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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

What 3 Things Make a Simple Story Powerful & Complex?

by Chautona Havig · 11 Comments

The River Beautiful combines history, legend, pain, loss, and suspense in one, can't wait to read the next by this author novel. via @chautonahavig

Patsy Cline. That’s where I first heard the name “Allegheny.”  Her rich voice would fill the car, from an 8-track, of course, as we rode through Moorpark and over to Camarillo–to my uncle’s house.  “Al-le-ghe-ny moon… I need your light… to help me find… romance tonight…”

Frankly, I thought she was talking about alligator meat being “gamey.”  I mean, people ate ‘gators, and I knew what gamey meat was.  It stood to reason.  I just couldn’t figure out why they needed a light for that meat… or romance.  What was that?

Dad explained that she wasn’t saying what I thought she was saying–foreshadowing to years later when Inigo Montoya would tell Vinzzini that he didn’t think the word meant what the guy thought it did. He said, “The Alleghenies are mountains in the east–over in Pennsylvania.  Full confession.

I’m pretty sure I thought he said Transylvania. I knew that was a scary place, but I didn’t know why.  I said I didn’t want to go there.

Dad insisted they were beautiful, but it was just a poetic turn of phrase… like in Cowboy Jack when the line said, “They’d laid his sweetheart down.”  It meant they’d buried her.  Same thing.

Yeah. I still don’t get it, but that’s Dad for ya.

Oh, and in the interest of further full disclosure, I saw those mountains about forty years later.

Dad was right.  They are beautiful.

That was also, I think, the same time I learned what Allegheny means.  A beautiful river or, as in the book I read last night, The River Beautiful.

Yeah.  When I got a chance to read a book called The River Beautiful, of course, I requested a free review copy.  Who wouldn’t?  Especially with a stunning cover and suspense to go with it.

The River Beautiful Review

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

What 3 Things Make a Simple Story Powerful & Complex?

Let’s face it. Most stories are simple when broken down to their most basic elements. Kind of like a sentence.  You can take a sentence full of prepositional phrases, adjectives, and adverbs, and it can take up three lines on a page!  But when you break it down to its barest elements, the sentence comes out, “He loves.”  Grammar is just so amazing!

Story works the same way, and The River Beautiful is an excellent example.  Basically, we have the story of grief, love, and greed. And really, if you narrow those down, it all comes down to one.  Love.  Love of family, self-sacrificing love, self-serving love of something else.  It’s all the same thing!

But that sort of simplicity can be so very deceptive.  As I was reading, I found three things that turned something so “simple” into something much more powerful and complex.  What were they?

1. Emotion

This book is full of deep emotion, but most of the time it isn’t all over the place. Don’t get me wrong, Lena is a hurting individual, and because of that, she reacts to everything.  Yes, she drove me crazy. Um… she was supposed to. When humans run from their grief, when they try to push the people who love them away, they do stupid, stupid things.  Lena did every single one of them and not once did it feel like Ms. Carmen thew up a caricature of someone.  The wounds were raw and real and exactly what I’ve seen people do in her situation.

Had every person in the book been as volatile in their reactions, I’d have walked away with a very different impression.  It would have become wearisome to read.  However, Carmen did a fine job of showing one person who refused to deal with her emotions and in turn, allowed those emotions to rule her.

2. Faith

The faith element of this book is one of its biggest strengths. Every time I felt like it was going to devolve into preaching, it just didn’t. But because that element was there and the skillful placement of who brought it up and when made you take note.  Instead of an evangelistic plea to love the Lord and just trust that He’ll make everything okay someday, Ms. Carmen allows Lena the raw honesty of doubt, of jealousy (seriously, she was jealous of others’ ability to trust a God she felt had failed her), and of rejection. Folks, that’s what we do when we’re hurting.  We reject something.  In this case it was SomeOne.

My only criticism is that it does feel a little convenient when Lena finally “comes to terms” with the Lord.  However, because she was brought up in a world of faith that she’d rejected, I suspect it isn’t as much as it seemed.

3.  Layers

Between the plot, the characterization (yes, even the whining of a girl who’s just hurting!), the faith, and those emotions, we have layers of subtext and a secondary story that eventually becomes the primary one.  Much like a time-split novel (although this isn’t), the past converges on the present to unravel not only history that many didn’t know, but it also sheds light on things everyone thought they did.

The argument could be made that it’s obvious from the beginning what’s behind everything. I agree, even. But that’s the point of suspense, isn’t it? To know what’s coming and dread it every step of the way?

The writing is solid, the story interesting, and while The River Beautiful does have a few weak spots (there are a couple of info-dumpy places, but they didn’t make me want to put it down, so that’s always a relief), it’s an excellent debut novel by an author I can’t wait to read more of.  Am I glad that I requested and received a free review copy?  Definitely.  Will I be requesting her next?  Do you even have to ask?

