This is a soothing and rare treasure of a book. Monroe has really outdone herself this time with the story of breast cancer survivor Mia Landan. After a year of surgeries, radical chemo and radiation, Mia is a ghost of who she once was--a socially polished public relations guru married to an equally driven and sophisticated lawyer. Mia's sister sends her on a 3 day weekend with Casting For Recovery (a real and very amazing group, by the way), a group of survivors who bond and heal, physically and emotionally, through fly fishing. Energized from the experience, she comes home to find her husband in bed with another woman. She blindly races back to the mountains and into the arms of Belle Carson, the fishing guide and infinitely kind hearted woman.

Belle owns a dilapidated cabin that she "rents" to Mia for the summer--it's Mia's job to fix the place up so that Belle can rent it out to fisherfolk come fall. But the cabin has a mysterious past that Mia gets completely obsessed with, involving her in the life, present and past, of small town Watkins Cove and the characters that live there. The mystery, the river, the fish, and the friendships bring Mia back to the land of the living and heal more than one person.

Told partly in narrative and partly through well researched historical diaries and letters, this is a very powerful story of forgiveness, redemption and new birth. Vitality flows through this book just a surely as the river flows next to the cabin. Any woman who believes--or least longs TO believe--in second chances should read this book.

With the rise in cancer statistics and a world in turmoil, I believe we all have a deep seated urge to seek refuge with our friends, family, and when those aren't available, this novel reminds us of the solace in nature and our imaginations. I just finished, "Time is a River", and found the experience of a safe place through the power of Monroe's beautiful language and gift of storytelling. And this is a tough topic to write about; every woman's greatest fear, the loss of health, strength and her family. And even if we do have a more viable support system, let's face it, we have to walk down those corridors of fear alone. Monroe helps dispel those fears.
I believe that this book satisfies every persons dream of living "away from it all", in a cabin, by a beautiful river, with something to keep our mind off ourselves; and here it is the fascinating and unlikely sport of fly fishing. Wow, I really want to try it out! But more importantly, Monroe's novel demonstrates the keys to recovery; acceptance, forgiveness and staying in the present. Nature, art, and relationship keeps all five senses alive and well in this very exciting tale of adventure and recovery. BTW, I "conveniently found" a time capsule in my house in St. Charles, IL., when we were renovating the attic. There were diaries, journals and homemade artifacts of a family 175 years ago. It was an awesome experience, and it happens! People leave things behind for others to find. Isn't that what art really is? Thank you Mary Alice Monroe for stirring up the mud of my imagination.

My favorite book of fiction this year. I didn't want it to stop! A very human story of transition and transformation with a passionate pursuit of a family mystery. With such complexity of story lines it never has slow spots and pulls you into the story and moves you forward til the completion

It was hard to put this book down once I started. As always, Mary Alice Monroe delivers a well-told story, a bit of romance, and a setting that makes you want to be there. This time the setting was in the Carolina mountains. I would have liked to have seen more of the other characters, but I guess a book can only be so long in todays' market. I look forward to the next one - thanks, Mary Alice, for your delightful stories. Keep wearing your pearls!

I really enjoyed Mary Alice Monroe's 'Time is a River'. Ms. Monroe is one of the great ones-she paints the scenery and characters in such a way that her story pulled me right in. I'd compare her work to Nora Roberts' work in that she tells a great story with a hint of romance, but not so much that it detracts from the plot. What I really enjoyed about this particular book is the human story she tells both of a character from times past as well as the story of the main character who is of modern times. The plot kept me reading, wanting to know what happens next to both characters. I also loved how much Ms. Monroe incorporated nature and environment into the story-I truly WANTED to go to this place in which the story is set.

After catching her husband in bed with another woman, cancer survivor Mia Landon goes to the mountains of North Carolina to try and get her life back together. She's staying in her friend Belle Carson's remote fishing cabin. Belle is a fly-fishing instructor who has issues with her dead grandmother, Kate Watkins, and wants to let sleeping dogs like, but Mia is curious.

In the small town of Watkins Mill nearby Mia learns that Belle's grandmother killed her lover in the cabin and Mia finds that somehow she can get behind the fact that Kate murdered her lover, it doesn't turn her off at all. In fact it makes Mia just want to learn more about Kate.

Mia finds Kate's diary and gets to know this woman who is long dead. Kate was a famous fly-fisher who lived an almost hermit's life in the cabin, fly-fishing, painting and nature were her life. Even as Mia learns more about Kate, she settles into a sort of daily routine, fixing up the rustic cabin, walking in the woods, getting to know nature.

Gradually Mia comes to believe that Kate never could have killed her lover. She's come to know her as a strong and independent woman, not the kind of person who would kill and she wants to let Belle know who her grandmother was in this gorgeous story. I couldn't put this book down, because the people who breathe through its pages are so real, especially Mia. Like her I wanted to know as much about Kate as possible. I hung on every word of this beautifully written story.

Reviewed by Vesta Irene

This book not only gave me insight to fly fishing, it takes you on the jouney. Siddons spins a weave of a woman who found her husband cheating to a woman who gains character and strength by living in a cabin in the mountains in NC. She learns to fly fish and become a member of the close knit town. The emotions she overcomes in facing her trials kept me reading page after page. She is a servivor of breast cancer and more than that a she learns how to live. I was please to learn details about fly fishing, as I intend to try it also.

This was a great read! My son and daughter-in-law work for the Orvis Co. so that added interest. My husband and son both fly fish. Afte reading this book I'm taking lessons in October. The breast cancer part of the story gave hope and encouragement. I really enjoyed the whole story.

I read this book cover to cover on my flight from San Francisco to Richmond. It was a wonderful story and will sweep you away to the small mountain community in Carolina. Nostalgic, heart warming, healing and satisfying. I highly recommend it, and the cover is beautiful to boot.

This is the first novel I have read by Mary Alice Monroe. It was absolutely wonderful, the description and the reading. I will make sure I read all of her other novels. I could not put it down.