River of Heaven

by Lee Martin

“You have to know the rest of my story, the part I can’t yet bring myself to say. A story of a boy I knew a long time ago and a brother I loved and then lost.” Past and present collide in Lee Martin’s highly anticipated novel of a man, his brother, and the dark secret that both connects and divides them. Haunting and beautifully wrought, River of Heaven weaves a story of love and loss, confession and redemption, and the mystery buried with a boy named Dewey Finn.On an April evening in 1955, Dewey died on the railroad tracks outside Mt. Gilead, Illinois, and the mystery of his death still confounds the people of this small town. River of Heaven begins some fifty years later and centers on the story of Dewey’s boyhood friend Sam Brady, whose solitary adult life is much formed by what really went on in the days leading up to that evening at the tracks. It’s a story he’d do anything to keep from telling, but when his brother, Cal, returns to Mt. Gilead after decades of self-exile, it threatens to come to the surface.A Pulitzer Prize finalist for The Bright Forever, Lee Martin masterfully conveys, with a voice that is at once distinct and lyrical, one man’s struggle to come to terms with the outcome of his life. Powerful and captivating, River of Heaven is about the high cost of living a lie, the chains that bind us to our past, and the obligations we have to those we love.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Literary Fiction, LGBT, Adult, Adult Fiction, Realistic Fiction

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 15, 2008

About the author

Lee Martin is the author of the novels, The Bright Forever, a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction; River of Heaven; Quakertown; Break the Skin; Yours, Jean; The Glassmaker's Wife; and the soon-to-be-released, The Evening Shades. He has also published four memoirs, From Our House, Turning Bones, Such a Life, and Gone the Hard Road. His first book was the short story collection, The Least You Need To Know, and he recently published another, The Mutual UFO Netwlrk. He is the co-editor of Passing the Word: Writers on Their Mentors. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in such places as Harper's, Ms., Creative Nonfiction, The Georgia Review, The Kenyon Review, Fourth Genre, River Teeth, The Southern Review, Prairie Schooner, and Glimmer Train. He is the winner of the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ohio Arts Council. He teaches in the MFA Program at The Ohio State University, where he was the winner of the 2006 Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching.

Reviews

[Will Byrnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

What can I tell her about mistakes, about the things we shouldn’t have done? They’re ours forever. We carry them just under our skin, the scars of our living.

Ripped from the headlines. Lee Martin came across an article in his wife's hometown newspaper about a man who had made his pooch a doghouse that looked like a sailboat, and wondered what sort of person might do that. That was the beginning. The man he imagines is Sam Brady, 65, closeted, lonely living in the town of Mount Gilead. In the bible, Gilead refers to testimony or witness, so someone is gonna be revealing something.

Sam has been carrying a secret inside since 1955. It has to do with the death of his boyhood friend, Dewey Finn. Whatever the surrounding events, it is Sam's journey from secrecy to confession that is at the core of this novel. Turns out Sam is not the only one with a secret in this town.

Brady's life is turned upside down with the discovery of a teenage girl in his yard. Maddie is the granddaughter of Sam's next-door neighbor. Arthur is retired Navy and enjoys peppering his speech with nautical references. He is a widower or recent vintage and his loneliness is palpable. He inserts himself into Sam's life, for good or ill. One good is his input into Sam's plan to build a new doghouse for his beloved basset, Stump. A simple doghouse becomes more of an Arc, and the subject of considerable intrest and admiration. So Sam, having kept mostly to himself most of his life now has not only a new buddy in Arthur, an affection for the lost Maddie,

I don’t know anything about his granddaughter, only that she was nice to Stump and he seemed to take to her, and. Although it surprised me to find her in my side yard, it wasn’t at all an unsettling surprise; it was, if anything, a little wrinkle I didn’t mind. A little zest, Vera would say. A little shazam to give the blah-blah-blah a kick.

strangers stopping by to look at the structure and a reporter from a local paper wanting to write a human interest story about it and about Sam. The reporter is interested in more than the doghouse though, and Sam becomes alarmed that his secret is in danger of being exposed. The world pokes into his life in another way when he sees a report on CNN about a hostage crisis, one in which his older brother, Cal, out of touch for many, many years, is a participant. It is more than merely human company that intrudes on Sam's life. Danger arrives along with his brother.