Recommended for people who enjoy both historical and contemporary fiction, suspense, and emotionally-gripping relationships all in one, hard-to-put-down story.

The River BeautifulAbout the Book

Book:  The River Beautiful

Author: Andrea Carmen

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Release Date: May 26, 2020

A difficult past. A strange letter. An unsolved mystery.

Someone is following Lena, mapping her every move.

Where strength can be weakness and vulnerability-an asset, the greatest danger that threatens Lena may just be herself.

After the death of her father years ago, Lena ran from the quiet community of Kennerdell, but she’s back, forced to face a past she’d rather forget.

To make things more difficult, awkward, and terrifying, her old friend, Will, is back in her life. Even worse, she needs him there if she hopes to figure out what the letter she found in her father’s study means. They’re on a mission to find answers before her stalker does.

The River Beautiful mingles history and legend in a fast-paced ride through the deceptively peaceful Allegheny Mountains on a quest for answers amid loss, strength in the face of love, a whirlwind of self-discovery, and learning to use faith to illuminate even the darkest places.

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Comments

  1. Dianne Casey says

    July 5, 2020 at 10:33 am

    I enjoyed reading about “The River Beautiful” and I’m looking forward to reading the book.

    Reply
  2. Caryl Kane says

    June 30, 2020 at 10:40 am

    Wonderful review! I’m looking forward to reading this debut novel.

    Reply
  3. Andrea Carmen says

    June 30, 2020 at 6:53 am

    Thank you for your review, Chauntona! I really appreciate the feedback and just love that you felt the emotion behind Lena’s volatile disposition! ?

    Reply
  4. James Robert says

    June 29, 2020 at 12:12 am

    I appreciate getting to hear about your book. Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  5. Emma says

    June 28, 2020 at 9:33 pm

    The setting of this one sounds fascinating!

    Reply
  6. Dianna says

    June 28, 2020 at 7:31 pm

    Congrats to the author on publishing her first novel!

    Reply
    • Andrea Carmen says

      June 30, 2020 at 6:51 am

      Thank you so much! ?

      Reply
  7. Paula Shreckhise says

    June 28, 2020 at 3:28 pm

    I like how you broke this down into elements.
    I’m glad this has emotion to make you think.
    I’m glad it has a real faith thread. And I love layers.

    Reply
  8. Debbie P says

    June 28, 2020 at 1:16 pm

    This sounds like a really great read. Nice cover!

    Reply
  9. Dianne Casey says

    June 28, 2020 at 12:42 pm

    Sounds like a book I would enjoy reading. Adding to my TBR list.

    Reply
  10. Amelia says

    June 28, 2020 at 7:43 am

    Thanks for the review!

    Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 204: A Chat with Sarah Sundin about The Sound of Light
byChautona Havig

A chat with Sarah Sundin is always fun, so when I learned we’d be discussing her upcoming release, The Sound of Light, last October, I was excited. Well… we chatted, and it’s finally time to share that interview. Listen in to what the title means, where Sarah came up with it, and the delightful story that she’s got waiting for us. I’m glad this episode came out in time for me to get the 40% off and free shipping deal from Baker because I apparently didn’t order it back when we chatted!

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

How I Fell in Love With This Haunting Title

I didn’t know much about Denmark and WWII, so chatting with Sarah about The Sound of Light shed definite light (no pun intended) on the history of the Danes and how they stood up to Hitler… and got away with it (for the most part).

The Sound of Light tells the story of a physicist who meets a “slow, dull” guy who intrigues her in spite of herself. Come on… if that doesn’t grab you… Maybe the fact that this slow dude is really an Olympic rower in disguise who uses his father’s company as a front for who he is and how he helps Jews escape?  Yeah. That.

As always, Sarah Sundin has done her research and the result is a gripping story of resistance, protection, and ultimately love for God, our fellow man, and maybe… each other.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for my copy of The Sound of Light to arrive.

The Sound of Light by Sarah Sundin

When the Germans march into Denmark, Baron Henrik Ahlefeldt exchanges his nobility for anonymity, assuming a new identity so he can secretly row messages for the Danish Resistance across the waters to Sweden.

American physicist Dr. Else Jensen refuses to leave Copenhagen and abandon her research–her life’s dream. While printing resistance newspapers, she hears stories of the movement’s legendary Havmand–the merman–and wonders if the mysterious and silent shipyard worker living in the same boardinghouse has something to hide.

When the Occupation cracks down on the Danes, these two passionate people will discover if there is more power in speech . . . or in silence. Bestselling author of more than a dozen WWII novels, Sarah Sundin offers pens another story of ordinary people responding to extraordinary circumstances with faith, fortitude, and hope for a brighter future.

You can also grab this book from Baker Book House at 40% off with free shipping! (which is cheaper than the Kindle version!)

And you can learn more about Sarah Sundin on her WEBSITE.

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Episode 204: A Chat with Sarah Sundin about The Sound of Light
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