Just finished the excellent debut novel by Barney Norris.
‘Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain’ (Transworld) is set in and around Salisbury, Wilts, and is a very readable composition. Norris weaves together the lives of seemingly ordinary people – a flower-seller, a schoolboy, an army wife, a widower and a security guard. We see how each of them deals with their own very different tragedies – perhaps not so tragic in the great scheme of things – but vital to them as it moulds their lives.
It’s refreshing to see five separate, but interesting lives, gradually intertwine, albeit in unexpected ways. It’s not a heavy story and is certainly worth a re-read even if it’s only certain stories. Highly recommended and a great debut novel.
deilibri 