This book was my introduction to the writing of Lee Martin. He was a Pulitzer finalist for his novel The Bright Forever in 2006, so one makes certain presumptions. I found some of those presumptions to be well-founded and some not so much. The best element of the book was the gentle portrayal of Sam and his cohorts. There is nothing flashy here, no neon in the writing. It is all
Midwestern understatement, contained, controlled, and effective. I was reminded of the writing of Kent Haruf, who also casts his gaze on the lives of some older sorts being upended by the presence of the young. You will definitely feel for Martin's characters. They are so lovingly portrayed. Martin peppers his tale with bits of quirky charm that add to this warmth. The doghouse, of course, Sam dressing his dog in a silly outfit, a few boys skating by Sam's and engaging in goofy banter. There is a lot here about needing, seeking and finding love in various ways.

There is also a layer of danger and violence that mirrors the guilt felt by several of the main characters, entailing content on anti-government militia sorts. I found some elements of this less believable. And there is an execution element that I thought to be just too much. In a high-danger situation, a character interrupts by sleepwalking through. I found this to be not credible, and it disturbed the flow of the story. There were also a few too many coincidences for comfort.

There is considerable content in River of Heaven. Can the entirety of our lives be determined by the choices we make as young people? Does confessing our sins help or just make matters worse?

River of Heaven is a lovely book, with plenty of well-crafted characters, warm-hearted content, some sorrow, some joy and a bit of fun to recommend it, but the flaws kept it from being a top-notch read for me.

[Vonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lee Martin is quite talented at creating an ambiance. Yes, there is no better word for it. His books create an ambiance that pulls the reader in; but unlike other authors who do the same thing, Martin's words evoke strong emotion. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, since his books seem to lean towards the depressing side. His most lauded work, "The Bright Forever", is about the kidnapping and murder of a young girl. As the narrator of the story says, "This is a story as hard to hear as it is for me to tell." That turned out to be as true for this book, "River of Heaven". As a reader, I want to be greatly moved by what I read- to tears in celebration, tears in shared pain, the inspiration to change my own life, the charged vigor for revenge on behalf of a character. Thus, I definitely appreciate and an awed by Martin's ability to depress me. on the other hand, I did need to put the book down every once in a while to take myself out of that frame of mind.

The focus in this book was on loneliness. I myself am no stranger to the draining, heart wrenching pain that loneliness can cause. I refer to the type of loneliness that is caused by secrets and by ailments that do not an easy cure; things that, even when surrounded by loved ones, are ultimately to be struggled with alone.

Here are some examples of his deeply moving words:

"Sometimes, I am learning, that is what it takes- the nearness of people- to make you feel there may be a good reason for all we suffer."

"That is what it feels like now- this night, my whole life after Dewey- a sleepy fog. I have always been trying to find the boy I was. I left him back there on the railroad singing with Dewey... One of the last times I truly felt joy."

"Now, here we are, each afraid to admit that we have reached the age where our circumstances sweep us, scared to death, into our last years."

"Please do not misunderstand. I claim no pardon for my wrong turns, but considering all that has gone on and all that is yet to come, I am content to feel the warmth of this love beginning, to call it the best thing that could have happened next in the story of my life... I will wait, my heart in my throat, scared to death, unable to stop what is coming, ready to give myself over, at last, to whatever bears down on someone- a man like me- from the other side of the darkest truth he can tell."

The characters are ones we easily begin to love.

