“Only Wally Lamb can bring the pieces of one’s life to the fore, examine and peel back the layers to reveal a broken human spirit…”
In 2017, a depressive spiral and a collision of tragic choices leads Corby to his incarceration, but can his time behind bars ever absolve him of his guilt, shame and sorrow? A prisoner’s time isn’t just served by them but so too does a parent, spouse and child – there’s an impact and Wally Lamb explores it all.
As Corby serves his time, the bordering Wequonnoc River comes to symbolise so much for not only Corby but for his fellow inmates too. The river remains in his fragile mind as he navigates his prison sentence at Yates Correctional Facility, Connecticut.
Not hardened to life nor venturing on the normal route that leads to incarceration, Corby’s character personifies a father, husband, son having to survive inside a powerhouse of rules and protocols.
Vulnerable and yet finding allies. Having a gentleness that does a desperate teen’s bidding. A confidante for his tender-hearted cellmate and a librarian that brings much needed breaths of hopeful human lightness. These are the facets of Corby we discover and redeems the initial bristling we, as the reader, may start with.
Whilst The River Is Waiting is a commentary of a prisoner and the system, the tale has tentacles that reach out to a wider social study on the where, why and how punishment and reform fits within our society. It’s sobering, thoughtful, confronts fears and ultimately, in the the closing chapters it’s sad but finally understood.
Sue Reid
Read By Reid NZ
Simon Schuster Publishers
ISBN 9781668211861