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The River Wife
A modern fable about the price we pay for love - a magical and truly original novel.
'One day love lay down by the river. He slept in a blue patterned shirt and through the afternoon he did not stir but dreamed with the river's song beside him. When he woke he saw me.
Love was not the pattern of leaves and the texture of bark, it was not the underbelly of river or the way of fish, though all that was here was part of it. Love was the passing of the sky across a face, it was the arc of conversation, the thought of forever, the yearning to go on and never back, the desire to be something other than I was.
This is the story of a river and the making of stories and the nature of love. Some would say that any story of water is always a story of magic, and others would say any story of love was the same. And being a love story it begins with a broken heart.'
The River Wife is a fable both ancient and modern. The river wife - a woman by day and a fish by night - is bound by the river she tends but falls in love with a man. Tender and melancholy, it speaks to desire and love, mothers and daughters, kinship and care, duty and sacrifice, water and wisdom. The River Wife is a magical, grave and beautiful myth - a true original.
'The River Wife holds stories within stories and they are all woven together with a compassionate and unique hand.' Readings
'Few Australians have chosen to write fables that take shape-changing as their central theme. The River Wife tells her story in intimate, seductive prose. A love story must engage readers and persuade them to believe as well. And this one does. The emotions are unfalteringly subtle and persuasive.' The Sydney Morning Herald
'A cool and luscious fable of love ... passionate and tantalising, elegiac and profound ... There are echoes of Oscar Wilde's fairy tales, Anna Livia Plurabelle from James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake, and even Murray Bail's Eucalyptus. Replete with sensuous, evocative language.' The Canberra Times
'From the first pages of The River Wife, the reader is struck by the beauty of the prose. There is a fluid brook-like quality to the writing. (A celebration of) the beauty of nature and the enduring power of story.' The Age
Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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613 people want to read
About the author
Heather Rose
7 books493 followersHeather Rose is the bestselling Australian author of eight novels. Heather writes for both adults and children. Her adult novels include Bruny, The Museum of Modern Love, The River Wife & The Butterfly Man.
The Museum of Modern Love won the 2017 Stella Prize, the Christina Stead Prize and the Margaret Scott Prize. It was shortlisted for the Australian Literary Society Medal and longlisted for the IMPAC Awards. It has been published internationally and translated into numerous languages. Both stage and screen rights have been acquired.
Bruny, published 2019, is a political thriller, family saga and a novel about the new world order. described as 'more a hand grenade than a book' What would you do to protect the place you love? And how far will the Australian government go to placate foreign interests?
Heather’s first novel White Heart was published in 1999. It was followed by The Butterfly Man in 2005 – a story based on the disappearance of British peer Lord Lucan in 1974. The Butterfly Man was longlisted for the IMPAC Awards, shortlisted for the Nita B Kibble Award and won the 2006 Davitt Award for the Crime Fiction Novel of the Year written by an Australian woman.
Heather writes the acclaimed Tuesday McGillycuddy series for children under the pen name Angelica Banks with award-winning author Danielle Wood. The series begins with Finding Serendipity with sequels A Week Without Tuesday and Blueberry Pancakes Forever. The novels have been shortlisted for the Aurealis Awards for best fantasy children's fiction and are published internationally.
Heather lives on the island of Tasmania.
The Museum of Modern Love won the 2017 Stella Prize, the Christina Stead Prize and the Margaret Scott Prize. It was shortlisted for the Australian Literary Society Medal and longlisted for the IMPAC Awards. It has been published internationally and translated into numerous languages. Both stage and screen rights have been acquired.
Bruny, published 2019, is a political thriller, family saga and a novel about the new world order. described as 'more a hand grenade than a book' What would you do to protect the place you love? And how far will the Australian government go to placate foreign interests?
Heather’s first novel White Heart was published in 1999. It was followed by The Butterfly Man in 2005 – a story based on the disappearance of British peer Lord Lucan in 1974. The Butterfly Man was longlisted for the IMPAC Awards, shortlisted for the Nita B Kibble Award and won the 2006 Davitt Award for the Crime Fiction Novel of the Year written by an Australian woman.
Heather writes the acclaimed Tuesday McGillycuddy series for children under the pen name Angelica Banks with award-winning author Danielle Wood. The series begins with Finding Serendipity with sequels A Week Without Tuesday and Blueberry Pancakes Forever. The novels have been shortlisted for the Aurealis Awards for best fantasy children's fiction and are published internationally.
