''Saints at the River'' is a 2004 novel by American author

Ron Rash Ron Rash (born September 25, 1953) is an American poet, short story writer and novelist and the Parris Distinguished Professor in Appalachian Cultural Studies at Western Carolina University. Early life Rash was born on September 25, 1953, in Ch ...

. It is Rash's second published novel. It is the winner of the Weatherford Award for Best Novel and has been used by several schools as a summer reading assignment for their incoming freshmen, including

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

, and

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

Plot

The story begins with a brief prologue description of a 12-year-old girl drowning in the Tamassee River, the boundary between

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. From then on, the story is told from the point of view of Maggie Glenn, a 28-year-old photographer for ''The Messenger'' newspaper assigned to cover the story.

Part One (Ch. 1-5)

The story begins with the introduction of Maggie Glenn. She has been assigned by her boss, Lee Gervais, to cover the events surrounding the drowning of a little girl in the Tamassee River with her colleague, Allen Hemphill.

Part Two (Ch. 6-10)

Characters

Major characters

*Maggie Glenn - the narrator of the story. Maggie is a 28-year-old photographer for ''The Messenger'' newspaper and has been assigned to cover the story of the drowning. Maggie is originally from Tamassee, South Carolina. *Allen Hemphill - assigned to cover the story of the drowning with Maggie. He is 39-years-old.

Minor characters

*Lee Gervais - Maggie's boss and managing editor of ''The Messenger.'' Lee is 38-years-old, and it is implied that he has never had to work for anything, as he comes from a wealthy family. *Thomas Hudson - owner of ''The Messenger'' newspaper, published out of

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...

Publication history

*2004, USA, Henry Holt , Pub date 2004, Hardback

Awards and nominations

*Weatherford Award for Best Novel (2004)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saints at the River 2004 American novels Novels set in South Carolina