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335th out of 1,225 books
—
6,459 voters
Two Rivers
by
T. Greenwood (Goodreads Author)
In "Two Rivers", Vermont, Harper Montgomery is living a life overshadowed by grief and guilt. Since the death of his wife twelve years earlier, Harper has narrowed his world to working at the local railroad and raising his daughter, Shelly. Still wracked with sorrow over his loss and plagued by his role in a brutal, long-ago crime, he wants only to make amends for his past...more
Paperback, 367 pages
Published
January 2009
by Kensington Books
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3.25 Stars. Gosh, another hard one to review. If you read the synopsis of the book it is somewhat misleading, it leads the reader to expect most of the book to be about the relationship between Harper and Maggie (the girl from the train wreck) but it's really not. The book lends most of its time to Harper's relationship with the love of his life, Betsy. Many times I sighed that "Here we go again" noise when reading this. It's stated in the book that Harper was living in the shadows of his deceas...more
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This is a beautifully written novel with a complex tapestry of family, racism, sociology, cultural matters,love, hate, past and present. The story bounces effortlessly back and forth between the mid 1950's to 1980, building the story much like you would put together a jigsaw puzzle. It's fiction, but it certainly appealed to the mystery lover in me as those bits and pieces began to fit together. Ultimately it is about understanding and forgiveness, though on it's surface it seems to be about a m...more
If youlike books about Family drama and love this would be a good book to read.
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This is a very well-written book with a story that transitions back and forth from past and present with each chapter change. I liked the male narrative of the book, but a few times, I felt more of a female nature coming through. (Didn't realize until later that the author is female.)
This story takes place in Two Rivers, Vermont. A very small town where Harper Montgomery is raising his daughter. I don't want to discuss the book in too much detail because the joy of reading this book is to just l...more
This story takes place in Two Rivers, Vermont. A very small town where Harper Montgomery is raising his daughter. I don't want to discuss the book in too much detail because the joy of reading this book is to just l...more
I had the honor of hearing T. Greenwood speak at the Flagstaff Book Festival this year, and her readings were phenomenal.
Her novel TWO RIVERS is told by male protagonist, Harper Montgomery, through alternating childhood and adulthood chapters. The majority of the story actually takes place in the past. It tackles some of the very difficult events woven into the fabric of America’s history: the Vietnam War, racism, women’s and civil rights. Ultimately, it is a love story with messages of forgive...more
Her novel TWO RIVERS is told by male protagonist, Harper Montgomery, through alternating childhood and adulthood chapters. The majority of the story actually takes place in the past. It tackles some of the very difficult events woven into the fabric of America’s history: the Vietnam War, racism, women’s and civil rights. Ultimately, it is a love story with messages of forgive...more
This is a story about a man named Harper Montgomery who loses his love and the center of his world, his very being, in a matter of a few minutes. After Betsy's death, Harper is a broken man. He has been left with a baby daughter, that was born the night Betsy died,and the haunting memories a man with "skin the color of late summer blackberries" begging for his life. The story is set during the years of the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam war. Few people are unaffected from the violence and...more
when I got my Kindle, I was pleased to find out that free books were offered for it .... then I got a look at the free books. I'm not really interested in evangelical Christian novels, romance, conspiracy-theory ranting, sexy vampires, or thriller series, so there was little that tempted me there.
Two Rivers is an exception (it was only free for about four hours, sadly). I downloaded it on the strength of the reviews already on the site and really enjoyed it. It's an atmospheric little novel that...more
Two Rivers is an exception (it was only free for about four hours, sadly). I downloaded it on the strength of the reviews already on the site and really enjoyed it. It's an atmospheric little novel that...more
I picked this up at a used book store. The insert sounded really good, especially the promise of a redemptive story with the arrival of Maggie. The book was at times hauntingly beautiful and lyrical, yet frustratingly repetitive. Sometimes, the plot itself was circular, especially the events happening in the main narrative/diegesis. The book itself largely takes place in the past, and rather follows Betsy's life than Harper's. Betsy, Betsy, Betsy, Betsy, Betsy - this got a little annoying and du...more
This is my 4th book I've read by T. Greenwood, and I've loved them all. She is an outstanding writer and her stories are always captivating, real, and exciting. This one did not disappoint!
Harper is a single dad raising his daughter in the small Vermont town where he grew up and spent his whole childhood/life in love with his daughter's mom, Betsy. He has never gotten over losing Betsy and has been pretty much an empty shell of a man ever since. Add to that the fact that he did something horribl...more
Harper is a single dad raising his daughter in the small Vermont town where he grew up and spent his whole childhood/life in love with his daughter's mom, Betsy. He has never gotten over losing Betsy and has been pretty much an empty shell of a man ever since. Add to that the fact that he did something horribl...more
Feb 23, 2012
Diane
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
fans of family drama, love story, popular fiction
Wow. This was an extraordinarily well-written book. The pacing and devices used to forward the plot (which is three separate areas of story: the present, the past, the past at another time/event) has been done before, of course, and might not be some people's cup of tea in the first place, but the writing flowed between these segments without a hitch and I found the segments of the story to wind together effortlessly (and I credit that to great writing).
