Title : The River of No Return
Author : Bee Ridgeway
Publication date : 09 May 2013
Publisher : Penguin
Purchase eBook: Kindle
Purchase paper book: Amazon
Rating : 4 out of 5 LeeLee’s!
An utterly engrossing historical romance from debut novelist Bee Ridgeway, The River of No Return is a must-read. ‘Time is like a river. It always flows in one direction.’ What if everything you thought was certain was not?
1812: On a lonely battlefield in Spain, Lord Nicholas Falcott, Marquess of Blackdown, is about to die …. But, the next moment, he inexplicably jumps forward in time, nearly two hundred years – very much alive. Taken under the wing of a mysterious organisation, The Guild, he receives everything he could ever need under the following conditions:
He can’t go back.
He can’t go home.
He must tell no one.
Accepting his fate, Nicholas begins a life of luxury as a twenty-first century New York socialite, living happily thus for the next ten years. But, when an exquisite wax sealed envelope brings a summons from the Alderwoman of The Guild, Nicholas is forced to confront his nineteenth century past.
Back in 1815, Julia Percy’s world has fallen apart. Her enigmatic grandfather, the Earl of Darchester, has died and left her with a closely guarded secret, one she is only now discovering – the manipulation of time. In terrible danger from unknown enemies, Julia flees her home to the sanctuary of neighbouring Falcott House. In this strange place Julia and a recently returned Nicholas are drawn to each other and together they realise how little Julia knew about her beloved grandfather and begin to understand his ominous last words…
‘Pretend.’
Bee Ridgeway’s The River Of No Return is a truly unforgettable novel. If you loved The Time Traveler’s Wife or The Night Circus then prepare to be swept away by this stunning debut novel.
Bee Ridgway grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts. She attended Oberlin College (B.A.), then worked for a year as an editorial assistant at Elle magazine. She studied literature at Cornell University (M.A. and Ph.D.). She has worked at Bryn Mawr College since 2001. She lives in Philadelphia, PA.
My Thoughts
After reading the blurb to this book it sounded exciting and adventurous, I initially thought it sounded a little like a cross between The Time Travellers Wife and the film Looper. I have heard the Time travellers Wife reference floating around about this book and after reading I personally don’t think they are similar to one another, this book is absolutely in a class of it’s own, it’s different and compared to most romance and time travel novels it’s original.
I first saw this book via The Book Boutique on Facebook and the cover alone caught my attention, If you happen to buy a hard back printed version of this book you’ll find that an online jpg of the cover does not do it justice, you need to see and feel the print, it really is beautiful.
The book centres around Nicholas Falcott who is on the battlefield in 1815 about to face death when he suddenly jumps to the future and finds himself in 21st century London and a member of The Guild a secret society of people who travel forward through the river that is time. One thing you cannot do is travel back; so everyone is told.
It’s all very deep and the author has clearly put a lot of thought into every aspect of time travel, from politics to the speech and grammar used within the different centuries and how this affects the characters as they try to fit into their new lives. I really enjoyed seeing how Nicks character would cope when he was put into the 21st century, how the bright electrical lighting hurting his eyes to the drastically changed city he once knew.
The romance aspect of this novel begins with Julia Percy who is the first person we meet. Julia has grown up living next door to the Falcott family and upon Nicks return to the nineteenth century they develop a close friendship, the romance within this book isn’t instant like most and it’s quite far in that any relationships or romance starts to spark. This was a nice change from most books where the main characters meet and their love for one another begins within the first few paragraphs.
Verdict
The River of No Return is a fantastic read if you are looking for something with a lot of depth that is going take you into another world and also make you think every step of the way, I initially found the book rather difficult to stick to as I haven’t read such a serious in depth novel in a while. Once I was past the initial introduction to the plot and who the characters were I found it to be more enjoyable although I struggled with some areas as the book is so descriptive that I felt sometimes it took a while to progress. Overall it is bulging with fun literary echoes, both funny and clever.
