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A Novel
by Wally Lamb
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of two Oprah Book Club Picks—She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True—Wally Lamb comes the propulsive story of a young father who, after an unbearable tragedy, reckons with the possibility of atonement for the unforgivable.
Corby Ledbetter is struggling. New fatherhood, the loss of his job, and a growing secret addiction have thrown his marriage to his beloved Emily into a tailspin. And that's before he causes the tragedy that tears the family apart. Sentenced to prison, Corby struggles to survive life on the inside, where he bears witness to frightful acts of brutality but also experiences small acts of kindness and elemental kinship with a prison librarian who sees his light and some of his fellow offenders, including a tender-hearted cellmate and a troubled teen desperate for a role model. Buoyed by them and by his mother's enduring faith in him, Corby begins to transcend the boundaries of his confinement, sustained by his hope that mercy and reconciliation might still be possible. Can his crimes ever be forgiven by those he loves?
Requesting community assistance!
Hi fellow bookies! (hmmm, that sounds weird…) I've been in touch with Wally Lamb's publicist. He's sadly not interested in sitting down with us, but he would be willing to reply to a Q & A document. So here's where I need your help… What questions would you like to post to this author? I've read ...
-kim.kovacs
(Spoilers) Who has read Wally Lamb's The River is Waiting?
I loved this book! The ending was devastating but I felt it was realistic. We are not always given the luxury of enough time to wrap things up the way we might prefer. The whole book was a lot of reality that is easy to deny or forget. But when we allow ourselves to "go in", we are better off for...
-Judith_V
Aspen Words Literary Prize 2026
...ost impactful for me. I can see why the others, https://www.bookbrowse.com/bb_briefs/detail/index.cfm/ezine_preview_number/20975/the-river-is-waiting The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb and https://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/5025/wild-dark-shore Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy made it to the list. I'm abo...
-kim.kovacs
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (10/23/2025)
I am reading A River is Waiting by Wally Lamb for book group.
-Elizabeth_H
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (10/16/2025)
I am reading Love, Sex and Frankenstein by Caroline Lea. She has made Byron, Shelley and Mary Shelley three of the most unlikeable characters in recent reads!! Really liked The River is Waiting (Wally Lamb) and All the Colors of the Dark. At my book club we were talking about our mothers not lett...
-Barbette_T
Did you find the beginning of the book particularly dark or difficult? How did your perspective on the tone change as the story continued?
The darkness of the story did not affect me or seem too dark to handle, but I did wonder where the plot was leading. At times, that did not seem entirely clear. I think that any literature that deals honestly about drug addiction/abuse will be dark. I recently read Wally Lamb's latest book, The R...
-Rebecca_R
What are you reading this week? (8/21/2025)
I am reading THE RIVER IS WAITING. It grabbed me from page 1. Wally Lamb makes you think about how one would approach this dilemma. I can't imagine what will happen but i am enjoying his writing!
-Helen_Pilotte
What are you reading this week? (8/7/2025)
Just finished Wally Lamb's The River Is Waiting and it was great. About to start Our Last Resort by Clemence Michallon.
-Janet_W1
What are you reading this week? (7/17/2025)
Just finished listening to Know My Name: A Memoir by Chanel Miller.Tough to hear her read about the assault and trial, etc. With that being so heavy needed something light so am half way through The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren. Fun romance. Need to finish it fast as Wally Lamb's The ...
-Colleen_K
What are you reading this week? (7/10/2025)
The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware and listening to The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb.
-Donna_J
What are you reading this week? (6/19/025)
I recently attended an author event of Wally Lamb and started his book The River is Waiting. Tough topic, but can't put it down. I also have JoJo Moyes We All Live Here from Libby and reading on my iPad.
-Melinda_J
What are you reading this week? (6/5/2025)
Hoping to start The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb today. After enjoying that one, I am going to read Riley Sager's With a Vengeance. Wish I had more time to read uninterrupted!
-Janet_W1
"Lamb sheds light on the inhumanity and cruelty of the American prison system, while also offering glimmers of hope and friendship… There are no simple resolutions in this gripping drama, and Lamb offers plenty to ponder about guilt, innocence, rehabilitation, and forgiveness." —Booklist
"[A] heart-wrenching story of redemption… Lamb lays bare the vagaries of his protagonist's life in accessible prose and concludes on a bittersweet note. This will please the author's fans." —Publishers Weekly
"Riveting… Lamb expertly shows [Corby's] arduous, bumpy progression… a gripping […] story of grief, guilt, and healing." —Kirkus Reviews
"As usual, Wally Lamb gripped me with his perceptive, page-turning novel, The River Is Waiting, a story that illuminates how the traumas of mass incarceration and addiction stigma spare no one. Lamb delivers what's most needed in these turbulent times—an absolute empathy bomb." —Beth Macy, author of Dopesick and Raising Lazarus
"Time and time again, the amazing Wally Lamb's imperfect people break our hearts and help us understand the unfathomable depths of guilt and grief as we look for light in the world." —Alice Hoffman, New York Times bestselling author of The Practical Magic series
"The River is Waiting is an ambitious, affecting novel that's not afraid to look directly at human suffering, and to map out the pain we inflict on others, and on ourselves. With an unflinching eye and an unsentimental compassion for his characters, Wally Lamb finds glimmers of hope and healing and decency in the darkest places." —Tom Perrotta, New York Times bestselling author of The Leftovers and Little Children
This information about The River Is Waiting was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Wally Lamb is the author of the New York Times and national bestseller The Hour I First Believed, as well as the novels She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True, both #1 New York Times bestsellers and Oprah's Book Club selections. His first novel She's Come Undone
received rave reviews when it was published in 1992. The book was a finalist for the Los
Angeles Times Book Awards' Art Seidenbaum Prize for First Fiction and was named as one
of the most notable books of the year by numerous publications, including The New York
Times Book Review and People magazine. We Are Water will be published in October 2013.
A graduate of the Vermont College MFA writing program, Lamb is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Connecticut's English ...
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