I cared about the characters in that I was...more
I cared about the characters in that I was...more
This book is another one that my librarian recommended to me last week. And I have to say, I think this is my favorite of 2012 thus far.
I could not put it down, I was so engrossed in the story. When I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it.
It's hard to say why I loved it so much. Because thinking it over, it's actually a reallyreally sad story. The main character Harper is kind of one of those sad sack people that everything goes wrong for and nothing is ever easy. It all started when he wa...more
I could not put it down, I was so engrossed in the story. When I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it.
It's hard to say why I loved it so much. Because thinking it over, it's actually a reallyreally sad story. The main character Harper is kind of one of those sad sack people that everything goes wrong for and nothing is ever easy. It all started when he wa...more
Harper Montgomery works at a local railroad station and lives conservatively with his daughter, Shelly.
He's a sad man and still grieves his wife's death which happened twelve years ago.
One day, he's informed of a train derailment in Two Rivers, Vermont with people still trapped in the train. He runs to the river, gets into the water and crawls through a window into the train car but is unable to help anyone. Back on the shore he sees a young girl, with skin the color of blackberries. She's shiv...more
He's a sad man and still grieves his wife's death which happened twelve years ago.
One day, he's informed of a train derailment in Two Rivers, Vermont with people still trapped in the train. He runs to the river, gets into the water and crawls through a window into the train car but is unable to help anyone. Back on the shore he sees a young girl, with skin the color of blackberries. She's shiv...more
I had registered for a course in writing one's first novel by instructor T. Greenwood when I decided it might be a worthwhile endeavor to read one of her books before meeting her. I chose "Two Rivers" simply based on the jacket description of a man who encounters a young, pregnant victim of a derailed train in his fictional hometown of Two Rivers, Vermont, and takes her in. Nice inciting incident, and Greenwood did a fantastic job of weaving two stories from two different times together. Harper...more
This was nothing like I thought it would be, and turned into a very interesting book. In the beginning, I thought it was going to be a sort of "The Grapes of Wrath" set in a tiny town in Vermont, of all places. I'm not even sure what made me pull it off the shelf (it was a BookCrossed gift from Feb of 2009), but it looked appealing, so I grabbed it. Sidenote: it has those unfinished edges - I love that!
I'm not sure what to write about this book, as the standard blurb probably tells as much as an...more
I'm not sure what to write about this book, as the standard blurb probably tells as much as an...more
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This is the first book I read AFTER seeing reviews from others in this bookclub! The comments were helpful, and diverse - - I enjoyed this book a lot, but think that it would be hard to enjoy Two Rivers if you didn't read it pretty much in one sitting. As others remarked, it jumps back and forth in time and it's hard to discern whether the main character is feeling the emotion, or retelling how he 'felt' emotion. I mostly marvelled at how isolated these characters are - how few friends and famil...more
In 1980, railroad worker Harper Montgomery is still living under a cloud of guilt because of his involvement with the murder of a black man 12 years ago, and also struggling as a widower to raise his young daughter. The novel alternates between past and present, and the story slowly unfolds as to what to happened with the murder and how and why his wife died. He feels the need to make amends for his past mistakes, and takes in Maggie, a pregnant 15 year old who is a survivor of the train wreck t...more
This is a beautifully written novel except for the occasional error in grammar (using the pronoun "I" as the object of the preposition as in, "... going with Betsy and I...") which drives me crazy. The story jumps between the past and present with each chapter change but does it so easily that the reader is eager to read each chapter.
It takes place in a small town, Two Rivers, Vermont, and starts with a train wreck. Harper Montgomery is raising his young daughter alone after the death of her mo...more
It takes place in a small town, Two Rivers, Vermont, and starts with a train wreck. Harper Montgomery is raising his young daughter alone after the death of her mo...more
I felt a little schizophrenic in the first half of this book jumping between the recent past and present. One could maybe like these characters since you have probably run into them at one time or another. The subject was my era! I'm pretty sure that themes of racism, a senseless war, and unrest in the sixties was suppose to be central, but it felt alot like it was just added on to what was intended to be the drama of the characters who were indeed the drama kings and queens of the tiny Vermont...more
Mar 30, 2011
Janice
added it
Very readable, with some lovely descriptions and an intriguing angle that has to do with white liberals involved in the Civil Rights movement in the south the 1960s. Deftly crafted - alternating chapters give us protagonist Harper 1) as a boy and teen in the 60s, falling in love with Betsy, the girl across the street, and 2) as a 32-year-old man, 12 years after Betsy's death, raising their 12-year-old daughter but emotionally dead himself. There are also occasional dreamlike flashes of something...more
The word I would use to describe this book is juvenile. It's a slightly better Nicholas Sparks sort of tale of true love such as never exists in real life happening to/at a couple of sixth graders, ending in tragedy, leading to angst, then a sudden visitor turns it all around.