Samuel Brady, the protagonist and narrator, a gay man who has lived lonely in every definition of the word, afraid to reveal to truth to the world. Who can blame him, when his own father shunned him upon learning the truth? His secret? Decades ago- when a boy he fell in love with who happened to love him back- threatened his ordinary way of life, he panicked and hurt him by calling him names. This led to a few of the other boys in town to rape him. Then, when he tried to redeem himself and allow himself to love Dewey Finn, his pride and fear of what others might think got in the again. When he was about to kiss Dewey for the second time, his brother Cal shows up and he shoves Dewey, trapping him on the railroad tracks. The National Limited train approaches, and Dewey cries out that he is stuck. Cal tells his brother, "Leave him." And Samuel does. The worst thing? The last thing he remembers is Dewey calling out to him, pleading him not to leave him.

Samuel is somebody that I can respect. It saddens me greatly how he has had to hide his true self from the world for almost the entirety of his life. I would like to think that this would not happen in real life today, but discrimination and hatred against the LGBT community is unfortunately still quite real and many communities and parts of this country. Like the above quote shows, he takes responsibility for his faults. No, he is not a shiny, exemplary character, but he has what is important. He is a man with integrity.

Decades later, Samuel is still living in guilt and fear, guilt of having killed Dewey, fear that someone will find him out. He has been kept company by a long long of basset hounds, his current one named Stump. (I love that his diet is canned duck and potato.) This occupies much of his time, being unemployed. His current endeavor is to build a house. Not an ordinary one, however. A ship. He learns that the ancient builders of ships had have faith comma to put all their heart and soul into it, then set it out to sea with no guarantee that it would ever return to Port. Most importantly, they built ships with which the sailors could easily watch the stars to guide them. The North Star poked a hole through the top of the sky. The Milky Way was a river running from heaven .

Arthur Pope, his neighbor, as lonely as well, I recently having to endure the loss of his longtime wife. He is the one who helps Samuel build the ship, as well as introduce him to The Seasoned Chefs, men that meet weekly to learn new cooking techniques. Arthur has his own secret. He was one of the boys who was there when Dewey was raped. He also followed Dewey that day to the train tracks. To do what? It was never quite revealed.

Arthur's granddaughter Madeline shows up soon after our story begins. In fact, she makes her first appearance in the ship. She quickly bonds with Samuel and begins to live with him since she is having a difficult time getting along with Arthur at the moment. It is Maddie who opens Samuel's great and shows him that he does indeed have the capacity to love again; that Dewey did not freeze his heart forever. I loved Maddie for her fierceness, and her perseverance despite the pain we know she has had to endure (a mere teenager, her drug addicted mother had left her to freeze in the snow). Yes, she does remind me of me.

Samuel's older brother, Cal moved away years ago to escape the Dewey situation, but shows up again now, after being caught in the middle of a terrorist hostage situation. Cal is the one character I felt a little empathy for, his pain, his inability to reconcile with the past, but still did not like him at all. We find out he was actually involved with the plot, albeit in a small way. Is always running away from things. and not responsibility for it. He abandoned his younger brother years ago, after being the one who shamed him into deserting Dewey Finn on the train tracks. He then abandons him two more times, once with his dog (fortunately were eventually reunited), and more time after he kills Zwilling. Why else do I dislike him? He is directly responsible for leading Zwilling, the real time terrorist, to his brothers place and murdering Arthur.

Alas, added to the drama is the reporter who comes to write a story on the ship for his local newspaper, Duncan Hines. Yes, that is his real name. ("So rich. So moist. So very Duncan Hines.") Dewey Finn is his great uncle. He feels that something was not right about the decades-old opinion that he committed suicide laying on those train tracks. He is only further emboldened by his grandmother's pain. Without any real suspects but a few suspicions, he begins to do a little investigating on his own.

Vera Moon is the archetypical outwardly-smiling-perfection-hiding-loneliness-sadness teacher of The Seasoned Chefs. She was the love interest if Cal Brady many years ago before he disappeared without any explanation to her. Since then, she did marry, but her husband is now gone and her children have moved out. She is, beneath her Martha Stewart exterior, someone with a great capacity to love but also needing it in return. After Arthur's death, she is the one who volunteers to adopt Madeline; Sadly, although Samuel would have been the obvious and best one to do this, the truth is that any adoption agency would investigate and reveal his history and preferences.