Heather lives on the island of Tasmania.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
September 16, 2012
Definitely a 5 out of 5. A combination of Magic Realism and new fairytale. This is a naive read with deep insight. It asks the reader to be other than a rational adult but to step out in a world between dream and reality. It maps a path of life, the ebb and flow of season and daily events, and the need to know who we are and where we come from.
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February 13, 2018This is a little gem of a book...it is tiny and pretty, to hold it in your hands is like holding a gem, to read its words...every sentence is a jewel. It is like nothing else on the Australian literary landscape...but feel free to correct me if I am wrong. I would love to know if there are others in Australia writing like this. Heather Rose's talent is simply remarkable.
April 1, 2020
After reading Heather Rose’s magnificent, Bruny, I was very keen to discover more of her work, feeling terrible that I hadn’t years ago. And so I came to read the sublime The River Wife.
A short novel, this is more like a fable, a beautifully rendered, languid, heart-aching story of love, nature, trust, belonging and longing. It tells the story of a woman who is also part fish, what we would call a mermaid, who falls in love with a human man. Responsible for the river, for the ebb and flow of the waters, the creatures that dwell within and in complete accord with nature, the river wife is a mysterious eternal and maternal figure. Already the product herself of a love affair between species, she doesn’t question her feelings for the man who, unlike others, enters her realm, but cautiously allows them to envelop her.
But the love between a mortal and a mystical being is something that cannot really exist, since both are beholden to different temporal and corporeal expectations. And so, in the seeds of love are sewn the means of its inevitable demise.
This is just an exquisite tale. I became caught up in the magic of the narrative, of the way Rose uses language, like poetry, to sweep you gently into the world and time she creates and take you with her on this remarkable, beautiful journey.
I loved it and felt crushed when it finished. I will read it again soon.
A short novel, this is more like a fable, a beautifully rendered, languid, heart-aching story of love, nature, trust, belonging and longing. It tells the story of a woman who is also part fish, what we would call a mermaid, who falls in love with a human man. Responsible for the river, for the ebb and flow of the waters, the creatures that dwell within and in complete accord with nature, the river wife is a mysterious eternal and maternal figure. Already the product herself of a love affair between species, she doesn’t question her feelings for the man who, unlike others, enters her realm, but cautiously allows them to envelop her.
But the love between a mortal and a mystical being is something that cannot really exist, since both are beholden to different temporal and corporeal expectations. And so, in the seeds of love are sewn the means of its inevitable demise.
This is just an exquisite tale. I became caught up in the magic of the narrative, of the way Rose uses language, like poetry, to sweep you gently into the world and time she creates and take you with her on this remarkable, beautiful journey.
I loved it and felt crushed when it finished. I will read it again soon.
August 27, 2020
This is a beautiful book, mystical and melancholy, full of wisdom and beauty. I could not put it down but now that I’m finished I wish I had lingered over it more. Heather Rose is a master storyteller and this is some of her finest work. I would give it six stars if I could.
May 23, 2013
The river wife is a woman by day and a fish by night. She has a duty to tend the river. When she falls in love a man named Wilson James, the balance of nature is upset and she must do what she can to save the one she loves.
The title, cover and blurb lured me in with promises of gentle magic. But then I read the first sentence...
“As the sun crests the dark line of the land, I wake and step from the river, and that in itself is what is called magic.”
...and had to put the book down. It was a bit too intense for me, though I can see the same sentence inducing others to fall instantly in love.
Knowing that I was prejudiced, I tried to keep an open mind and almost succeeded in imagining myself charmed by the very lyric, very poetic and very pretty writing. The book is full of passages like
and
Now, a couple of phrases like that now and then I could have dealt with. However, the entire book is written this way. Personally, I find this sort of prose – when it's constantly like this – to be a bit too much; it's the literary equivalent of drinking a bowl of honey. As I read, I felt my mind closing, resisting the writing, and I hated myself for it. I started noticing things like how the author likes to use lists in descriptions and how sometimes verbs seemed to be missing from sentences. I started mentally screaming “what does that even mean?” when I read about how the river wife wove the stories into the water and listened to songs the river brought her – because that's as far as it goes, there's nothing about why this is done or what it means to weave stories. Furthermore, the words “stories” and “songs” end up being used so often that they lose all meaning.
