BookLife Review: The River is Waiting (Wally Lamb, author) by Carol O’Day

Contemporary fiction, Oprah’s Book Club 2025, addiction and recovery, death of a child, fractured marriage, twins, grief, legal, men’s prison, sexual assault, shame, forgiveness, trauma

Jun 23, 2025

Wally Lamb is one of the premier authors of our generation. If you have not yet read some of his prior masterpieces, snap up a copy of this popular-already novel, The River is Waiting, and while you are at it, grab or borrow I Know This Much is True, She’s Come Undone and We Are Water. Roll around in a whole summer of Wally Lamb and arrive at Labor Day fully satiated.

The River is Waiting is at once unimaginably tragic and gut-wrenching and a masterwork about shame, redemption and forgiveness. It is not a spoiler to say that there is a death of the child at the very front of the book. It is the tragedy from which all of the heartache, pain, reflection and ultimately humanity grows. For many, the instigating act will be a such a show stopper, they may not be able to conceive of continuing with the novel. I hope each does.

Corby and Emily Ledbetter meet in their late teens at intersecting summer jobs. When summer ends, Emily returns to the West Coast to continue her life-goal of becoming an elementary school teacher. and Corby returns to Rhode Island School of Design where he was studying art and graphic design. Corby senses he may be losing Emily, drops out of the college, drives across the country and declares his love. They are married and are surprised to find themselves pregnant with twins. A family emergency compels them to return to the East Coast. Shortly after the birth of the twins, Corby is laid off from his job as a graphic designer, becomes the at-home primary caregiver and struggles to find work outside the home. He indulges in alcohol and anxiety medication and tries to hide his alcohol and drug use from Emily.

The gig is up when Corby’s addiction results in the death of one of their children. The cascade of events that ensue threaten to undo their marriage. They seek counseling but Emily struggles to forgive Corby. Corby rejects and opportunity to lie to save himself from criminal conviction and lands in jail. He gets sober and works to save his marriage and earn Emily’s forgiveness. A series of unfortunate events put Corby in the crosshairs of two corrupt correctional officers who make his life in prison a living hell. Corby finds solace in the support of his mother and a few precarious friendships with fellow prisoners and a prison librarian. Emily refuses to bring their surviving child for prison visits and Corby is haunted by the prospect of losing his wife and daughter, all while grieving the death of his other child.

Lamb delivers a master class in deep character development, taut and fraught marital relations, shame, grief and redemption. Corby’s mother is stalwart and loving. His father, absent through much of his life, surfaces with support during his legal troubles but does not connect with Corby in prison, a disconnect that ultimately proves tragic. Lamb’s writing evokes deep loneliness, the stress and weight of shame, the daily struggle of addiction and the abiding love of parents. The novel is compelling and human and unapologetic. This is a novel a reader will be challenged to put down–the kind you will read in the space of a single weekend. Don’t miss it–it will be the buzz book of the summer.

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