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Corran Harrington is a Pushcart Prize nominee, a Bosque Fiction Contest finalist, and a New Millennium Writings Award semifinalist. Her novella and linked story collection, FOLLOW THE RIVER HOME, was published by Arbor Farm Press in April 2016. The book (under the earlier working title of "The River Reader") was a Hidden River Arts international writing competition finalist, and a 2013 Santa Fe Writers Project fiction finalist. Harrington's short stories (also published as Connie Harrington) have appeared in Rosebud (two stories), Beloit Fiction Journal, Connecticut Review, Yemassee, The MacGuffin, Steam Ticket: A Third Coast Review, Pennsylvania Literary Journal, Bryant Literary Review, ByLine Magazine, American Literary Review, Hawaii Review, Oasis, The Jabberwock Review, and The Pikeville Review. An essay was published in Think Journal, and an excerpt from the novella was published in bosque (the magazine). A former lawyer, Harrington also has a background in cultural and linguistic anthropology.
Reviewed by Jessyca Garcia for Readers' Favorite
I thought Follow the River Home by Corran Harrington was an interesting story. The book is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on the life of Daniel Arroyo. Daniel lost his baby sister at a young age and never got over her death. This trauma, together with him having PTSD from Vietnam, makes his life difficult. It causes him to become distant from his family and to constantly live in the past. The second part is made up of short stories that explain Daniel’s surroundings.
At first I had a hard time connecting to the main character, Daniel, but as I continued reading, I grew to like him. I saw that he had issues, but he also had a good heart. I really liked that Harrington shed light on the subject of PTSD. It is a serious issue that needs to be written about more. As I mentioned earlier, Follow the River Home is divided into two parts. The first part, The River Reader, is all about Daniel and his life. The story starts when he is a child and ends when he is an adult. I liked and I was able to relate and to understand Daniel. Daniel mourned his little sister’s death his whole life. So much, in fact, that it stopped him from living at times. Seeing Harrington’s words about someone else not being able to get over a loved one’s death was healing for me. For that I wish to thank the author.
The second part of the book, The River Flyway, is made up of thirteen short stories. All these stories are in some way connected to Daniel. Some stories I thought were a little weird, but at the same time pretty clever. I have never read, nor did I ever think of furniture telling one’s own history, but now I can only imagine what antique furniture would say. My favorite of the short stories happens to be the last, Biography of a Wild Rose. This story tells about the short life of Daniel’s sister, Carmen. Harrington lets readers see the world through Carmen’s eyes. Overall, reading this book has given me new perspectives on life, and because of that this book is definitely worth reading.