Despite my dislike of the writing, on a macro scale it suited the story very well. It's a love story at heart and the lyrical writing suits the magical, otherworldly nature of the river wife herself. As you might expect then, the love between the river wife and Wilson James doesn't spring from things like compatible personalities and shared interests – it's more of a mutual admiration of each other's exoticism and being; they just are in love and that's just how it is. The start of the book largely consists of the heroine's musings on her pre-Wilson James life, the middle consists of her Wilson James life, and a relatively action-packed Wilson James-related plot emerges in the last fifth of the book. It's a short and simple story, couched in poetry. However, I feel that the style gives it the illusion of depth, rather than actual depth itself.
I think most people will either love or hate this book. The writing is so stylised that there isn't much room for a middle ground. It's a lovely mood piece; Rose evokes the earthy, magical atmosphere very well. In the end, however, it was simply not for me.
The title, cover and blurb lured me in with promises of gentle magic. But then I read the first sentence...
“As the sun crests the dark line of the land, I wake and step from the river, and that in itself is what is called magic.”
...and had to put the book down. It was a bit too intense for me, though I can see the same sentence inducing others to fall instantly in love.
Knowing that I was prejudiced, I tried to keep an open mind and almost succeeded in imagining myself charmed by the very lyric, very poetic and very pretty writing. The book is full of passages like
“My father's face softened into the kindness of moss that grows in the furrows of trees and asks for nothing but dappled light and the touch of rain.”
and
“He held me to him and his skin stole warmth from the closeness of our blood. The days of longing for him, the coldness of his skin, the taste of his tongue, the stretch of his legs, the colour of his eyes, the texture of his breath on my skin, the weight of him above me and in me and with me, so sharp and sweet was the relief of it, so deep and urgent and shuddering. And then he held me and said, 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry.'”.
Now, a couple of phrases like that now and then I could have dealt with. However, the entire book is written this way. Personally, I find this sort of prose – when it's constantly like this – to be a bit too much; it's the literary equivalent of drinking a bowl of honey. As I read, I felt my mind closing, resisting the writing, and I hated myself for it. I started noticing things like how the author likes to use lists in descriptions and how sometimes verbs seemed to be missing from sentences. I started mentally screaming “what does that even mean?” when I read about how the river wife wove the stories into the water and listened to songs the river brought her – because that's as far as it goes, there's nothing about why this is done or what it means to weave stories. Furthermore, the words “stories” and “songs” end up being used so often that they lose all meaning.
Despite my dislike of the writing, on a macro scale it suited the story very well. It's a love story at heart and the lyrical writing suits the magical, otherworldly nature of the river wife herself. As you might expect then, the love between the river wife and Wilson James doesn't spring from things like compatible personalities and shared interests – it's more of a mutual admiration of each other's exoticism and being; they just are in love and that's just how it is. The start of the book largely consists of the heroine's musings on her pre-Wilson James life, the middle consists of her Wilson James life, and a relatively action-packed Wilson James-related plot emerges in the last fifth of the book. It's a short and simple story, couched in poetry. However, I feel that the style gives it the illusion of depth, rather than actual depth itself.
I think most people will either love or hate this book. The writing is so stylised that there isn't much room for a middle ground. It's a lovely mood piece; Rose evokes the earthy, magical atmosphere very well. In the end, however, it was simply not for me.
April 28, 2021
Love, I came to see, was not simply a river; it was an ocean few crossed with ease. Perhaps it was not the crossing that mattered but the boat that it was built to travel in.
Riddles such as this pepper this delightful little fable and the fable itself is contained in a beautiful little hardcover with a black ribbon bookmark.
I've tried once before to read this but seemed easily distracted, it's probably a tale that you need to be in the right mood for but once you are it's a beautiful way to spend a few hours in.
I think I've read everything else that Heather Rose has written now except for White Heart, which I don't recall ever seeing. Must track down a copy, I adore her writing and it seems that there is no style of writing that she can't put her hand to.
Riddles such as this pepper this delightful little fable and the fable itself is contained in a beautiful little hardcover with a black ribbon bookmark.
I've tried once before to read this but seemed easily distracted, it's probably a tale that you need to be in the right mood for but once you are it's a beautiful way to spend a few hours in.