What did I not like? Two main things. One, Cal Brady. We never find out exactly involved he was in the terrorist plot or why he was killed the end. There are hints thar could have been the government keep him quiet; equally possible is that Zwilling's associates found him to avenge death.

Secondly, I disliked how Lee Martin dragged out the reveal of the story with Dewey Finn, what really occurred that night; it was referred to time and time again, taunting readers with the mystery, until the last chapter. Literally, once the story revealed, there were only five more pages in the book. Unnecessary for a great writer to do this; a great writer would be able to the reader without use of a cheap "whodunit" ploy. And I do believe Lee Martin is a great writer. Thus, unnecessary for him to do this and quite unfortunate. His mastery of words, assembling them into moving passages, have enough power on their own.

Looking forward to another Lee Martin experience.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had not read anything by Lee Martin, Pulitzer Prize Finalist for the book The Bright Forever, until this book and now I know what an amazing talent I've been missing.

River of Heaven is a bittersweet, moving novel about loneliness, forgiveness and how we touch each others lives without even knowing it. The central character is 65 year old Sam Brady who lives alone with his dog,sometimes going years without someone so much as touching him. Whether this is a self imposed exile or a societal one is up for debate--Sam is a gay man in a very small, rather close minded town. Keeping to himself is the only way to keep his secret, or so he thinks. But that's not the only secret Sam is keeping. His best friend Dewey Finn died a tragic death, ruled suicide at the time, 50 years ago. But Sam, and a handful of others, know differently. And slowly throughout the book we learn more and more of the story even as a new
mystery weaves its way into Sam's life via his estranged brother Cal. This book is beautifully written and at times I had to stop and catch my breath because the description of Sam's loneliness pierced me in such a profound way. This is not a sad book, or a happy book--it's both and more. This is a book you'll remember for a very, very, very long time.

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

I suppose that if I couldn't put down the book, it has to have 4 stars, at least, no? And this is one I couldn't stop reading, once I'd started. It's got engaging, sympathetic characters. Now, some of these characters could easily slide into stereotypes (the young teenage girl, essentially abandonded and abused, teetering on the edge of "bad girl," but with a heart of gold; the elderly widower who doesn't know quite what to do with himself; the elderly gay man who's been alone since a tragedy in his youth; etc.). On top of the obvious potential for character disaster, these people live in a small town. Not only that, they're all too good to be true. Except, of course, that they aren't, not really. Martin somehow has these sweet characters, but does not allow them to be cloying. To my way of thinking, the book is very well written, in that the writing and the style are almost invisible; they don't dominate the people or the story. Well, and if I can be sucked into a tale about folks in a small town, nice folks, you know there's some good writing going on! I mean, Sam dressed his dog in a sailor suit and I didn't gag when I read about it. So why only 4 stars instead of 5? Well, I didn't really like the ending. I don't mean that it was a bad ending or that it didn't fit or even that it wasn't dramatically necessary. I mean just what I said; I wanted a different ending. (Keep in mind that every time I see "Titanic," I want a different ending.) I can't say more without spoiling it for you and hope I haven't done that already.

[Debby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully written novel about a dark secret held by Sam and Cal Brady for 50 years; a secret that connects them and yet has alienated them for decades. This is a secret Sam Brady cannot bring himself to talk about and yet it has been at the heart of how he has lived his life ever since that evening in 1955 when Sam's 15-year-old best friend Dewey Finn died.
Like a beach ball held under water, the truth just can't be held down any longer no matter how hard yu try to keep that "secret" buried.
I HIGGHLY recommend River of Heaven as a "must-read" and Lee Martin as an author to check out!

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might be the only book I so totally agreed with the "advance praise" on the back cover, that I have nothing substantial to add.

"Few writers could unfold Sam's story with the grace and compassion of Lee Martin." --Kathryn Harrison.

