Book Recommendation: Time is a River

Time is a River

Mary Alice Monroe

Fiction

Pocket, $7.99 (paperback), 512p, ISBN: 978-1439141779

Gallery, $15.00 (trade paperback), 400p, ISBN: 978-1416546641

Also available digitally for Kindle and Nook

The road to recovery for Mia Landan, a cancer survivor, is beautifully told by Mary Alice Monroe in the backdrop of the North Carolina mountains. During Mia’s cancer therapy she is introduced to fly fishing as a means of helping in the recovery process. Her husband, unable to cope with the inevitable changes that occur with chemotherapy and the results of surgery, files for divorce.

In her attempt to heal and recover not only from her cancer and bodily disfigurement, but also from the abandonment of her husband, she turns to Bella Carson, who runs the Fly Fishing for Recovery program. Bella provides Mia the opportunity to stay in her mountain retreat as a means of getting away from the raw memories of her Charleston, South Carolina life.

The rustic lodging accommodations hold clues to the mystery, intrigue, awakening spirit and recovery of what was thought to have been lost forever. Throughout her journey in the idyllic setting of the mountains, she grows to understand the magical allure of fly fishing. The book could have easily been prefaced by the pen of George Mendoza in his poem Secret Places of Trout Fishermen:

When I wade into a steam fishing for a trout, I feel as though I am entering another part of my soul. As I watch the early lights flower in the shadows, I know that I have come to the stream seeking more, much more, than the catching of trout.

Mia’s search for her soul uncovers a mystery of times past, and in her pursuit, finds more, much more. This beautifully written book is easy to read and contains many passages that you will no doubt want to dog-ear for those times when you need to seek what is truly important in life.

~Lewis

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P.S. from Laurie: Earlier this spring I began to recommend books for Lewis, and knew he'd love this one. In an email to me after reading it, he thanked me for suggesting a book he would "not soon forget," adding that it touched him emotionally as a result of the author's writing, which "flowed like a stream." He added that the fly fishing premise would captivate those like him who "partake in that quest for inner peace," and he found himself "taken back to moments I will never forget as she so eloquently painted the idyllic setting of the stream coursing thru the seasonal forest."

Immediately upon receiving Lewis' email, I suggested to him other, even more spectacular Mary Alice Monroe books, who lovers of Southern Fiction are sure to enjoy. They are, in order of terrifitude (the first two sit on my all-time keeper shelf while the third is on a par with Time is a River):

Sweetgrass Stand-alone

The Beach House #1 in duo

Swimming Lessons #2 in duo