The River by Helen Humphreys - ISBN: 9781770412552
Hardcover
The perfect companion to Humphreys’ bestselling work, The Frozen Thames, The River is a natural and human history of the river that flows past her writing cabin. It is also a profound meditation on humanity and our place in the cosmos.

The River

$49.35

  • Hardcover

    216 pages

  • Release Date

    1 October 2015

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Summary

A breathtaking mix of observation, prose, natural history, and art We tend to look at landscape in relation to what it can do for us. Does it move us with its beauty? Can we make a living from it? But what if we examined a landscape on its own terms, freed from our expectations and assumptions? This is what celebrated writer Helen Humphreys sets out to do in this beautiful, groundbreaking examination of place. For more than a decade Humphreys has owned a small waterside property on a section …

Book Details

ISBN-13:9781770412552
ISBN-10:1770412557
Author:Helen Humphreys
Publisher:ECW Press,Canada
Imprint:ECW Press,Canada
Format:Hardcover
Number of Pages:216
Release Date:1 October 2015
Weight:375g
Dimensions:171mm x 150mm
What They're Saying

Critics Review

“Humphreys possesses extraordinary tools and wields them with daring and precision … Taken together, Humphreys’ powerful, compressed writing and the phenomenal photographs by Tama Baldwin evoke a sense of mystery and timelessness. The River takes breathtaking risks and holds treasures galore. This important work feels completely honest and earned.” — Quill & Quire, starred“By turns poetic and philosophical (a phenomenology of the river?), a deeply contemplative work best enjoyed over several sittings.” — Globe and Mail“Its untarnished eloquence smites the reader on a level of intimate innocence so beautiful that at times it leaves the reader breathless … Despite her many awards, Helen Humphreys is an under-appreciated writer who runs as quiet and subterranean as water.” — Literary Review of Canada“To gain the fullest appreciation of Humphreys’s method, read The River after The Evening Chorus, a novel she published in the spring of 2015, and better understand the genesis and genius of both … A writer of thorough knowing and no wasted words, Humphreys need not expend energy writing a volume on craft. These books together say more about nonfiction’s role in fiction and fiction’s in creative nonfiction than any how-to manual could. And what links them most subtly are redstarts: they flit through the pages of both.” — The Malahat Review“Those familiar with the work of Helen Humphreys know that her books are always beautiful and that they often build upon her knowledgeable relationship with nature … In The River she furthers her reach and explores the history of the area surrounding the Napanee River as well as the history of the waterway itself … The book is richly illustrated … But most important to the book is the linkage that holds this all together: the writing.” — The Province“Like the river itself, this work holds wonders below the surface for anyone willing to take the plunge.” — PublishersWeekly.com

About The Author

Helen Humphreys

Helen Humphreys is the award-winning author of four books of poetry, seven novels, and two works of creative non-fiction, including the bestselling The Frozen Thames. She has won the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, the City of Toronto Book Award, the Lambda Literary Award, and the Harbourfront Festival Prize. She lives in Kingston, Ontario.

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