I think I've read everything else that Heather Rose has written now except for White Heart, which I don't recall ever seeing. Must track down a copy, I adore her writing and it seems that there is no style of writing that she can't put her hand to.
January 2, 2019
Unlike Wilson James, the author character in the book who believed he had only written two sentences ever that he liked, Heather Rose has artfully crafted too many exquisite sentences. I wanted to write them all down lest they be lost to me. I believe it was her intention for us to question our relationship with this precious and only earth of ours. Who among us will remember the songs of the river, mountains and trees? Her story speaks of love and sacrifice, but I'm not sure we are all as yet ready to hear it.
October 28, 2021
Like a poem flowing towards the sea. Stunning, lyrical and mythical.
October 5, 2009
A young girl grows up in the forest, all alone but for her father, who is always at her side. When she was quite young her mother left her, why she did not know. As a woman her husband leaves her, again she can not say why. The only thing she is sure of is the river and her duty to it. For she is not of our world, she is a river wife.
By day she walks the earth as a woman, weaving the stories of the river, by night she sheds her human skin for scales, swimming the rivers with only the moon for company. She has lived for a long time, and will go on living even longer. But she has been alone for a long time, even her father who sits by the river has become still and silent.
Long had she questioned her place, her world, her self? Was she a woman who turned into a fish, or was she a fish who turned into a woman? Why had everyone she had ever loved left her? Then one day love came to her river, and somehow he reached through to her world, reached through to her.
For the first time she stopped questioning, and allowed love to take her. But no matter how strong, love can not endure forever. For if it lasts through fault and temper, ultimately one or the other will succumb to death. No one can fight the inevitable, that with love there is sacrifice, and that sometimes in order to save the one you love, you must leave them.
A simple but brilliantly tender story to submerge yourself in. Uniquely stunning in its story telling, The River Wife is a heartbreakingly beautiful story that weaves love and magic with the enduring qualities of nature and time. A lovely modern fable with a timeless quality.
By day she walks the earth as a woman, weaving the stories of the river, by night she sheds her human skin for scales, swimming the rivers with only the moon for company. She has lived for a long time, and will go on living even longer. But she has been alone for a long time, even her father who sits by the river has become still and silent.
Long had she questioned her place, her world, her self? Was she a woman who turned into a fish, or was she a fish who turned into a woman? Why had everyone she had ever loved left her? Then one day love came to her river, and somehow he reached through to her world, reached through to her.
For the first time she stopped questioning, and allowed love to take her. But no matter how strong, love can not endure forever. For if it lasts through fault and temper, ultimately one or the other will succumb to death. No one can fight the inevitable, that with love there is sacrifice, and that sometimes in order to save the one you love, you must leave them.
A simple but brilliantly tender story to submerge yourself in. Uniquely stunning in its story telling, The River Wife is a heartbreakingly beautiful story that weaves love and magic with the enduring qualities of nature and time. A lovely modern fable with a timeless quality.
June 5, 2010
Heather Rose has a special place in my heart. She brings the gentle spirit of Tasmania alive in such an unpretentious way, and the way she writes is so refreshing. I agree with another reviewer that this book was definitely stronger in the second half - when the relationship between the river wife and Wilson James deepens and she truly realises what she is prepared to sacrifice for him. A few critics have made comparisons to indigenous Dreamtime storytelling, and I think it has roots here - it pays homage to traditional storytelling but makes it modern and urges the reader to ponder on the beauty of nature, and the forces that control or care for it. It is a spiritual tale, making the very valid point that there must be more to life than what we can see. The end is so sad. When the river wife is asked whether she would sacrifice her own life for Wilson James, she replies "if I do not, then I don't deserve to have loved him." I think I welled up - books don't make me do that all that often!
Although this book had it's (very minor) flaws, I think Heather Rose is a brave and fascinating writer who has done something very interesting and different with The River Wife. It is compelling and well written and absorbing, like all her work is.
Although this book had it's (very minor) flaws, I think Heather Rose is a brave and fascinating writer who has done something very interesting and different with The River Wife. It is compelling and well written and absorbing, like all her work is.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 18, 2017
“A story is always in the listening”
Sweet. Quirky. Beautifully descriptive.
A little story, full of it’s own little stories, about love and loss, and life, told in a wonderfully expressive, somewhat unexpected voice.