"Lee Martin has created that rare thing: a literary page-turner." -- Dani Shapiro

"Lee Martin's portrait of Sam Brady, a man in fear of his life and crippled by it, lingers painfully and persuasively." -- Amy Bloom

This is the first Lee Martin book I've read; I now intend to read everything he wrote. But will you like this book?

If you want a heroic main character, this isn't your book.

If you want neatly resolved answers to all the questions, this isn't your book.

Happy ending? No.

Compelling characters who struggle to rise above the dark side of human impulses, fears, acts of injustice and meanness, and tragic mistakes? Yes.

If you can face the truth that, no matter how hard we try to make good things happen, sometimes really bad things happen, and we have no choice but to deal with the aftermath of tragedy--you might like this book. Because it's true: Lee Martin explores the tragedy of being human with uncommon grace and compassion that redeem this story.

Without the light of his sensibility--that grace exists, that compassion is necessary--this would be a tawdry true confession. It's definitely not the kind of story I like to read, but from the first page, I knew I was in the hands of a master craftsman, and decided to trust him to take me on a literary journey. I'm glad I went.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lee Martin is a wonderful storyteller and beautiful writer. I love the way he writes his characters....he pulled me right into Sam Brady, his dog and his cohorts. However, some of the story elements were a bit far fetched and too coincidental. I still enjoyed the book, but the ending kept it from being a 4 star book.

[Marvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful novel set in a small town in the Midwest (southern Illinois), narrated in the gentle, humble voice of a 65-year-old lifelong resident of the town. He has lived a life of isolation and loneliness ever since a devastating incident cost the life of a boy he loved, the secret details of which he shares only with his older brother, who has disappeared from his life, only to reappear early on in the novel, bringing yet another devastating secret with him. (Our narrator learns of his brother while watching the news and seeing a hostage situation in Edon, Ohio--about 15 miles from my own home town in northwestern Ohio--with a prior incident in Bryan, Ohio, just 6 miles from my home town, playing a small but critical role as well.) As the story develops, our narrator slowly begins to let a small group of good souls into his life. Small acts of neighborly kindness begin to transform him. He's not quite able to forgive himself, but he can begin to face the future thinking about his potential to touch people with goodness. It is this struggle between cruelty and goodness that is at the heart of this touching story. For those who just want a good mystery, this has not one but two that reveal themselves with well-paced clues. But most readers will appreciate the novel's greater depths.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another truly outstanding book from Lee Martin. I loved River of Heaven, and I think it's because his characters, once again, are so wonderfully complex but still seem completely real. Also, I noticed that, again, Martin masterfully repeats a single phrase, a refrain if you will, to keep the emotional back story present in the reader's head at all times--in this book, it's two of the main characters who say, "You asleep?" to anyone who does something out of the ordinary, a shorthand comment cultivated from their childhood that constantly reminds the reader of their troubled past.

I am beginning to believe that Lee Martin is one of the best writers of our time. I would recommend this book and his last--The Bright Forever--to everyone.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an unusual story for me but a highly enjoyable one. There is a little mix of family drama, mystery, conspiracy and an unusual love story in the recipe as well.

Our narrator is a 65yo bachelor with a host of personal insecurities that are later explained. Despite the age differences, if any, most any can relate to Brady and how we tend to second guess ourselves. Brady's story also exposes how unhealthy living a life totally alone can be.

The supporting characters are a big help in moving this story as well. Personally I was unhappy with the outcome of some of the senseless violence but that I'm sure was the author's intent. Nevertheless it's Brady's personal secrets, self-pity, his many regrets and his broken heart that really hit home.

[Maicie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no idea how to rate this book. It was one I gladly gave up sleep for to finish but there was so much I didn't like about the story. In particular, there is one scene that involves a gun and hostages and a sleep-walking child. WTF?

Still, I have to admit that I couldn't wait to finish it and there were some nice surprises in the end. I'm going to go with 3 1/2 stars and round up to 4. And I am definitely going to read the author's "The Bright Forever."

[Tara Trainor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lee Martin did an incredible job of making his characters come alive. They became my friends. I loved the underlying mystery to it all and cried and laughed with each chapter. I also liked and cared for each character. I really enjoyed this book!!!!

