David Adams Richards uses the life of his grandmother as inspiration for the character Hanna Jane (Janie) McLeary King in River of the Brokenhearted, a multigenerational family saga set in a small New Brunswick village. The novel is narrated by her grandson, Wendell King, and covers four generations of the McLeary/King family. Joey Elias is the family's nemesis, as well as the Druken family. Where Janie's tenacity helps her overcome great persecution and brings her financial success, her family crumbles due to her lack of emotional support. They are overwhelmed with the petty cruelty of their lives and become alcoholics.

Richards is a brilliant writer. He always covers conflicting themes of love and hate, good and evil. His character development is exquisite. And while all of his characters are flawed and struggle with memories, faith, and integrity, often their reflections strike the core of a vital truth for all of humanity. Even as Janie's descendants fail to learn from their mistakes, there is the underlying sense that redemption is possible for even the most flawed characters and that in the end justice will prevail.

The sense of time and place remain consistently strong in River of the Brokenhearted. Richards has a gift for setting the scene and placing his characters squarely in that world. Even their speech patterns are distinct for each character. He can also clearly record the irrational thinking processes of those overwhelmed by greed or drink and the explanations they give themselves for their actions.

I am starting a personal David Adams Richards Fan Club. After reading Mercy Among the Children and The Bay of Love and Sorrows I can safely say that Richards is an incredible, amazing writer who deserves a wider audience - and a fan club.
Very Highly Recommended; http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/
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I found this fairly relentlessly depressing - every recovery leads to an even more dismal tragedy; every new beginning becomes a tragic cul de sac. There are some lovely vignettes - when the forceful Janey is saved by a wonderfully economically portrayed Lord Beaverbrook, for example - and the use of language is powerful and lively, both demotic and descriptive. I was, nonetheless very relieved when it was over and nothing else could go horribly wrong. The sins of the fathers...

Along with Mercy Among the Children and The Bay of Love and Sorrows, these are my three favourites by this author. ( )

a very fine Canadian novelist, many awards

Not one of Adams' best, River of the Brokenhearted is his usual family epic set in rural New Brunswick. The main character, a woman, failed to catch my attention and plot ended up being less than believable to me. ( )