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Apr 24, 2009

Pamela rated it:

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 More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Jan 24, 2009

Tattered Cover added it

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 More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 05, 2009

Sista Sue rated it:

If youlike books about Family drama and love this would be a good book to read.

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jun 13, 2011

Melissa rated it:

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 More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 29, 2009

Ana rated it:

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 More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 01, 2010

Cathy rated it:

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 littl More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 31, 2010

Michael rated it:

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 More...

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Aug 07, 2011

Matthew rated it:

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 togethe More...

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May 05, 2011

Antof9 rated it:

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 prob More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 21, 2011

Heather rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Jul 15, 2009

Tandi rated it:

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 fa More...

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Jan 22, 2011

Shari rated it:

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...

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Feb 17, 2009

Carol rated it:

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 daugh More...

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Mar 20, 2009

Mary rated it:

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 Vermo More...

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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...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 24, 2010

marg rated it:

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 chapt More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 13, 2012

Tamra rated it:

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, man More...

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Jul 30, 2011

Sarah rated it:

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 al More...

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Jan 17, 2011

Phair rated it:

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 of More...

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Aug 31, 2010

Ann rated it:

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 fr More...

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Jan 27, 2011

L rated it:

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...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 11, 2012

Tina rated it:

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 More...

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Feb 17, 2010

Kami rated it:

I got this book on my Kindle because it was featured as a free book for a day or so. I figured I would get back to it, I mean what kind of a person turns down a free book? Anyway, I started reading it, and I was almost instantly hooked. Just how Greenwood writes is one of the most eloquent and unique styles I have ever read.
It starts out with a train crash in Two Rivers, and brings Harper Montgomery and Maggie together.
As the story progresses, you find how one action ties to another More...

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Sep 20, 2010

Traci rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Mar 14, 2011

Joy rated it:

Throoughly recommend this. Its beautifully written and a good story, with the social background of the civil rights movement, and an exploration of the place and challenges of American women at the time - before Feminism broke boundaries and constraints - woven in well. A love story, with characters I enjoyed spending my reading time with. My one small conplaint - why didnt the editor correct the two occasions in which the wrong pronoun is used ("___ and I" instead of "____ and me More...

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Jun 09, 2010

Dianah rated it:

This stunning novel follows a man wrung by guilt and haunted by his past. He takes in a pregnant teenage victim of a train crash and then obsesses about the true nature of her arrival in his life. Yes, she is there for a different reason.

His tortured history includes a revenge murder, madness, suicide, racial violence, and a long-deferred romance. This chilling, complex drama is full of true-life characters. It is a terrible, beautiful ride: you will love it.

I read More...

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Dec 20, 2008

Jackie rated it:

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 More...

0 comments like

Oct 30, 2011

Raya rated it:

I started to read this book a few months ago, but other books from the library came in and I wanted to read the other ones more than this one. So I had started this book, but intrigued enough to try to read it again a few months later.

Now I have read it. I had some high hopes of this book. Something about it made me think it was an grown up book, one that is not to be devoured, but savored. You know a compelling, thoughful book that you learn something good from.

I didn't More...

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Apr 09, 2011

Lorene rated it:

The author appears to have grand intentions here, but it was just too cliche. If I remember correctly, there was even one scene at a greasy spoon where the text actually reads, "The chowder was thick. The coffee thicker." I caught myself groaning audibly each time the author used and overused the word "quickening". And how many teenage boys refer to a boner or a hard on as a "quickening in their thighs"? Maybe it was just a bit much for this author to attempt t More...

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Oct 07, 2010

Jodie rated it:

3.5 stars. Gosh I feel like a bit of a miser giving it only 3.5 because the writing was beautiful, really moving prose. In some lines I felt my hand involuntarily touch my heart it was that good of a love story. So the rub for me is the BIG moments, there were just too many massive, spin your world on its axis and you come crashing down scenarios. I just ended up thinking how many rabbits can Ms Greenwood pull out of this hat? At least one too many for me so that I ended losing sight of the pros More...

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