Review of Little Lost River: A Novel (WEST WORD FICTION) (Hardcover)

We all know that you can't judge a book by its cover, but if we didn't know that we would go for this book at first touch. Holding Little Lost River in your hands, it feels substantial, solid, like it is meant to endure. The cloth binding backed by a page of quality paper with actual texture harkens back to the days when publishers offered substance to their readers. Best of all, Johnston's writing in this book matches the vessel that bears it: substantial, enduring, endearing. Johnston shows us the textures of life in the everyday places we live. She is especially successful at using metaphors that are both subtle and expansive. The title of the book comes from a river that runs "underground and [shows] up again a hundred miles away, in tiny springs that barely resembles the river it used to be." (264) This provides a guiding image for the unforeseen flow of life that Cindy and Frances experience. Along the way, the conversing reflections between the two young women are moving. As I listened alternatively to Fran and Cindy each sharing her perspective on life, I came to understand my own life better. I remembered that some people who made little more than a cameo in my life have still left a deep impression. I saw how I often judge too quickly before knowing the journey that has made people who they are. And more importantly, I learned again that tracing that journey along side of a person can awaken compassion to replace the hastily made verdict. Bubbling up in the middle of the book is the voice of another young woman that works this miracle well. This beautifully bound book covers life in its highs and lows. Johnston invites us to witness life in all its fragility and the love that is necessary because of such fragility.

Product Description
Set in Boise, Idaho in the early 1980's, Little Lost River is the story of two young women who come together in the wake of tragedy.Cindy Morgan is still reeling from the loss of her mother when an accident leaves her boyfriend missing and presumed drowned. When Frances Rogers happens upon the accident site, she stays with Cindy until help arrives. In the aftermath of that night's events, as Cindy faces her future with a determination often misunderstood as indifference, Frances becomes her source of both support and compassion.

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