie's story is fascinating, but while Richards' depiction of character and place remain consistently strong, the narrative slows as it focuses on her son and grandson. The trials of the family as its members progressively succumb to failure and alcoholism (even as they keep the theater running) are well drawn, but as Janie's descendants learn little from their mistakes, the tale becomes less involving. An unexpected deus ex machina in the last pages forces a rather unlikely happy ending onto a story that had been, until that point, entirely believable if not particularly memorable. Agent, Ann McDermid. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Whether Richards's heroes are poor and downtrodden or rich and misbegotten, misery is usually their lot in life. The author of the Giller Prize-winning Mercy Among the Children now brings us the latest in a distinguished line of noble wrecks: Miles King, the son of Janie King, a character based on Richards's own grandmother. Janie scandalizes her Irish Catholic community by marrying an English Protestant. When he dies young, leaving her with the care of two small children, she makes the fateful decision to continue running his business, a first-run movie theater, in spite of vehement opposition from the ruthless purveyor of the town's only other cinema. By swimming across the Miramichi River to enlist the help of local magnate Lord Beaverbrook, Janie succeeds in keeping her business afloat at a high cost to her family. A legacy of wealth and heartache is passed along to Miles, who suffers from guilt for his part in the family tragedy along with a predisposition to alcoholism. Against a backdrop of 20th-century cinematic history, this rich, intergenerational saga rewards the reader with memorable characters and a story as strong as it is sorrowful. Recommended for all public libraries. Barbara Love, Kingston Frontenac P.L., Kingston, Ont. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.