River Titles

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

The tranquillity of a cruise along the Nile was shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway had been shot through the head. She was young, stylish, and beautiful. A girl who had everything... until she lost her life. Hercule Poirot recalled an earlier outburst by a fellow passenger: "I'd like to put my dear little pistol against her head and just press the trigger." Yet in this...

Danube by Claudio Magris

Magris tracks the Danube River, setting his finger on the pulse of Central Europe, the crucible of a culture that draws on influences of East and West, Christianity and Islam. In each town he raises the ghosts that inhabit the houses and monuments, from Ovid and Marcus Aurelius to Kafka and Canetti, in "a fascinating blend of anecdote and history".

The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys

In its long history, the River Thames has frozen solid forty times. These are the stories of that frozen river. And so opens one of the most breathtaking and original works being published this season. The Frozen Thames contains forty vignettes based on events that actually took place each time the river froze between 1142 and 1895. Like a photograph captures a moment, etching it...

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Heart of Darkness is a chilling tale of horror which, as the author intended, is capable of many interpretations. Set in the Congo during the period of rapid colonial expansion in the 19th century, the story deals with the highly disturbing effects of economic, social and political exploitation of European and African societies and the cataclysmic behaviour this induced in some...

The Mighty Orinoco by Jules Verne

The story of a young man's search for his father along the then-uncharted Orinoco River of Venezuela.

Cane River by Lalita Tademy

Tademy was a successful vice president at Sun Microsystems when she began what became an obsessive two-year search to uncover the story of her family's roots. It was a personal odyssey that took her back to the early l800s and a small rural community on Louisiana's Cane River. There, digging through official records, conducting interviews, and relying on the expertise of professional...

Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain

A stirring account of America's vanished past... Discover the magic of life on the Mississippi. At once a romantic history of a mighty river, an autobiographical account of Twain's early steamboat days, and a storehouse of humorous anecdotes and sketches,

A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean

From its first magnificent sentence, "In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing", to the last, "I am haunted by waters", this is an American classic. Based on Maclean's childhood experiences, A River Runs Through It has established itself as one of the most moving stories of our time; it captivates readers with vivid descriptions of life along Montana's...

The River at the Center of the World by Simon Winchester

Rising in the mountains of the Tibetan border, the symbolic heart of China pierces 3,900 miles of rugged country before debouching into the oily swells of the East China Sea. Connecting China's heartland cities with the volatile coastal giant, Shanghai, it has also historically connected China to the outside world through its nearly one thousand miles of navigable waters. To travel...

River God by Wilbur Smith

Set in ancient Egypt. The Valley of the Kings lies ravaged by war, drained of it's lifeblood, weak men inherit the crown. Through the voice of Taita, the author draws the reader into the lives of the characters - their hopes, fears and passions.