The Far River

by Barbara Wood

For as long as anyone could remember, the Schallers and the Newmans had been enemies. When the skeletal remains of a victim of foul play are discovered at the Schaller estate, a decades-old feud between the rival winemaking families is reignited and dark secrets begin to see the light of day. Set against the lush backdrop of the rolling hills of California's Central Coast, The New York Times best-selling author Barbara Wood's thirtieth novel is a generation-spanning saga of love, treachery, and bitterly held grudges.

Genres: Historical Fiction

448 pages, Hardcover

First published March 27, 2018

About the author

Barbara Wood was born on 30 January 1947 in Warrington, Lancashire, England, UK. Together with her parents and older brother, she immigrated to the United States. She grew up in Southern California and attended Los Angeles Schools. After High School, Barbara attended the University of California at Santa Barbara but left to train as a surgical technician. During this time, Barbara held numerous jobs, before she sold her first novel in 1976. A few years prior, Barbara met her husband George. To date, Barbara has written 22 books, including two under the pen name Kathryn Harvey, these books are quite different from the Barbara Wood's novels and she, her agent and editor agreed that a pen name would serve to indicate the difference. She is an international best selling author with books translated into over 30 languages. The reader is transported to exotic countries that Barbara has meticulously researched to provide her fans with a true sense of the culture and history relevant to each story. At the heart of every book, is a strong, independent woman. Currently, Barbara is busy working on her next story that will, no doubt, showcase an extraordinary heroine in an exciting and intriguing adventure.
When not writing, Barbara often takes time to enjoy the work of other authors, and that of a certain well-known martial artist, whose name is listed among the "Ten things you might not know about Barbara.

Reviews

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1977 Colleen McCullough took the reading world by storm with the publication of her epic doomed family saga/romance, "The Thorn Birds," a book that resulted in readers clamoring for more family sagas. Barbara Wood was one of my top authors to recommend to library patrons, especially "Domina," the historical saga of a woman doctor. Over the years family sagas fell out of favor but Wood remained true to the genre and her latest did not disappoint.

“The Far River,” follows a family that immigrated from Germany to California with the dream of starting a winery. The story flips between the early 1900s with the family’s trials and tribulations and contemporary time with the discovery of a body found in a remote winery building during the sale of the property. The story is rife with forbidden love, family feuding, and hidden secrets, along with a few twists along the way. The central California coast (near Santa Barbara) setting is an integral part of the story and I found myself checking Google maps trying to determine where the fictional location of Largo River might be located.

If you (or your library patrons) yearn for a somewhat predictable story (and there’s nothing wrong with that) with an appealing setting, give this a try. This would work for readers who like Maeve Binchy and Rosamunde Pilcher, or for those who want a nice "comfort read."

Thanks to the publisher for an advance digital reading copy.

[Michelle Trainor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. I couldn't put it down. It made me feel the same as when I was reading Bradford's Emma Harte series or Donnelly's Tea Rose series. 5 enormous stars!

[Mauri Baumann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Barbara Wood's books. This one did not disappoint. It was an interesting history of the wine country and immigrants to California.

[Reeca Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a family saga. It spans decades of lies, deceit, grudges and love, like only a good family saga can do. The story starts with a bang. The finding of skeletal remains behind a wall at the winery opens many questions. Who is it? Who put the body there? "What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive."

It rotates between two narrators, Clara and her great, great granddaughter, Nicole. I enjoyed these strong willed women. Clara especially, she is a tough lady determined to overcome. Whether it's rape or prohibition, Clara lets nothing get in her way.

Like I said, the story begins with a great mystery but then, it drags a little. I did skip a few pages in the beginning. I got tired of hearing about all of Clara's work, her washing, her hauling water, her cooking. This went on for several pages. I almost put it down. I am glad I didn't. The tale picks up and weaves a novel fraught with family betrayals and lies.

I have not read Barbara Wood in years. I have loved many of her novels. Virgins of Paradise and Soul Flame are two of the best books I have ever read. So, I was excited when I won a copy of her new novel.

However, this is a bit too descriptive in places and to be honest, too long. The author could have cut this read by at least 100 pages. That being said...I did enjoy this tale. The mystery surrounding the body, the family secrets, the winery, all create a wonderful family saga
I received this novel from Edelweiss for a honest review.