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping story about the yearning for close relationships, the inescapable effects they have on us, and how we pull each other through the events in our lives.

[Mie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly great read....not a book I would have picked up but a friend of mine read it and liked it....I am glad I read it as well. Will read other books written by Lee Martin!

[Kate Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. A couple months after reading The Bright Forever, which I also loved, I gave Late One Night a one-star review and lost my enthusiasm to breeze through the rest of Martin's books. I had River of Heaven on my shelf for a while, but once I got around to reading it, I finished it in two days.

The main character Sammy reminded me of Henry in the Bright Forever. He has led a deeply lonely life filled with heartbreaking longing and regret. He has terrible secrets and admits upfront that he's not ready to share the whole truth yet.

There are a couple major questions that Sammy is slowly answering or coming to conclusions about, but they are only loosely mysteries. You understand the gist of what happened 50 years ago, so the the specifics are not surprising; yet the scenes still manage to be shocking and emotional because of the powerful writing.

The questions about his brother's recent past are similar in that Sammy is given the major pieces and then uncovers new layers and reexamines what he's been told. The exact truth didn't seem that important. I was more interested in Cal's intentions toward Sammy, his credibility and motives. Family relationships, and especially the bond between brothers, is a major theme.

There are many coincidences, but the narrator calls them out as the mysterious, regular coincidences of everyone's lives (that, to him, signal there must be an order to things, an intentional path leading to this moment and the next). Even when something was too convenient the Coke bottle, the out-of-nowhere cartoon-style sleepwalking, there was enough room to believe the narrator might be mistaken or twisting his memory. That being said, I could have passed on the the government conspiracy angle and the whole Zwiller character.

The author is big on forgiveness. And not differentiating between misdeeds: We are all sinners. We have all made terrible choices we can't undo. In Late One Night this is taken to an outrageous extreme. River of Heaven generally handles these concepts more delicately. However, I hated the wayArthur's confession played out. Sammy has been feeling guilty for decades, not only because he pushed Dewey and then let him get crushed by a train, but that his jeering comments made other boys mock and bully him. When he finds out that, rather than the teasing he felt so guilty about, three boys sexually assaulted him, this does not faze him the way it should. Nor does it have any real impact on what he thinks of his best friend who was the ringleader. It's not like Arthur's wracked with guilt. His apology includes that the assault "showed him what he was" and his indignation that Dewey wanted to tell. (The mere fact that Arthur shares this at all is the least believable thing that happens in the book. It is entirely out of character. And how are we supposed to believe this small midwestern town has such hard, old-fashioned beliefs about gay people and accept that Arthur, old-fashioned, elderly Navy man, would admit he forced a man to give him a blow job?) Sammy's response is to pass no judgement, just feel a little sick and remind himself that things like that did happen in his town.

And when the moments before Dewey's death are revealed, which occur maybe a day after the assault, Dewey appears unafraid, not at all traumatized or guarded. The combined lack of outrage from Sammy, cavalier non-apology from Arthur, and happy-go-lucky portrayal of Dewey trivializes the whole thing. This was tolerable only because Arthur was quickly killed after confessing.

While I found this book deeply moving and memorable, I think a lot of readers would be bored and/or depressed. Not for everyone.

[Floyd Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lee Martin may just be one of our least known national treasures.

A long time ago, I was on the the Dublin Literary Award committee for Cleveland Public Library. We would read some twenty-five literary novels a year and make our recommendation for the award. We were at the end of our time for the year when someone mentioned he had just finished a book by Lee Martin, The Bright Forever. It eventually became our nominee for the year. The book was published in 2005, so this was probably in 2006. It didn't even make the long list that year, but it made my short list for one of the greatest books I've ever read.

And so Lee Martin became a writer I'd look for when scouring used book stores. I bought River of Heaven years ago and there it sat on my shelf unread. Until I saw he was doing a book tour for a new book. And so, I brought it out and just finished it.

