Review #8: Five Rivers Meet on a Wooded Plain

Author: Barney Norris

Rating: ★★★★

Accidents happen everyday. We have all mourned the everyday losses that we read in newspapers through a minute's silence or prayed for the speedy recovery of someone with grievous injuries. In most of the cases, both parties involved in an accident endure physical trauma. But what about their lives? What about their emotional experiences leading onto the accident? That is what Barney Norris brings to the table.

Five lives - a florist, a student, an army wife, a security guard and a widower - all brought together in the small town of Salisbury, due to one fateful incident. Their lives are a whirlwind of emotions, some relatable to, others, maybe something that you'll face in another stage of life. This novel is one of the first contemporary novels I've read, and I did enjoy it, purely due to the gravity and reality of the grief faced by the characters, the way they cope with their situations (okay, not all of them actually cope with it) and more importantly, how the lives intertwine with each other through trivial incidents, which seem like sheer coincidences at that point.

I will admit that the book is a tad bit depressing. Also the fact that an accident brings together five horribly depressed lives together, is maybe not of that high a probability as shown in this circumstance, but I'll let that pass. Also, you never know what a person is going through in the name of an emotional turmoil, even if they do seem to have it all.

I'd recommend this book to those who have the patience to read through the details of some really messed up lives and some deep and philosophical food for thoughts at the turn of every five pages or so. Maybe it might even shed some light on your own life and circumstances!

Some more of the thought provoking quotes:

#britishliterature #contemporary #adultfiction