Synopses & Reviews
Thirty-something Veronicas business constantly keeps her on the move, hopping between five-star hotels in New York, New Orleans, and the North Carolina coast. Her hectic lifestyle strains her relationships with the unsuitable men she meets along the way, not to mention her blink-and-you-miss-him husband. With a tumultuous, multiplying cast of characters, this perceptive novel poignantly depicts the dizzying pace and disconnectedness of modern life.
Review
"This book had moments of humor, sadness, confusion and sorrow. A River So Long was a beautifully written tale, and show cased just how messed up and blurry life can get. It gripped me from the very beginning." —Naomi Leadbeater, naimeless.blogspot
Review
"A thought-provoking tale, A River So Long immerses us in the hectic life of a character named Veronica. The story flits through different time frames, giving us a glimpse into who and what she is." —Lissette E. Manning, simplistik.org
Review
"This story demanded my attention and engagement early, and never quite let go. Vallie Lynn Watson has a style that speaks clearly as we are presented with Veronica." —iam-indeed.com
Review
"This remarkable novel reads like Jean Rhys run over by the twenty-first century-a rushing, threatening, constantly changing scene with a tumultuous, multiplying cast." —dealsharingaunt.blogspot.com
Review
"In this episodic debut novel, which captures with pinpoint accuracy the disconnected nature of modern life, thirtysomething Veronica travels the country, staying in interchangeable hotel rooms as she sets up remote offices for her business. Using kaleidoscopic imagery and short chapters to reflect Veronica's fractured existence, Watson weds style, structure, and theme in this painful glimpse of the struggle to connect." —Joanne Wilkinson, Booklist
Review
"A RIVER SO LONG is a lean and dirty dance through the unhooked lives of its characters, young people with jobs and cares and relationships about which they seem to know next to nothing. Desperately disconnected, they nevertheless keep trying to find each other in the mess of contemporary American life. A splendid almost documentary rendering of the way things go these days." —Fredrick Barthelme, author of WAVELAND, CHROMA and MOON DELUXE
Review
"A RIVER SO LONG is an impressive if distrubing novel, masterfully blending content and form. The minimalist style and disjointed narrative accurately mirror the loneliness and emptiness that all too oftern characterize contemporary life. Everyone these days knows a Veronica, but few writers have presented her with such vivid realism and pathos as Watson." —Robert Hamblin, Director of the Center for Faulkner Studies and author of MIND GAP, CROSSROADS, and more
Review
"Vallie Lynn Watson is the natural heir of Jean Rhys. Like Rhys's unattached, highly sentient women, Watson's Veronica is a true transient - someone who lives in midair, in various tall hotels, whose windows - in Watson's gorgeously spare language - show us cities shimmering with inhuman beauty, the rooftops and barge-spliced rivers that are Veronica's only homeland. We follow her passage through the end of a marriage and through numerous attachments, both brief and enduring, with curiosity, fear, and abiding fascination." —Angela Ball, winner of the AWP Donald Hall Prize and author of several volumes of poetry, including Night Clerk at the Hotel of Both Worlds and Quartet
Synopsis
Thirty-something Veronica's business constantly keeps her on the move, hopping between five-star hotels in New York, New Orleans, and the North Carolina coast. Her hectic lifestyle strains her relationships with the unsuitable men she meets along the way, not to mention her blink-and-you-miss-him husband. With a tumultuous, multiplying cast of characters, this perceptive novel poignantly depicts the dizzying pace and disconnectedness of modern life.
About the Author
Vallie Lynn Watson is an editor at Blip magazine and a teacher of creative writing at Southeastern Missouri State University. Her work has appeared in many magazines, including Frigg, Ghoti, Metazen, Moon Milk Review, Nano Fiction, and PANK.