Identical twins Nash and Remi Potts marry their wives Violet and Faye at the same wedding ceremony and raise their families next door to each other. Both brothers run their store together and seem to be doing okay. Over time, they each raise their 3 kids and maybe things aren’t so fine after all those years.

The story center mainly on Nash’s youngest daughter, Chickie, and Remi’s youngest son, Hen, who were born in 1951 after the brothers decide together to get their wives pregnant after a drunken night. Chickie and Hen are best friends as their siblings are much older them. But the Vietnam war is brewing and Hen worries about being drafted. Chickie is trying to find her way during a time of free love and both of their mothers are finding the strength to become more independent and fulfill their own desires. As the threads of the families begin to fray, Chickie and Hen are trying to find their own path during those tumultuous times.

This book sounded like it had a great premise of coming of age in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s but honestly, I could not get into it at all. I couldn’t understand why the characters were making the choices they were… maybe there wasn’t enough context? It felt like an unresolved story that rambled in different directions. And to make it worse, the formatting of this electronic ARC was incredibly difficult to read. I’m sure this will be fixed prior to publishing but it was not easy to figure out who was talking and when new paragraphs started.

I do thank @netgalley for this advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review.

Down To The River would be a great pick for those that like a family saga, coming of age story. Centered around the Potts family, the reader follows twin brothers and their two children born close in age, later in the twins marriages. The families experience up and downs, the cousins trying to figure out their place in the world. All set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, the protests and school bombings. A deep seated, character-driven story keeps the reader rooted in the 1960's Cambridge, Massachusetts. I thought the story was well written, and character development was impeccable... for my individual taste the pacing of the story was too slow, it was an okay read. I think for those that love to sink their teeth into a good strong character -driven story, with intricate details this is a great option.

DOWN TO THE RIVER is a sophisticated family saga perfect for fans of Mary Beth Keane, Jonathan Franzen, and Lauren Groff.

The time period in the late 1960s and the setting in Cambridge, Massachusetts are rendered with excellent attention to detail so the reader feels immersed in the story world. Pierce is also skilled at dialogue, ensuring that each exchange between the characters rings true.

Given the social and political unrest of the time, there are no easy, feel-good solutions, but the story is propelled forward by the threat of impending disintegration and upheaval as the family attempts to weather change both within and without.

Highly recommended for fans of realistic, literary family dramas.

‘The barnyard names were just coincidence, the rest was by design.’

Naylor (Nash) and Remington (Remi) Potts are identical twin brothers living in Cambridge Massachusetts. Born into a wealthy family and Harvard-educated, Nash and Remi are partners is a sporting goods store in Harvard Square. They married Faye and Violet in a double wedding and occupy houses next to each other on Hemlock Street. Both couples have three children, with their third children born in 1951. Nash and Violet had three daughters: Persephone (Seph), Janie and Minerva (Chickie). Remi and Faye are the parents of Cameron (Buzz), Victoria (Tory) and Henry (Hen). Chickie and Hen are much younger than their siblings, born after their fathers made a bet in a bar, and grow up during the turbulent 1960s.

In the meantime, the family wealth is disappearing, the twins’ marriages are crumbling, and the social rules are disintegrating. Chickie and Hen, released from the parental restrictions their siblings endured, are free to negotiate their own paths through a world coloured by the politics of the Vietnam War, racial tensions, sex, drugs and rock and roll.

Those of us who were alive in the 1960s will be familiar with some of the issues covered and the social upheaval experienced. However, it took me a while to become familiar with the characters and to appreciate their circumstances. Aspects of the story made me uncomfortable, while the inevitable disintegration of the family units seemed sad. Privilege and wealth do not last forever, and the 1960s turned the world upside down for many. I finished the novel wondering what the future held for Chickie and Hen.

‘Pray for the babies.’

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and the Meryl Moss Media Group for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

The times changed drastically form the 1950s to the 1960s. The families of twins Remi and Nash, two different yet same households roughly transition into a time fo free love, of pot, of war. The novel is saga of the families-the wants, the desires, the questions, and the good/bad changes. For those who lived those ears, it is a torn memory in time. For those who didn’t, it is a colorful, agonizing page of history.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received an ARC of, Down to the River by, Anne Whitney Pierce. Im so glad I was not around in the 60"s. Just not my scene. I could not finish this book, the lack of morals and integrity, really got to me.