Two Rivers
by T. Greenwood
List Price: $15.00
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780758228772
Publisher: Kensington
A haunting new novel set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War and civil rights movement is an examination of the power of grief, and the importance of forgiveness.
Two Rivers is the story of Harper Montgomery, a widowed, single-father who works for the railroad in rural Vermont. In 1980, twelve years after the tragic death of his wife and the subsequent birth of his daughter, Harper remains paralyzed with grief over the loss of his young wife and haunted by his involvement in what would likely appear to be a horrific, racial crime. Wracked with sorrow and remorse, he wants only to make amends for his mistakes. And then one autumn morning, when a train derails in Two Rivers, and a fifteen-year-old, pregnant, black girl emerges from the water, he thinks he might have found his chance at atonement. But soon, Harper begins to fear that her arrival is not at all the accident it at first appeared to be, and he is forced to not only face the demons of his past but the tragedy that spawned them.
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1. At the beginning of the novel, Harper suggests that twelve years after the incident at the river he wants only to find forgiveness, to make amends for his involvement in the crime. Do you think that by the end of the novel he has done so? Why or why not? Is he forgiven? If so, by whom? Do you, the reader, forgive him?
2. Discuss the role that race plays in this novel. Is the crime against the carnie racially motivated? Does what happened to Harper’s mother factor into this decision? What are Brooder’s motives?
3. Why do you think Harper agrees to take Maggie in? Is it a selfless act or a selfish act? How did Shelly factor into his decision?
4. What role does religion play in this novel? Do you think that Harper believes in God? Of what significance is the scene at the makeshift chapel in Roxbury?
5. Two Rivers, at its core, is a love story. Discuss the relationship between Harper and Betsy (both as children and as young adults). Does the tragedy of losing Betsy justify Harper’s involvement in the scene at the river? Consider the blackberry imagery…both in the description of the carnie’s skin color and the memory he has of Betsy plucking a blackberry in summertime.
6. Discuss the mothers in this novel: Mrs. Parker, Helen Wilder, Betsy. How do each of them reject/redefine/embrace motherhood? Are they victims of their times? Why or why not?
7. Discuss Betsy’s pregnancy. What sacrifices do you think she makes to keep Harper from going to Vietnam? Did she have a choice? She blamed her father’s stroke for trapping her in Two Rivers, so how do you think she feels after he died? Does she still feel trapped, now by her own pregnancy?
8. Is Harper a good father to Shelly? Will he be a good father to Wilder? Discuss his relationship with his own father.
9. Why does Harper decide to leave Two Rivers? Could he and his new family have moved on without leaving? Where do you see his relationship with Brenda going, and do you think it could have gone there if they hadn’t left Two Rivers?
10. What are some of the stronger images that stood out to you? How do they tie together Harper’s past and present?
11. Discuss the effectiveness of the time period as a backdrop for Harper’s story. How did the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War change his life and shape his views? Would you have made the same choices if you were in his situation at that time? Today?
12. All of the flashbacks to the Fall of 1968 are in the third person point of view except for the last one, which is told through Harper’s first person account. What is the significance of this change?
13. Discuss the symbolism of the Two Rivers and their confluence.
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"From the moment the train derails in the town of Two Rivers, I was hooked. T. Greenwood weaves a haunting story in which the sins of the past threaten to destroy the fragile equilibrium of the present. Ripe with surprising twists and heart-breakingly real characters, Two Rivers is a remarkable and complex look at race and forgiveness in small-town America."
—Michelle Richmond, New York Times bestselling author of The Year of the Fog and No One You Know
"Two Rivers is a convergence of tales, a reminder that the past never washes away, and yet, in T. Greenwood's delicate handling of time gone and time to come, love and forgiveness wait on the other side of what life does to us and what we do to it. This novel is a sensitive and suspenseful portrayal of family and the ties that bind."
—Lee Martin, author of The Bright Forever and River of Heaven
"The premise of Two Rivers is alluring: the very morning a deadly train derailment upsets the balance of a sleepy Vermont town, a mysterious girl show up on Harper Montgomery’s doorstep, forcing him to dredge up a lifetime of memories --- from his blissful, indelible childhood to his lonely, contemporary existence. Most of all, he must look long and hard at that terrible night twelve years ago, when everything he held dear was taken from him, and he, in turn, took back. T. Greenwood’s novel is full of love, betrayal, lost hopes, and a burning question: is it ever too late to find redemption?"
—Miranda Beverly-Whittemore, author of The Effects of Light and the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize-winning Set Me Free
"T. Greenwood’s writing shimmers and sings as she braids together past, present, and the events of one desperate day. I ached for Harper in all of his longing, guilt, grief, and vast, abiding love, and I rejoiced at his final, hard-won shot at redemption."
—Marisa de los Santos, New York Times bestselling author of Belong to Me and Love Walked In