Aside from the simplistic tale, the telling of it is trite as well. Alternating between past and present every other chapter is rarely anything but a gimmick and does not do much except align story lines so that chapter thr...more
Aside from the simplistic tale, the telling of it is trite as well. Alternating between past and present every other chapter is rarely anything but a gimmick and does not do much except align story lines so that chapter thr...more
This is the second book I read this month by this author (not intentionally) and I liked this one best. Not fast-moving, but well-written with twists and true love...more than once.
I don't know - it seems like all the elements are brought in to make this an interesting read. Harper, the main male character, raising his daughter alone after his wife died during childbirth, a train wreck and a young girl slips into his life, pregnant by the way, a small town cast of characters where the childhood friends grow up and still interact, and then there is a deep dark secret - slowly revealed through three quarters of the book.
Halfway through, I checked on the author, T Greenwood....more
Halfway through, I checked on the author, T Greenwood....more
Beautiful and suprising love story. Amazing writing style and story that captivated me from the first page. Greenwood weaves past and present together so beautifully. It was like following three seperate stories that slowly worked themselves into one. So many insightful moments were found in the pages of this book; one of my favorite: "And for a terrifying half-moment, I thought that maybe I'd been mistaken. Maybe there wasn't just one single future awaiting me. Perhaps there were many, many pos...more
I'm not entirely sure what it was about this book that made me bring it home from the library...it's just not the kind of description that would typically draw me in. But wow. Wow.
Two Rivers has quickly become a new favorite. The story is broken into chapters that alternate between telling the story of Harper growing up in love with his neighbor Betsy from an early age, one night that changed everything, and his current life, up to the point where they all come together.
I'm always a sucker for...more
Two Rivers has quickly become a new favorite. The story is broken into chapters that alternate between telling the story of Harper growing up in love with his neighbor Betsy from an early age, one night that changed everything, and his current life, up to the point where they all come together.
I'm always a sucker for...more
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Read for f2f discussion. The beginning felt very promising as the writing style flowed well but not too far into the book I lost interest with the back & forth format- telling the story of the past then the present day action alternately. Because the book opened with a hint of what had happened in the past I disliked those chapters. I hate reading when I know there is something unpleasant to come. This is why I don't like reading fictional versions of real history or for that matter, a lot...more
Harper is a widower raising his daughter by himself when a train derails in his town. A 15 year old pregnant girl riding that train finds him and wants him to help her, basically let her stay with him and his daughter. You discover that Harper is hiding from something in his past. You find out how he met his wife and you experience his love. You eventually discover why the pregnant girl is there, and the twist at the end, well I must say, I literally looked up from the book into space and said,...more
I thought I knew what was coming as I read the story of a New England man reviewing and re-evaluating his life and his relationships with his parents, his friends, the love of his life and his daughter. Then comes the day of the train wreck in town and a black girl from the South comes into his life and changes everything.
This book captured the essence of New England, coming of age in the early 70's and carrying on when all seems pretty hopeless. One can escape a rut with a little help from one...more
This book captured the essence of New England, coming of age in the early 70's and carrying on when all seems pretty hopeless. One can escape a rut with a little help from one...more
This might be a book you would enjoy if tales of love are what you like. It follows the life and deep love between many characters; husbands and wives, parents to their children. If you fear that you would be reading fluff then you would be wrong. Two Rivers is rich in both imagery and symbolism. It is also a fictional telling of life during the tumultuous era of the civil rights movement and Vietnam War. I was most touched by the way the story made me appreciate the depths of sorrow turning eve...more
This novel takes place in northern VT in 1980, with many flashbacks to the '60's. It is a story of a 34 year old man who is struggling to raise his 12 year old daughter while mourning the tragic death of his wife. When a pregnant black teenager from the South asks if she can stay with him and his daughter after a train wreck in his town, he is forced to revisit his past. The story is well-written, but I didn't really like the main character, and I thought the whole plot was pretty far-fetched. A...more
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T. Greenwood is the author of seven novels. She has received grants from the Sherwood Anderson Foundation, the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and, most recently, the Maryland State Arts Council. Two Rivers was named Best General Fiction Book at the San Diego Book Awards last year. Four of her novels have been BookSense76/IndieBound picks; THIS GLITTERING WOR...more
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“... I'm a half-empty kind of girl.”
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6 people liked it
“The Chinese philosopher Mencius believed that man is innately good. He argued that anyone who saw a child falling into a well would immediately feel shock and alarm, and that this impulse, this universal capacity for commiseration, was proof positive that man is inherently good.”
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