Review of the Bottomless River, by Anthony J Langford.


 
The Bottomless River begins in a small town in rural Victoria in Australia. Three mates, Tom, Jen and the male point of view character, regularly get together at a river bank for harmless fun and banter. But their innocent world changes one night when they get drunk. The main character cannot forgive himself for what he has done.   

The Bottomless River surprised me with the quality of both its writing and story.  It has an emotional punch thrown by believable characters. Their dialogue is as natural as the river the teenagers meet by, echoing the voices of people I grew up with.
  
The novella’s author, Anthony J Langford, comes up with plenty of original similes as he explores guilt and regret. The main character’s inner turmoil seemed so realistic that I thought the writer had to be writing from experience.

To get the full impact of the novella I recommend reading it in one go.

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