Through the Waters and the Wild by Greg Fields ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

"I was hungry, seeing myself starving for want of something I could not define. I sought it constantly, sought it at every turn, searched every face I met for hints of it, looked everywhere I could conceive. I lost time trying to slake this unquenchable thirst, trying to satisfy an endlessly burning hunger. But in the end, I knew precisely what I had been after all along. It is the folly of the young, part of their particular curse, to be so unaware, to be blind as well as hungry. To be in exile from themselves and not know they are away."

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

January 2021; Koehler Books; 978-1646632107
ebook, print (288 pages); literary fiction

I'll admit that I almost didn't read this book. The first 25 pages were so slow and I didn't like the main character, Connor,  at all.  However, the writing was so beautiful that I decided to keep reading it and I'm glad that I did.  I ended up really enjoying this well-written story of two men during two different times as they struggled to figure out their purpose in life and how to achieve happiness.

Connor is a congressional aide in DC.  When he was younger he was arrogant and proud of himself.  As the novel begins, he is wandering through his life due to his recent divorce and what he feels isn't a challenging job.  He spends more time thinking about the past than the future and just isn't sure what his purpose is.  As he begins to remember his grandfather, he gains wisdom from the time that he spent with him.  Liam immigrated from Ireland.  He left a note for his family and girlfriend and boarded a ship that sailed to Boston. He too kept looking back on his life and realized the mistakes that he'd made.  Once he decided to look towards the future and have confidence in himself, his life began to change as he realized his purpose in life.

The last third of the book is about Connor finally finding a purpose in his life and looking toward the future. Remembering Liam's story helped Connor to turn his life around and bring him happiness.

I enjoyed both Connor's life story and Liam's but I thought that Liam's was more interesting.  He left Ireland right before the Irish war in 1919 but in the years previous he had been caught in the crossfire between the Irish rebels and the English soldiers.  

Through the Waters and the Wild is a beautifully written book about two men who lived their lives years apart but were both faced with questions about their place in life and how to achieve happiness.

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Susan Roberts lives in North Carolina with her husband of over 50 years.  She grew up in Michigan but now calls North Carolina home. Since her travel plans had to be canceled for this year, she is starting to make plans for travel in 2021. She reads almost anything (and the piles of books in her house prove that) but her favorite genres are Southern fiction, women's fiction, and historical fiction. Susan is a top 1% Goodreads Reviewer. You can connect with Susan on Facebook, Goodreads, or Twitter.

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