100 Pages A Day...Stephanie's Book Reviews

Bessie Day Hardy is a woman in her 60's living in a small, picturesque town along the Seneca river in central New York. Everything in Bessie's life seems to be going well at this point.  She has friends, she is helpful, she's doing well financially.  However, a tragic event from her past comes back to haunt her when truths are revealed to Bessie about her brutal rape that took place her during high school.  

Well, I do like dual-time stories and Lies a River Deep jumps back and forth between the present and the 1960's as Bessie recounts her high school days leading up to her rape and the consequences afterwords.  I really enjoyed the scenes set in the 1960's better than the present, the cars, the style of dress and the attitudes really brought that time to life.  As I read about Bessie's high school days, when she dated Roland, her rape and even afterwords, it was like a smack in the face to be reminded of the attitudes towards women and their bodies at the time.  The mystery surrounding Bessie's rape also drew me in, what really happened on that night?  What are her friends keeping from her to this day? These secrets created suspense within the second half of the book and brought in a thriller feel.  The writing in the book is very full and rich in simile and metaphor, which is great if you like to know what the river is as cold as and what the air is as cold as, but this writing style got a little bogged down for me.  I also live near where the book takes place, but I'm pretty sure the actual setting is a fictional town, although real town names and landmarks are used throughout the book also.  I don't know why this bothered me, but it did.  Overall, Lies a River Deep is a good story about a women's journey about coming to terms with the past.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.