Down to the River – ARC Book Review

Down to the River is a family saga set in the late 1960s in Cambridge, Massachusetts against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. Twin brothers, Nash and Remi Potts, have grown up as entitled, Harvard-educated, golden boys, heirs to an old, but dwindling family fortune. With the passage of time, the gold veneer of prosperity begins to chip away, and their lives begin to falter. We meet Remi and Nash in 1968, in their mid-forties and partners in a sporting goods store in Harvard Square. The twins’ marriages are in trouble. Their youngest children, Chickie and Hen (mistakes, they’re often called….), are coming of age during the turbulent urban wilderness of the late 1960s— school bomb threats, racial tensions, war protests and demonstrations at Harvard and beyond. With all hell breaking loose at home, and any semblance of “parenting” hanging ragged in the wind, the two cousins are left largely to their own devices. Suddenly freed from old rules and restrictions, they head out onto the streets of Cambridge, which become their concrete playground, tumbling headlong into a world of politics, sex, drugs, rock and roll. Chickie and Hen forge an unbreakable bond as they join forces and hearts to stay afloat in the sea of upheaval that surrounds them, the lines of family love and loyalty often blurring.

I am not sure how to write a review on this book.

Nash and Remi are identical twin brothers and they used to be a wealthy family. But after getting married their wealth is dwindled. Fast forward, the story is set in the 1960’s during the Vietnam war and is centered around their youngest children Minerva known as Chickie and Henry known as Hen.

The book unfortunately was not for me–however on the good side of the story, the writing was really great, the author must have done tremendous research of what life was like during the 1960’s to early 1970’s. I did enjoy reading those parts. But the bad side was, maybe it was just me, this book wasn’t really for me–it kind of got boring to me but then I did like the plot.

Overall, I would give this 2.5 stars.