Audiobook Review: The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger, read by C.W. Wilson

The River We Remember
by William Kent Krueger (Compact Disc Krueger)

The River We Remember is Minnesota author William Kent Krueger’s third “stand-alone” novel in the past 10 years, outside of his Cork O’Connor series (which is at 19 volumes as of 2023). It follows in the wake of Ordinary Grace and This Tender Land. Set in 1958, The River We Remember is set in the fictional community of Jewel, Minnesota, in Black Earth County, along the banks of the Alabaster River. When Memorial Day celebrations are interrupted by the discovery of the body of one of Jewel’s most powerful men, half-eaten by catfish, in an eddy of the river, it is up to Sheriff Brody Dern to investigate. When a spot is discovered where Jimmy Quinn might have ended up in the river, with a large amount of blood, the question becomes: was this a suicide, a fatal accident, or was Jimmy Quinn murdered?

 

The narrative is told from several key characters’ points-of-view — Sheriff Dern, crusading female attorney Charlie Bauer, retired former sheriff and now part-time deputy Connie Graff, 14-year-old Scott Madison (with a hole in his heart, and a mother with secrets), and Scott’s mother Angie. When Sheriff Dern’s attempts to pass off the death as an accident aren’t successful, the ensuing investigation stirs up deep resentments and racial and ethic bigotry among the small, rural community’s citizens. Native American war hero Noah Bluestone is soon jailed for the crime, based on circumstantial evidence, and his Japanese wife Kayoko suffers harrassment. But there’s a long list of people who might wish hateful landowner Jimmy Quinn harm, and some of those people have really good reasons for their feelings.

 

Krueger is a master at creating real flesh-and-blood believable characters, with realistic dialog. His heroes and villains always have multiple layers and are never purely good or purely evil. Spreading out this story over several narrators allows a variety of different viewpoints on a complex issue, and it is sometimes the supporting cast whose experiences tug at the heartstrings the most. Krueger is also excellent at creating a “sense of place” in his novels, and The River We Remember is no exception. The streets of Jewel, the nearby farmsteads, and the various bends and eddies in the Alabaster River are brought into breathtaking life.

 

While nominally a mystery, The River We Remember is really a slice-of-life story — a character study. No matter what you may feel about some of the motives and actions of some of these characters, their lives will remain with you once you’re done with this novel. I listened to this as an audiobook-on-CD, narrated by Broadway actor C.W. Wilson, and have to commend him on doing a particularly excellent job. He creates distinctive voices for over 20 different characters, with only minor changes of accent or inflection. This was a superb “listen”…one of the most powerful books I’ve read in 2023.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Ordinary Grace and This Tender Land, also by William Kent Krueger.)

 

( official The River We Remember page on the official William Kent Krueger web site )

 

Read Scott C.’s review of William Kent Krueger’s first Cork O’Connor novel Iron Lake, in the June 2010 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!
Read Scott C.’s review of William Kent Krueger’s novel Ordinary Grace in the April 2015 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!
Read Jodi R.’s review of William Kent Krueger’s novel This Tender Land in the January 2020 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!
Read Scott C.’s review of William Kent Krueger’s novel This Tender Land in the June 2020 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!
Read Scott C.’s review of William Kent Krueger’s audio-only novella The Levee, in the June 2023 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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