There were multiple times throughout reading Only The River where I should have set the book down and walked away but I pressed on in hopes that I would eventually understand what is happening. Nearly the whole time I was confused about what was real verses metaphors, what year it was, people's motives or just generally confused. I honestly have never read such vividly described, two dimensional characters before. There were also a nearly constant stream of new characters to the point I just gave up trying to keep track. Additionally, I have no real understanding of the civil war in Nicaragua and the author gives zero background and I had no desire to research for a better understanding. I struggled with just about every characters motivations and even two weeks after finishing the book have not a clue why the characters acted as they did.

Please take all of this with a grain of salt because I know some people will like this one. I am too left brained to enjoy books that rely heavily on metaphors.

I did enjoy the plot of this novel - and found I kept turning the pages to find how the story would connect, what would happen next and how the characters' lives would intertwine. There were parts of the story I didn't enjoy - but that's par the course for most novels. Overall, a good story.

Seventy years after World War II, we are still being surprised by how far flung was its impact. Jews trying to escape Europe reached out to any and all countries for visas. Pepa's physician parents manage to get visas to Nicaragua, to work battling yellow fever in a remote area. Pepa and her brother are pretty much abandoned there while her parents move deeper in the jungle for their work. They're kids, they make friends, especially Guillermo, with whom Pepa will have a special relationship. The family finally gets a visa for New York and off they go. It seems that's it for Nicaragua.

Except it is not.

Members of the family will be drawn back to that country town for decades.

"Only the River" is a beautifully written novel that brings to light two seminal events--the escape of Jews from Europe, and the impact of the Contra war on Nicaraguans across that country. Anne Raeff has written with immediacy and delicacy about how history informs the present.

This is a winding twining story of two families, with an emphasis on Nicaragua. Pepa's parents, both physicians, found safe harbor for the family in Nicaragua and in doing so, set a course for Pepa's life. She, along with her brother Kurt (who seems almost an afterthought) are left alone while the parents travel to villages. She develops a relationship with Guillermo which will be more important than she can know. Flash forward (not really, but...) and his daughter and her son are on a trajectory as the Sandinista movement grows. It's told from different POVs and has a great setting. It helps, I think, if you know a bit about Nicaragua and the politics of the period (easily remedied with a little internet research). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read for fans of literary fiction.

I have finally learned that it is OK to not finish a book, I got 30% into this one and I gave up and started flipping thru the rest of it, it didn’t seem to improve. I do not enjoy reading books with the writing technique of “he said”, then “she said”. One other con factor was the beginning, it started out with so many different characters introduced all at once with no background to piece them into the story that I don’t think I ever figured out who everyone was. This one just did not work for me.
The one positive note, I truly respected her parents for their determination and desire to go into these environments to help and assist medically with disease prevention and education. People that have that capability are heroes, true heroes. I wish the story would have been more fluid.
I was allowed an ARC from Counterpoint Press and NetGalley for my honest unbiased review. This one earned 2 stars.

This is a story that expands generations and countries, from Nicaragua to New York. A doctor couple moves to Nicaragua to eradicate yellow fever while the war between the contras and sandinistas rages on. Relationships are formed and despite relocating to New York, the children and grandchildren born to the couple find themselves drawn back to Nicaragua.

Only the River is told through different voices and at times I had to look back and remind myself which character was telling their story. The past and future sometimes changed abruptly and it took me reading a few paragraphs to realize when and what was going on. I enjoyed the book, however, and found the writing to be passionate, expressive and lyrical.