RIVER OF DREAMS

by Gay Courter ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 27, 1984

Domestic turmoil in Rio de Janeiro, 1895-1907--starting out as a solid, atmospheric saga (with feminist trim), then careening into ungainly, unconvincing melodrama. In 1895 young Margaret Claiborne, gifted pianist, is very reluctantly returning from New Orleans schooling to her parents' drab farm in ""Lizzieland,"" a Brazil area settled by dispossessed American Southerners after the Civil War. There's no piano; Margaret's father is a virulent male-chauvinist-pig, determined to marry her off quickly; Margaret longs for ""the freedom and choices of a man""--but settles for an informal engagement to a gentle, wealthy widower (""because he's the only man who owns a piano""). Then, however, against Papa's wishes, Margaret treks off to Rio for the wedding of her rich school-chum Francisca Larson, falling madly for Francisca's handsome widower-brother Erik while coming down with dengue fever. So major orgasm and Catholic marriage follow--but happiness does not ensue, even though Margaret can now continue her music-making. Her first baby dies; her stepdaughter Astrid is a pain, over-attached to dark nursemaid Isabel. Even worse, unbeknownst to Margaret, compulsive philanderer Erik has fathered several children with Isabel--including one babe of recent vintage. So, when Margaret at last learns the South Pacific-style truth, she has a hard time reconciling with Erik (now increasingly ill from diabetes), and she spends much of her energy running an inland farm in rural solitude. Meanwhile, Francisca's having an even lousier time: a teenage victim of gang-rape (as revealed in an overlong flashback), she's now constantly abused by her animalistic husband--who eventually has her locked up in an insane asylum; separated from her children, traumatized by a glimpse of brother Erik in philandering action, she slips over into instability--dying, ludicrously, in a stagey Carnaval accident. And the creaky finale is the kidnap of Margaret by bandidos--rescued by Erik (who dies) and gentle, dark-skinned composer Joaquim. . . who, as we learn in a clumsy epilogue, becomes Margaret's perfect soulmate/husband. Throughout, Courter (The Midwife) sacrifices plausibility, character, and good taste in order to make heavyhanded, tired points about race, class, double-standards, and women-as-victims. Undeveloped subplots--about Erik's expanding business, about Margaret's fanatic missionary-brother--merely add clutter and bulk. Still, the opening chapters are sturdily engaging; the Brazil backgrounds are more persuasive than the Brazilian people; and readers who didn't mind the poor craftsmanship in Courter's first novel might not mind it here--though this lacks the gynecological detail that made The Midwife distinctive.

Pub Date: April 27, 1984

ISBN: 0595150985

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1984

Categories: FICTION