Again, what a book! Besides spinning a yarn with wonderful characters, all well-painted and detailed, it is the life lessons he imparts in his writing, so gentle and soothing. Think of the opposite of Cormac McCarthy, spilling out philosophy in a totally different way.

I'll leave the details to other reviewers. But, if you happen to be wandering through a bookstore, wander over to the fiction and start with the letter M. If you happen upon any Lee Martin book, you will most likely be richly rewarded.

Highly recommended.

[Richard Wagner · Rating 1 out of 5]

decent enough story, but the story telling is like a maudlin hallmark movie. oh and another thing, the author is forever repeating himself. he moves the plot along a few inches then does a recap. WHAT? this happens over and over again. it's like Martin doesn't think his audience can follow a simple plot. the novel would have been much better had the author done less recapping and invested that energy into fleshing out his paper thin characters.

[Therese Dotray-Tulloch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the writing of this sentimental novel but the story was rather unlikely: a gay man lives his whole life hiding the secret that he pushed his adolescent crush to his death on the railroad tracks near their working class neighborhood of Gilead, Ohio. Endearing characters and a happy ending.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martin gives us characters haunted by ghosts who look back on a life of wasted potential and regret. Though it’s never said, he shows just how much needless suffering comes from the self inflicted curse of masculinity’s impossible demands. An amazing, heartbreaking read.

[Soren · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Doris · Rating 5 out of 5]

It may take a while to get over this one.
This is a indeed a beautiful and haunting story. How much anguish blind
hate can cause.

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It is very well written and just a thought provoking story.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this book and liked it. It reminded me a bit of Kent Haruf’s writing (which I love).

[Kaye McSpadden · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I would have to say that overall, I enjoyed this book, but there were a couple of things that annoyed me so much, I can't recommend it.

The main thing is, it was told in first person. Now, I admit that I'm already biased because generally speaking, I don't care for first-person narratives, but sometimes it works fine. Sometimes, in fact, a story NEEDS to be told in first person. This one didn't. There were several interesting characters in this story who I would have liked to get to know better, including Sam's brother Cal, his neighbor Arthur and Arthur's teenage granddaughter Maddie. But because everything is told from the point of view of Sam, you just can't. Also, everything is told in present tense, a writing style which I thought was a bit clunky. But what I really found annoying is the fact that you know from the very beginning that Sam has some sort of horrible, deep secret, but he doesn't reveal it until the very end of the book. This would have been okay if the story had unfolded differently and/or the narrative had been told in a different way, but because Sam himself is telling the story, I thought this was kind of cheap -- a way to make sure you keep reading until the end.

Now, as to the story itself, I thought it was terrific, and I hope someone makes a movie of it. It was quite unique -- a story about a lonely, middle-aged gay man whose life finds new breath as a result of a friendship with a kooky neighbor and his granddaughter and a whole cast of interesting characters. His relationship with his brother and the terrible secret they share was also compelling, but I thought his brother's story was unnecessarily convoluted.

There are some wonderful themes in the book dealing with guilt, friendship, family relationships, etc, and there definitely are some beautiful passages here and there, especially when Sam is reflecting upon his life. However, IMO, the author's writing choices don't do the story justice.

[Laura Belgrave · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a while since I've read anything mainstream -- or what I regard as mainstream -- and I'm so glad that my return to it was with this novel by Lee Martin. (I won't bore you with a plot summary; you can read that anywhere.)

Anyway, oh, sure, the story is a little sappy toward the end. Martin didn't need to express exactly what his main character had learned to the degree that he did. I could've figured that out all by myself. But the rest of the story was so rich with emotion, a plain but captivating style, character, and family conflict that I could barely put the book down. And I loved the way Martin showed the value of "strangers meeting in the night," even if that's not exactly how things happen in the story. Still, all of these elements are marks of a pretty damned good book.

