The River

A breathtaking mix of observation, prose, natural history, and artWe tend to look at landscape in relation to what it can do for us. Does it move us with its beauty? Can we make a living from it? But what if we examined a landscape on its own terms, freed from our expectations and assumptions?This is what celebrated writer Helen Humphreys sets out to do in this beautiful, groundbreaking examination of place. For more than a decade Humphreys has owned a small waterside property on a section of the Napanee River in Ontario. In the watchful way of writers, she has studied her little piece of the river through the seasons and the years, cataloguing its ebb and flows, the plants and creatures that live in and round it, the signs of human usage at its banks and on its bottom.The result is The River, a gorgeous and moving meditation that uses fiction, non-fiction, natural history, archival maps and images, and full-colour original photographs to get at the truth. In doing this, Humphreys has created a work of startling originality that is sure to become a new Canadian classic. Short DescriptionThe perfect companion to Humphreys' bestselling work, The Frozen Thames, The River is a natural and human history of the river that flows past her writing cabin. It is also a profound meditation on humanity and our place in the cosmos.Sales and Market BulletsReads like a collection of short stories, but is based on historical truths and a decade of the author's observations of the river where she has a home and does her writing.This lux package is full-colour throughout: includes stunning original photography by Tama Baldwin, archival photography and charming illustrations.Humphreys previous books include the international bestseller The Lost Garden (over 20K in the US in cloth and paper). The Riverfollows most closely on the genre-defying Frozen Thames, a beautiful small format gift book released by Random House in 2009 (3000 sold according to Bookscan).Released in Canada in October 2015, to a starred review in the Quill & Quire: "The River takes breathtaking risks and hold treasures galore. This important work feels completely honest and earned."Depot Creek, also known as the Napanee River, is a river in the Great Lakes Basin, located specifically in Frontenac County and Lennox and Addington County of Eastern Ontario. The river flows into the Bay of Quinte on Lake Ontario.