[Pavla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Klasická rodinná sága v jedné knize. Napínavý příběh dvou znepřátelených rodů, klenoucí se od začátku 20. století do současnosti, do něhož zlehka promlouvají i historické události - obě války, hospodářská krize, stávky mexických dělníků... Hlavním plusem románu jsou samozřejmě postavy a jejich propletené vztahy, a pak tajemství, které se čtenáři odhalí až v závěrečných stránkách. Nic světoborného, ale velmi čtivá kniha, kterou zhltnete za dva dny, a pokud se vám bude líbit (stejně jako mně), určitě se hned poohlédnete po další "woodovce".

[Vi ~ Inkvotary · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars
Nicole wants nothing more but to go away from what her family has built over the past century. But leaving the only home she´s ever known isn´t easy. Especially not when the remains of a person were found in one of the buildings that belong to her estate. She is forced to stay as long as the investigation is ongoing and all she can do is hope that the buyers won´t lose their interest.

Barbara Wood writes in a soft tone. It was a nice read, but what I didn´t like was the fact, that the author obviously thinks that her readers need to be reminded every few pages or at least every chapter, why the main figure wanted to sell the estate or how another figure had come to her firstborn. It became a bit annoying during the ongoing plot to read that over and over again. On the other hand, it seems to be a style element, the author uses apparently in almost all of her books. Because I remember her doing that in another of her novels too. A long-kept secret ends up in a brutal fight and the split of two brothers combined with a lie and some misunderstandings is the structure of this story that goes over decades.

The other thing that soon bothered me a bit was the fact of how the figures were created. No doubt, the setting is gorgeous and it didn´t take me long to see the beautiful landscape this novel is set in. And seeing her figures play in a setting I´ve seen many years ago with my own eyes was wonderful. But the characters are too predictable. There is no surprise, nothing new to discover in them.

In every Barbara Wood novel, the female figures are going through a lot. Emotionally as well as physically. But despite that, they aren´t very profound. No matter in what century the author has set them. With the figures in this novel, it is the same.

Clara shows that she is very smart, but she lives in a time where women don´t have much to say or to decide. Sure, she knows how to get what she wants, most of the time, but that doesn´t change the fact that it is up to her husband if she can go to town or someplace else. Clara is a strong woman, yes, but I missed the special something.

Nicole is also a strong young woman. Independent and with the knowledge that she wants nothing more but to leave the place she was born and raised. Not easy when all you ever knew; all your friends and your entire life were always bound to a certain place and you know that you´re the last of your family. Deep in her heart, she knows that she is missing something and that she wants to create something of her own. When she hears that there are letters from her great-great-grandmother she starts to see her family with different eyes.

The Far River is from my point of view a good novel for some hours of reading snuggled up in a cozy blanket while sitting by the fire. There are no loud tones in it or huge action scenes but lots of great landscape and the story of two families who love and hate in a very passionate way. A long-kept secret ends up in a brutal fight and the split of two brothers combined with a lie and some misunderstandings is the structure of this story that goes over decades. The combination of a crime, long family history and the touch of romance in the present was well done. This might not be the best Barbara Wood novel but one you can enjoy anyway if you don´t have high expectations.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Note:  This book was provided free of charge by Edelweiss/Ingram Publisher Services.]

I was unable to finish this book due to technical problems relating to hard drive failure and the fact that the book expired.  This is not a reflection of any failure on the part of the novelist herself, as this book is about 450 pages long and is a classic example of literary fiction [1] dealing with generations of a dysfunctional family marked by violence and estrangement.  Those who want to read a gripping tale about a California winery and its troubled history will find much of interest here, as this is a well-written novel that I simply ran out of time to read and had technical issues far beyond my control, just as I was getting into the swing of things and pondering some of the mysteries that the novelist had presented so far, which was definitely a dysfunctional family.

