"Two Rivers is reminiscent of Thornton Wilder, with its quiet New England town shadowed by tragedy, and of Sherwood Anderson, with its sense of desperate loneliness and regret...Even the protagonist’s name, Harper, calls to mind To Kill a Mockingbird, with its painful racial entanglements also set in a small town...Greenwood fills her novel with memorable characters, especially in the flashback chapters...It’s to Greenwood’s credit that she answers her novel’s mysteries in ways that are believable, that make you feel the sadness that informs her characters’ lives."
-- BookPage
"...a complex tale of guilt, remorse, revenge, and forgiveness. Greenwood (Undressing the Moon; Nearer the Sky) holds our attention by alternating the train wreck in 1980 with flashbacks from 1968 that set the scene for the following events. For an author too young to remember the 1960s, Greenwood is convincing in her portrayal of that turbulent decade, from the civil rights marches to the Vietnam War protests. By the conclusion of this interesting novel, she has deftly tied up all the loose ends. "
-- Library Journal
"In this evocative novel of redemption, Greenwood (Undressing the Moon) finds humanity and redemption in the life of a smalltown widower and his legacy of guilt...Greenwood is a writer of subtle strength, evoking smalltown life beautifully while spreading out the map of Harper's life, finding light in the darkest of stories."
-- Publisher's Weekly
Indie Next Selection for January 2009:
"The Vietnam war, discrimination, and family secrets combine in this story of forgiveness and redemption. Greenwood effortlessly balances tenderness and grit, resulting in a moving portrait of Harper Montgomery's efforts to make good on past actions and regain a sense of integrity."
--Bev Denor, LaDeDa Books, Manitowoc, WI
"TWO RIVERS is a dark and lovely elegy, filled with heartbreak that turns itself into hope and forgiveness. I felt so moved by this luminous novel."
--Luanne Rice, New York Times bestselling author
"Two Rivers is a stark, haunting story of redemption and salvation. T. Greenwood portrays a world of beauty and peace that, once disturbed, reverberates with searing pain and inescapable consequences; this is a story of a man who struggles with the deepest, darkest parts of his soul, and is able to fight his way to the surface to breathe again. But also--maybe more so--it is the story of a man who learns the true meaning of family: When I am with you, I am home. A memorable, powerful work."
--Garth Stein, New York Times bestselling author of THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN
“In the tradition of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird, T. Greenwood’s Two Rivers is a wonderfully distinctive American novel, abounding with memorable characters, unusual lore and history, dark family secrets, and love of life. Two Rivers is the story that people want to read: the one they have never read before.”
--Howard Frank Mosher, author of WALKING TO GATLINBURG
"Two Rivers is a convergence of tales, a reminder that the past never washes away, and yet, in T. Greenwood's delicate handling of time gone and time to come, love and forgiveness wait on the other side of what life does to us and what we do to it. This novel is a sensitive and suspenseful portrayal of family and the ties that bind."
-- Lee Martin, author of THE BRIGHT FOREVER and RIVER OF HEAVEN
“T. Greenwood’s writing shimmers and sings as she braids together past, present, and the events of one desperate day. I ached for Harper in all of his longing, guilt, grief, and vast, abiding love, and I rejoiced at his final, hard-won shot at redemption.”
-- Marisa de los Santos, author of LOVE WALKED IN and BELONG TO ME
"In Two Rivers, T. Greenwood weaves a haunting story in which the sins of the past threaten to destroy the fragile equilibrium of the present. Ripe with surprising twists and heart-breakingly real characters, Two Rivers is a remarkable and complex look at race and forgiveness in small-town America."
-- Michelle Richmond, author of THE YEAR OF FOG
"T. Greenwood’s novel is full of love, betrayal, lost hopes, and a burning question: is it ever too late to find redemption?
- -Miranda Beverly-Whittemore, author of THE EFFECTS OF LIGHT and the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize-winning SET ME FREE