''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, is the Parris Distinguished Professor in Appalachian Cultural Studies at Western Carolina University. Early life Rash was born on September 25, 1953, in C ...

. 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 land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enr ...

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

, and

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

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 Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. 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 Tamassee is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in northwestern Oconee County, South Carolina, United States. It was first listed as a CDP in the 2020 census with a population of 60. Overview The Tamassee area ...

. *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 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-largest ...

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 novels Novels set in South Carolina