One of those great, effortless, lovely reads that find a way into your heart and leave a mark that will be felt for years to come.
Sweet. Quirky. Beautifully descriptive.
A little story, full of it’s own little stories, about love and loss, and life, told in a wonderfully expressive, somewhat unexpected voice.
One of those great, effortless, lovely reads that find a way into your heart and leave a mark that will be felt for years to come.
June 4, 2017
I recently read 'The Museum of Love' which I loved, so had high hopes for this. However, this is nothing like Rose's latest novel - this one is best described as 'magical realism' which is a genre that I dislike. The writing itself maybe beautiful but the storyline left me cold.
January 26, 2022
A gently magical story, a zen poem overflowing with life's lessons in the cycles of nature, desire and emotion. The interactions are gentle and patient, we meet people who are content or restless and all there stories are more sung than told. Partings and unions are the signposts of our lives and Heather Rose paints extraordinary prose pictures on unexpected canvases of meaning and metaphor. Her love of the natural world and her ability to explore it in simple words is a lesson to us all.
November 14, 2018
A gorgeous little book full of magical, beautifully visual lyrical passages. Some bits are a bit drawn out and I got lost a few times, but overall I found this to be a gem of a read that touched my heart. 3.5 stars.
September 11, 2023
This is a beautiful tale of the love. The art of tale telling has somewhat been forgotten but this short literary piece was captivating and always causing me to ask questions about the characters. Read it slow.. if you don’t savour stories don’t pick this one up.
June 22, 2025
A woman by day and a fish by night, the main character finds Wilson James asleep near her river-home and falls in love with him. This lovely story with lots of magic and love is a beautiful read, gently capturing the beauty of the landscape, especially the river.
March 13, 2026
3.5 ⭐️
A nice little fairytale about the river wife who is women by day and fish by night. The river wife lives for years alone along the river until she falls in love with a mortal man ‘Wilson James’.
A nice little fairytale about the river wife who is women by day and fish by night. The river wife lives for years alone along the river until she falls in love with a mortal man ‘Wilson James’.
April 30, 2019
A simple read that holds a lovely sentiment
May 3, 2019
Beautifully written but not for me. I gave it fifty pages but just not getting into the fable.
August 26, 2019
Herman Hesse, but written by Heather Rose in tasmania. I loved every single second of this novel and know I will read it many times.
January 11, 2021
After reading Bruny I’ve ordered in Heather Rose to read. As beautiful this book feels + looks it was a little too ‘fairytale’ for me + I couldn’t keep track of happenings.
March 10, 2022
Loved this book. Such a mystical story - and so beautifully written.
March 29, 2022
The most beautiful storytelling, I loved this book!
June 26, 2025
Beautiful prose. A story of sense of self through life and love, and change and sacrifice.
November 11, 2025
Absolutely beautiful book.
August 11, 2021
couldn't finish this, I found it quite boring
February 19, 2020
Not an easy read, it's somewhat of an extended metaphor and the language is deceptively simple. Conceptually complex and both powerful and tender. The prose is described as intimate and seductive and it certainly meets those criteria. Mystical and beautifully crafted.
October 10, 2016
I bought this second hand because I loved the bright cover, knowing nothing about the book. Then I realised the author was Tasmanian and I was about to travel to Tassie for a long weekend, so took it with me. This book is very poetic, but that's really not my thing. I'm certain some people would really love it, and it's very well written. I know it's purely personal taste, and the author certainly has talent. It's just not my style. I was thankful that it was a very short book and only took about 2½ hours to get through.
I was really hoping (and expecting) a happy ending, but the ending just further disappointed me.
I was really hoping (and expecting) a happy ending, but the ending just further disappointed me.
March 27, 2010
i'd like to give this an extra half star -- somewhere between 'i liked it' and 'i really liked it'. stronger in the second half than in the first, beautifully sad at the end, it still strayed sometimes into twee, lists that went on a little too long; it felt somehow like something unfinished. i found the illustration intrusive, coming as it did, seemingly at random. i want to like it more than i do; i like it less than i feel i ought.
June 11, 2012
I bought this book while in Tasmania for a school camp, found it in a small book store in the middle of nowhere and somehow feel in love with it straight away, but... it wasn’t as good as what i hoped for or expected. It wasn’t something that made me turn pages, but still was overall interesting to read :)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews