Once Upon a River, The Rumpus Book Club’s June selection, is reviewed in the NY Times. Bonnie Jo Campbell tells the story of Margo Crane, the mother in her first book, Q Road. Along the way she meanders around the themes of human nature, American culture and sexual aggression, keeping the subtlety intact without explicitly lending the book to one overarching theme.
“It would be too bad if, because of Campbell’s realistic style and ferocious attention to her setting, ‘Once Upon a River’ were discounted as merely a fine example of American regionalism. It is, rather, an excellent American parable about the consequences of our favorite ideal, freedom.”
