Synopses & Reviews
Set in Boise, Idaho in the early 1980s, Little Lost River is the story of two young women who come together in the wake of tragedy. Cindy Morgan is still reeling from the loss of her mother when an accident leaves her boyfriend missing and presumed drowned. When Frances Rogers happens upon the accident site, she stays with Cindy until help arrives. In the aftermath of that nights events, as Cindy faces her future with a determination often misunderstood as indifference, Frances becomes her source of both support and compassion. <br> Cindy and Frances are determined to find their own lives unencumbered by conventional expectations, but their path to adulthood is neither easy nor clear, and the future that each girl finds is not what she expected or planned. One generation follows another, and in the end the girls learn that life moves on its own path, that transformation is what takes you forward. Its the only constant thing.”<br> <br>
Review
I was gripped by Johnstons account of Frans and Cindys growing friendship and their struggle for independence. Johnstons characterization of the two girls is vivid and compelling, and her writing is excellent. I enjoyed reading Little Lost River more than any novel I have reviewed during the past several years.”<br> --Mary Clearman Blew, author of Lambing Out, and Other Stories<br> <br> "Pamela Johnstons LITTLE LOST RIVER is a novel of redemption with human, rather than spiritual, underpinnings. What redeems these characters is love––the imperfect love that is best thing we have to offer one another. Johnstons evocative prose lets the reader feel how the landscape of the West limns these characters lives. I love the psychological acuity of this novel, whose youthful characters speak to us in voices that are confiding, clear-minded, and probing. "<br> <br> --Elizabeth Oness, Twelve Rivers of the Body<br> <br> <br> Little Lost River is a powerful meditation on the joys and limitations of motherhood. Johnston writes with rare honesty of the barren spaces in the most intimate relationships, but suggests, in her moving laconic prose, that by accepting these gaps and lapses, we may find some solace in the hidden underground river connecting us all.”<br> --Trudy Lewis, author of The Bones of Garbo and Private Correspondences<br> <br> <br>
Review
Little Lost River is a powerful meditation on the joys and limitations of motherhood. Johnston writes with rare honesty of the barren spaces in the most intimate relationships, but suggests, in her moving laconic prose, that by accepting these gaps and lapses, we may find some solace in the hidden underground river connecting us all.”<br> --Trudy Lewis, author of The Bones of Garbo and Private Correspondences<br>
Review
Pamela Johnstons LITTLE LOST RIVER is a novel of redemption with human, rather than spiritual, underpinnings. What redeems these characters is love––the imperfect love that is best thing we have to offer one another. Johnstons evocative prose lets the reader feel how the landscape of the West limns these characters lives. I love the psychological acuity of this novel, whose youthful characters speak to us in voices that are confiding, clear-minded, and probing. <br> --Elizabeth Oness, author of Twelve Rivers of the Body<br>
Synopsis
A coming-of-age novel set in Boise, Idaho tells the story of the friendship between two teenaged girls.<br>
About the Author
Pamela Johnston grew up in Boise, Idaho, graduated from the University of Idaho, and has an MFA from the Iowa Writers Workshop and a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is associate professor of English at Texas Lutheran University and has published a number of short stories and nonfiction articles. This is her first novel.<br>