Towns Without Rivers

By Michael Parker and Michael Parker

Book Overview

Revisiting Trent, North Carolina -- the town so poignantly rendered in his acclaimed novel, Hello Down There -- Michael Parker picks up the story of Reka Speight, a woman determined to discover a wider world than the rural backwater of her youth. Recently released from prison for a crime she did not commit, Reka returns home with one goal: to escape Trent for someplace unencumbered by history. But leaving Trent also takes her away from the one person she cares about, her younger brother Randall. As Reka heads west in search of a new life, she is forced to make a choice between the life she has always wanted and the brother she cannot leave behind.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0380815338
• ISBN13: 9780380815333
• Release Date: June 2002
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.8" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

Great Book!

This book has great characters and a intricate plot.Michael Parker promises great things in the future. A writer that accurately presents his subjects in a beautiful manner.

untouted masterpiece

Why this novel has not received more attention is beyond me. It is ambitious in its subject matter, rich in its characterizations, and lilting in its prose. A very satisfying read with passages that will stay with the reader. PArker takes the southern gothic genre and turns it on its ear. reka and randall speight grow up dirt poor in nc, reka her younger brother's protector. after she sets out to find herself a new life, Randall sets out to find her. Their search for each other is Dickensian in the best sense, avoiding the pitfalls of melodrama. Paker's use of the late fifties and early sixties as backdrop is also effective. Read this book and tellyour friends. It deserves more attention!