At least as far as I was able to read the story, there were two parallel plots.  One is the story of the last member of a family of vintners who is trying to sell her family winery and make a new start somewhere else beyond the oppressive burden of her past when a dead body is found in the wall of the winery.  Obviously, this sparks a great deal of mystery.  The  parallel plot is the story of a young woman who marries a man and then finds him to be much different than she thought in the midst of the sharing of a family secret that tears two competitive brothers apart, brothers who thought they were cousins.  From what I was able to read I have some guesses about where the story is going but I'm not sure what took place in the rest of the pages, only being able to say with confidence that the story was engrossing and well-written, and I certainly would have liked to have been able to finish it.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long Held Secrets and Murder in the California Wine Country

A family saga starts in Germany and moves to the wine country of California. The Schallers and the Newmans are part of a group of German settlers who immigrate to California in the early 1900s. As a whole, the group prospers and in the present day, the town they founded, in addition to making wine, is a tourist attraction.

Nicole Schaller is the last descendant of the original Schaller family. She’s torn. She loves the valley and the vineyards, but she wants to be her own person and believes that she can’t be herself with the shadow of her family hanging over her.

She’s trying to sell the vineyards, but when showing prospective buyers the property, a skeleton is found in the wall of the barrel room. All Nicole wants is to get the police off the property so she can continue making arrangements to sell. Then if a skeleton weren’t bad enough, Lucas Newman arrives. The Newmans and the Schallers are bitter enemies. Lucas and Nicole haven’t spoken for years, but now the skeleton forces the families to face the secrets that made them become enemies.

I love the setting of this story on the central California coast near Santa Barbara. The atmosphere is perfectly rendered for both the 1900s story and the present day. The story moves back and forth between the two time periods giving us a glimpse of early California.

As usual with stories set in two time periods, one moves faster than the other. The family saga moves slowly unfolding the family feuds and hidden secrets. The present day story is a murder mystery and moves much more quickly. Both were well done, but I preferred the modern story. I thought the historical portion dragged at times.

I recommend this book if you enjoy family sagas.

I received this book from Turner Publishing for this review.

[Nan Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a book by Barbara Wood, but she used to be one of my favorite authors. This book does not live up to my memories of her historical novels, but it was nice to see that she is still writing.

This was a family saga spanning 100 years in the fictitious Largo River wine growing region of California, near Santa Barbara. The main family was from Germany and immigrated with a group of other Germans who settled in the same valley. The story follows all these immigrants to the current day, but of course the main characters are from the Schaller family which split into two warring factions, Schaller and Newman, early on in the story.

The current buzzword in novels is “secrets” and this tome has plenty of them. Another hot theme in today’s pop fiction is “lies” and this saga has plenty of those, too.

The history of Germans in California was interesting as was the history of the wine industry there.

So far as the family feud, the various ill fated marriages, the murder mystery and the finale, they were mostly predictable – in any event, not surprising. Twists and turns were not the strong point of this novel. This was a long, slow and repetitious read, but enjoyable in its genre. I guess the theme would be that history repeats itself. It certainly did in this novel – every generation. And I guess the genre would actually be that of a soap opera.

I would recommend this book to those who enjoy family sagas and soap operas rich in history.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barbara Wood tells a family saga that is full of deceit, anger and estrangement. We follow the families from the time they emigrate to America from Germany to the present day when the family feud is still strong in the young generation. This is a sweeping saga of wine and family in California.

The Schallers and the Newmans are part of a group of German settlers who immigrate to California in the early 1900s. Two brothers and one wife come to America with the plans of growing grapes and starting a winery. When a tragic misunderstanding occurs, the brothers become estranged and the estrangement lasts to present day. In the present day part of the novel, a skeleton is found in the wall of building at the winery owned by Nicole Schaller, the last remaining member of her family. As the police try to figure out whose body was found, Nicole and Lucas Newman, one of the last remaining member of the Newman family are forced to spend time together. Will the feud continue or will Nicole and Lucas be able to end it for good?

This is a wonderful dual time line story about two very strong families who are estranged from each other. I must admit that I enjoyed the present day time line a bit more than the historical time line but both were very well done and helped contribute to the understanding of the families.

If you enjoy family sagas - this is the book for you!

