River Stories

Richard Wilbur is the author of The Rise of French New Brunswick and
co-author of Silver Harvest: The Fundy Weirmen’s Story.

Wayne Curtis and New Brunswick’s Miramichi River are inseparable. The
13 stories that make up Curtis’s seventh collection of short stories
are all set on his beloved river. Once again, we are treated not only to
some memorable character sketches but also to some marvelous
descriptions of the river in all its seasons. Set in the spring, the
first three stories introduce us to the author as narrator and his two
childhood river companions, Oxhanna and Harold, who show up in some of
the other tales. All the stories are nostalgic and reflective, and most
end on a sad note. The author is a skilled observer who portrays his
characters so deftly that the reader starts wishing he would expand
their canvas to a full-scale novel; like all fine writers, Curtis leaves
the reader wanting more.