Where the River Splits
By Steve Weinberg
SPECIAL TO THE POST-DISPATCH
01/04/2009
In his first published novel, St. Louisan Jeffrey Penn May sends a couple on vacation in the Canadian wilderness to evaluate their disintegrating marriage. When the camping trip ends, they expect to return to their St. Louis home either with a repaired marriage or to start divorce proceedings.
But a wilderness accident while paddling on a roiling river separates Susan and David. While each tries to swim to safety, neither knows where the other has gone. After reaching shore, Susan wonders whether her husband has drowned; he wonders the same about her.
As the plot unfolds, Susan reaches the reasonable conclusion that David is dead. David, on the other hand, learns that Susan is alive. Instead of contacting her, he decides to run away from his old life, relocate to the isolated Wyoming countryside and start over, telling no one.
Discussing the plot further would spoil the suspense, so suffice it to say that the journey to the end of the novel is never boring. May is a writer who has dreamed of publishing a full-length novel for decades and persevered through careers as a schoolteacher, compiler of manuals for fighter jets, consultant for a theater company, outdoor guide and fly fisherman.
The scenes set in rural Wyoming feature the geography as much as the characters. Locales in Canada and Mexico also figure into the plot. Still, the story keeps coming back to St. Louis, which should add to its appeal for local readers.
Steve Weinberg of Columbia, Mo., reviews books regularly for the Post-Dispatch.
"In my 15 years as a Trade Book Publishers Rep., I've seen an awful lot of first novels. Jeff Penn May has succeeded with his by combining a unique style with crafty plotting. The result is a thriller that has all the right stuff: suspense, intrigue and a high page turning quotient. An accomplished debut." -- David Einig, Director of Sales, Publishing
"As an outdoor enthusiast, I loved the wilderness scenes, but even more impressive was the psychological tension between the two main characters. This was a fun, fast-paced, page-turning read! I highly recommend this book." – John Zavgren, PhD. Mathematics, Network Architecture, Network Security, Open Source Software Developer.
"Where the River Splits
is one of those novels I look for, but rarely find. You don't just read it; you inhabit it--the characters, the locale, the marriage that is both complex and fragile. May’s writing is fluid with generous details, and it carries you effortlessly to the climax." – Robin Theiss, Author, Poet, and President of St. Louis Writers Guild
"May’s book is RIVETING! I started reading it in my office at the end of a very long day and stayed up all night to finish it. I simply could not put it down. This is a well crafted book -- just like a river -- with surprises around every bend – and you can’t predict what will be next! For me, reading May’s book brought up memories of countless wilderness trips, past lovers and struggles to find the ‘meaning of it all.’ Read it!" -- Lin Shook Schalek, Choreographer and Artistic Director of Perceptual Motion, Inc., Avid canoeist and lover of nature.
"The river is both the opening setting and a fitting metaphor in Jeffrey Penn May's wonderful novel, "Where the River Splits." As a river meanders and changes course in surprising and unpredictable ways, so, too, does this novel's story line. Through alternating points of view, the reader follows David and Susan as they face grief, surprise, betrayal and tough choices, culminating in a satisfying ending that will leave you wanting to go back and reread all over again." – Denise Pattiz Bogard, Author, Founder and Coordinator St. Louis Writers Workshop
"Real people, real relationships, and real suspense—all delivered in smart and beautiful language. May writes with wisdom, humor and heart." – Julia Gordon-Bramer, Poet, Writer, Founder and Editor of Nighttimes.com.
"A Captivating debut, May takes marital posturing to a new level in this highly believable tale of deception and intrigue that carries the reader every step of the way through the foothills and mountains of the American West to the highlands in central Mexico."-- Elizabeth Ketcher, Founder and Director, StudioSTL
"I dare say, most wonder at some point in their lives, ‘What if I had taken the other path? What if I just walked away and left it all behind? What it would it be like to go to that unknown place and be that unknown?’ This book takes you through it all and lets you taste each morsel, the bitter and the sweet… Whether you are an outdoors lover or avoider—this is the adventure for you! You will put the book down sweaty and tired, sure you survived/thrived in person! And you’ll never have to wonder again…." Andi Boyd, Outdoor Experiential Educator, St. Louis, MO
"WHERE THE RIVER SPLITS is an account of the unexpected vagaries, dangers and promise of adventure, whether in the wilderness, in marriage or in career. These most major of our decisions are taken with optimistic expectations, but no sure knowledge as to what really will unfold, when, where or why. Mr. May addresses the struggle confronting someone who has come face to face with the unexpected, the traumatic and the disillusioning, and who such a person will discover himself to be. Events in the wilderness are compellingly and faithfully rendered and will excite the back-country enthusiast and casual day-hiker alike. The question of what might have been had a different path been followed will surely appeal to a wide audience. The book drew me in and challenged me to think." – P L Wakefield, MD, Rafter, Backpacker and Retired Mountaineer
Where the River Splits Review
Dorry Catherine Pease, Published Author, President of Writers' Society of Jefferson County, Member Missouri Writers Guild
Be prepared for a wild ride into the unimaginable life of two people who love and love and love, but are not sure how to live as one. You will not be able to put it down…I couldn't.
Start with a great adventure, two real to life people, Susan and David, marriage problems and a world not quite in sync. Put this together with a camping trip that goes wrong from the start, a forest fire and a river that has no compassion and you have a story that draws you in, page by page. Follow David as he struggles to find Susan lost in the river, cry with him as remembers the good times and bad, the loss of a love he hopes to recover. Follow Susan as she awakens in a hospital and begins to understand what the true meaning of relationship is as she toils to reconcile her acceptance of David's death with the subtle threat of her rescuer knowing only that life must go on.
This is a page-turning story of evolution, of a man and woman who drift apart, discover life, drift back to the acceptance of both the good and evil in one another and the resolution of love.
A wonderful read.
Where the River Splits Review
Dan Dillon, KMOV/Channel 4 St. Louis Broadcast Producer, Author of So Where Did You Go To High School?*
Jeffrey Penn May’s Where The River Splits is a thrilling, intelligent adventure that chronicles two years in the life of a young couple torn apart by a freak accident. To help save their crumbling marriage. David and Susan Brooks plan a Canadian wilderness vacation. Their canoe capsizes, and the raging waters pull the two in different directions. Each survives, suspecting the other has perished in the river.
As the two characters establish their new lives alone and apart, May takes the reader on an engrossing, twisting saga through the United States, Mexico City and Aztec ruins near Puerta Vallarta.
Where the River Splits is the perfect read for a quiet vacation on the beach or a winter weekend curled up next to a roaring fire. As an experienced broadcast producer, I think this book would make an excellent movie script! I thoroughly enjoyed it, and anxiously anticipate May’s next adventure.