[Nadia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barbara has long been one of my top 10 favorite Authors, so I'm always extremely eager to read her newest offering and this was no exception. I relished the easy flow between the early 20th century through to current time and appreciated learning about the journey of German immigrants pre World War I to the US and the incredible amount of perseverance and courage in not only beginning life in a new country and culture but starting a vineyard. I enjoyed the 20th-century Narrator more than I did the 21st-century one since her character development was limited. Although it was a decent mystery, unfortunately, it wasn't as complex as I am accustomed to with a Writer of Barbara's caliber. I did like the issue of Mexican farm workers being raised in this novel, with all the ugliness happening at present. However, I wished that she had created a character with a voice, so that there was an account of their experience in comparison to the other characters, since they are immigrants as well, but with a completely different experience even though California was originally part of their lands. It has some flaws & weaknesses; however, a commendable story nonetheless.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good historical fiction with family secrets, rivalry and love triangles. 1912 - Wilhelm and Johann Schaller arrive from Germany to start a winery with their father Jakob in America. Wilhelm brings his bride Clara. She thinks life in America will be very different. On Jakob’s deathbed a confession shocks the brothers and the family becomes estranged. Over the years despite living next door to each other there is no reconciliation between the brothers. Clara tries to be the peacemaker, but she has endured her own hardships being a wife and then as a mother. The story follows the family for a few generations taking into account WWI, prohibition, WWII, the turbulent 1960’s with the organizing of labor unions for the migrant workers and the free spirt attitude of the youth. The past and present is connected when a body is found in a wall and the Schaller and Newman families connect trying to find out who it can be. A series of letters from Grandma Clara to her granddaughter Debbie fills in a lot of past history that no one wants to speak about.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

At 422 pages, The Far River, by Barbara Wood is longer than most books I read. It was worth reading though, because it ended up being one of my all time favorites! This book follows the two Scaller brothers--Wilhelm and Johann-- who leave Germany in 1912, settle in California, have families and continue to operate wineries in the present. The main characters in this book are well developed and easy to imagine. I especially liked Clara. I live in Northern CA, and my grandfather came to CA from Denmark so this book was very easy for me to relate to. This saga has lots of family drama: long held secrets, jealousy, deceit, lies, fighting, competition, estrangement, abandonment, love triangles, deaths, unrequited love, and even a murder mystery. I enjoyed the way Clara's letters gave us a recap of the family's important events at the end of the book. I give this book 5 stars!

[Rachelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Far River... this book has it all - immigration to America, deceit, love triangles, murder, death, friendship, wineries, migrant workers rights. This multigenerational tale of a German family starting a new life in California, relocating their wine industry, and encountering a family feud, spans so many family issues and the characters experience similar situations throughout each generation. The family hates without reason because it has been that way for years. Well researched and believable.

[Stefanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I used to read Barbara Wood's books about 20 years ago and stumbled upon this one at the library. I enjoyed this one, immigrant story combined with family drama and a murder. A special connection for me was that the immigrants came from Germany, nice details about the culinary specialities.

[Jenifer Greenwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I won this book in a giveaway from Turner Publishing Company. A good read, if not a bit too wordy. I found some of the descriptions redundant (some exactly the same in different parts of the book), and that this made the story drag on a bit. More of a soap opera style of book than I normally read, but it was a solid story with good surprises. A multi-generation saga that I enjoyed.

[Hélène Lambert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dans la lignée des sagas qu’on lisait dans les années 80, par exemple « L’espace d’une vie », de Barbara Taylor Bradford. Ici, on suit les joies et les malheurs de la famille Schalke, ayant émigré de l’Allemagne vers la Californie en 1912 jusqu’à leurs descendants aujourd’hui.
Je l’ai lu en français: Fleuve lointain.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

This author was recommended to me, and if this book is indicative of her writing, I won't be reading anymore of her books.

The story was predicable, bordering on giddy romance, and filled with melodrama. The author repeated things so much that the story could have been 1/3 shorter if she had trusted the reader to remember what she had just said 2 pages earlier.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

I think the plot of this was more interesting than the story actually ended up being. It was a bit too long overall, and I found a lot of the writing to be a little cheesy. I enjoyed the story, but the writing left much to be desired.

[Malkie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good family saga

[Lynne Levandowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another exceptional Barbara Wood literary achievement.

[Rosemarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. The past to the present was well told.
The mystery that was involved was well developed and good ending.

[Marnie Z · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF

[Léane]

❌ DNF ❌

A l’époque cela était trop « ancien » avec une partie sur le passé de la famille beaucoup trop longue et sans réelle intrigue et sans avoir posé le cadre au départ 🤔

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid Barbara Wood historical fiction, family saga. Wine country in California through generations of Clara's family- feuds, mistakes, bad choices - she still tries to pull her family together.

[Patti · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Good Read