River, Diverted

by Jamie Tennant

The book shouldn’t exist – yet here it is.

River Black found cult success writing slasher flicks but has grown increasingly disillusioned and unhappy. When a mysterious book appears in her mailbox, her life is turned upside down. River returns to Nagano, Japan, where the book originated, hoping to pay respects to old friends and revisit her past. Instead, she finds her memory is duplicitous, her reality is porous, and the mysterious book is more alive than she could have believed.

River, Diverted is a dark fairy tale that explores the trickery of memory, the delicacy of friendship, the nature of creativity and the deliverance of hope. Filled with pop culture references and a deep love of monster movies, River, Diverted is both a light-hearted and subtly serious read that will captivate readers.

380 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2022

Reviews

[Emily Saso · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a big fan of Jamie’s first novel, and his second did not disappoint! I loved living the expat experience through River Black’s eyes, and nobody writes a charming monster quite like Jamie does. :) Highly recommend if you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to chuck your North American life and move to Japan. The horror movie details are great too. There’s a few stories within this story, and I enjoyed them all. I hope it gets optioned by a filmmaker - I'd love to watch it on screen.

[K.R. Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Horror screenwriter River Black receives a package containing a book that doesn’t exist. By her. Sort of. Which prompts her to return to the city in Japan she left twenty years ago. Damn, River, Diverted is good. Intriguing, engaging, superbly written, and lightly surreal.

[Lynda Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book SPOKE to me!!! Living and working with a bunch of misfits, staying up late and getting up early, and living what you feel is the best life in your 20s. These people, places, and memories are so dear, and so important for a short, wild time, but leave lasting impressions for the rest of your life! And are those memories and feelings true, or just the glow of youth and time??? Do some things that live in memory seem so true that they become reality?? There was so much more to this novel but the feeling of friendship and time of life are what spoke to me!! I loved this novel and will recommend it to all I see!

[Barbara Sibbald]

I was drawn to "River, diverted" because of an upcoming tour of Japan that includes a stop in Nagano where this novel is set. I thought it might offer some insight into the place and culture. It delivers on this, but also offers an interesting take on the nature of memory: how we mis-remember thing, and invent narratives to suit ourselves.

The protagonist is River Black (yep, a pseudonym) who writes progressively worse B-horror films. She is understandably depressed about her career and lack of a life; her sole life-line is her sister who lives on the other side of Canada.

Then the unexpected: a book arrives that should not exist because River had destroyed the manuscript when she left Japan 20 years earlier. The novel is the story of her trying to figure out where it came from and in the process discovering what really happened back in the day.

The book’s back cover blurb states: “River, Diverted is a dark fairy tale that explores the trickery of memory, the delicacy of friendship, the nature of creativity and the deliverance of hope.” I can’t say I found the ending very satisfactory, perhaps that's a reflection of my inherent skepticism (how could a monster get a book printed and bound? And what happened to its rep for eating kids?), but I did enjoy reading it and now I’m really looking forward to visiting Nagano and perhaps seeing some the things mentioned.

(Unfortunately, the book is marred by numerous typos: more than a dozen that I counted, and I’m hardly a proofreader.)

Some bon mots:
“Relationships are complicated… Most of them have an afterlife of some kind.” P 26
“That’s what an editor does; she takes the story and makes it what the author hoped it could be.”
“Memory is a savvy editor. It reinforces your chosen narrative by conveniently clipping out the details.” P 222

[Emmett Grogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this novel, a lot.

I'm a slow reader, because when I find a book that clicks with me, I tend to savour the material, rather than rush through it.

Sometimes you feel like reading a short novel (CARRIE); sometimes you feel like reading a longer novel (UNDER THE DOME): RIVER, DIVERTED is almost 400 pages, but as a novel you could get lost in (by get lost in, I mean, immerse yourself in the culture of modern Japan alongside the narrator) I enjoyed every step of the journey.

The joy of being a reader is the places we would otherwise not be able to visit; the meals we would otherwise not be able to eat; the people we would otherwise not be able to meet.

RIVER, DIVERTED delivers the experiences of youthful friendship, then youthful friendships revisited, in addition to the cuisine and culture of modern Japan.

I recommend tracking this novel down if you've ever travelled abroad, or dreamed of travelling abroad in your 20s, and give RIVER, DIVERTED a good read, devouring the story like comfort food for your imagination.

There is a mystery that kicks off the novel, and pulls you all the way through (several unspoken secrets, in fact) and is resolved in a completely satisfying ending; but the highlight for me was the strong (female) protagonist.

RIVER, DIVERTED is the type of novel, when you reach THE END, you wish there were more pages ahead of you -- and that's a rare accomplishment.

[Mark Coakley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, really well written.