The River Road - by Karen Osborn (Paperback)

From the Back Cover

David and Michael Sanderson are brothers, inseparable since childhood from each other and from their neighbor Kay Richards, a complicated young woman involved in a passionate and obsessive love affair with David. One spring night, while at home on a break from college, the threesome embarks on a night of adventure and experimentation, driving recklessly through the Connecticut Valley. Stopping at the French King Bridge, David -- full of hubris and hallucinogens -- dares to jump, mistakenly believing he'll be able to swim ashore. With this one act, he sets in motion an inexorable chain of events that indelibly alters the lives of everyone involved.

Told through the alternating voices of Kay, Michael, and David's father, Kevin, The River Road is a closely observed and psychologically penetrating narrative of the accusations, murder investigation, and courtroom battle that follow.

Review Quotes

"The River Road uses point of view brilliantly, moving easily from the wretched Kay to the jealous Michael to David's relentless father, eager to prosecute, eager to cast blame. The mothers can only mourn. The river can only run. Lives can only be smashed. Unspeakable suffering occurs, but for all that, the world is unspeakably beautiful. Karen Osborn should be proud of what she has done here." - Washington Post Book World
"Hypnotically and seductively fluid...a sad but beautifully told tale that speaks to the most elemental parts of the human experience. Osborn immerses us from the beginning in hot and cold currents of love and hate that sustain, divide and inexorably pull us all toward an uncertain fate." - USA Today