An aside: One thing I particularly liked about River of Heaven was its reliance on characters that by any stretch fall into the so-called "senior citizen" category. So many books dote on 20- to 40-year-old characters that you'd almost think no one lived beyond those ages, let alone continued to grow or enrich the lives of others. That's a disgraceful and sad bias, and though it's less obvious in novels than in film, clearly it's there. Those who write and those who produce films are still stuck with a fixation on youth. Martin puts that to rest with eloquence and genuine feeling.

P.S. I read the Kindle edition.

[Russ Jarvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard Lee Martin at the Midwest Writers' Workshop in Muncie, IN this July and knew I wanted to get into his writing. This is not the kind of book that I normally read, but after reading it I wonder why I wouldn't. I quickly cared about the characters and the small town setting he created. I also came to care about my own life in a deeper and more hopeful way. I saw it as a great treatment of how one's spirituality develops and deforms in relationship with other people.

Martin's writing style is so moving and colorful. Here are some examples:

"I wondered what it would be like to be so in love with your life that you could reach our to strangers that way." (108)

"This is the home of a man who has lost faith and has decided that the world can go on without him." (113)

"One we know the hidden life, the secrets someone carries, how can it not be ours? How can it not be something we live? . . .My life used to be so simple . . .Now here are all these people. Now I have all their stories." (133)

"It's enough to make me glad for all the days and months and years that have added up to this." (147)

"It takes just the nearness of people to make you feel there may be a good reason for all we suffer." (198)

[Holli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Even though Sam has a dark secret from his past that has kept him isolated from the human race, the book is ultimately about how he finds his way back into the flow of life. There's Dewey Finn who died a tragic death and there's Cal, Sam's brother, who has spent his whole life running away from that death. But then there's Enis McMeanus: "I like your dog." "Oh, for a world of days like this and one Enis McMeanus after another." (p. 162) And there's Stump: "The sight of Stump, ambling along about his business, no thought in the world of how cruel people can be . . . his duck and potato, his house, a stroll through the neighborhood each morning and night" (p. 216). And there's Duncan Hines whose "talent is with the words it takes to turn all of us oddballs into the sorts of folks everyone would love to have as their neighbors" (p. 196).

This tension between good and evil, darkness and light, isolation and community, cruelty and compassion makes for a page turning plot that ultimately teaches the main character (and the reader) that "even if you've never been able to manage it before, now's the time to believe in your own good heart" (p. 232).

[Lexie · Rating 5 out of 5]

1/7/11 -- I still have 94 pages to go and I'm already giving *River of Heaven* five stars. It's the second of Lee Martin's books that I've recently read, and I'm going to read them all. This man is a consumate and merciful storyteller; *River of Heaven* has been tugging at my heart since page one. I gave *The Bright Forever* four stars; one of my friends asked me why and I had no answer. Now I do: *River of Heaven* is to my eye, even more a universal story. In *The Bright Forever*, at least one major character was irredeemably broken -- a person who could only do harm. I haven't encountered such a character in "River of Heaven* ... Here, everyone in the story is certainly 'cracked' -- as we all are, by agony and by love. There's so much human feeling in this story that we can all relate to ... This book was published three years after *The Bright Forever* ... The story shows (among its many graces) how the writer's gifts are evolving ...

More to come, after I've finished!

Qs on pages:4, 103, 108, 115, 133, 159, 191, 198, 214, 224,

[Dorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warning ** Mild spoilers, hint of ending **

A story about loneliness, growing old, and how guilt can shape a life. It's also about the simple joys of friendship and family, and seeking redemption.

Sam Brady is a sad and lonely 65-year old gay man deeply in the closet and haunted by the death of a childhood friend. His recently widowed neighbor Arthur befriends Sam and succeeds in dragging him to a cooking class for bachelors. When Arthur's troubled granddaughter comes to live with him, she and Sam connect in a way she is unable to connect with Arthur. Slowly Sam starts to come out of his shell, as his new friends push him into more social activities.

His brother Cal, who never approved of Sam's sexual orientation, comes to visit and reconcile with his brother after years of separation. But Cal brings more trouble with him than anyone expects, and violence mars the ending of this sweet, sad novel. For a literary novel this book was a real page-turner.