The story takes place over a few days in 1917, focusing on the drowning of Lily Canning, a young artist and prominent member of the small Hudson River town of Minuit. Her death - possibly an accident, possibly suicide - sets a wave of grief among the town's residents, all wondering how this talented girl could have come to such a tragic end.

Emotionally, the novel connects fiercely with readers as it takes us through Lily's friends and family. Each chapter is set from the mindset of different characters, ranging from Lily's emotionally battered mother Etta to her empathetic best friend Rosaline and estranged ex-husband Edmund. Though written in third-person, there is a definite change of voice between each chapter - in addition to grief we see callousness, artistic distraction and unrequited love.

"The River" works not only as a story of loss, but as historical fiction. Beyond frequent mention of America’s entrance into World War I - and the debate of several male characters on enlisting - Marchetta details the era's newspapers, river industry and the advent of Pablo Picasso's modern art. The writing also has a vintage feel to it, with character voices matching their station: old-fashioned precision for the wealthy, calm and conversational for servant and rougher everyday for Edmund's newspaperman background.

If there is one problem with the book, it is that there is almost an overdose of family angst. Marchetta doesn't miss a single fact in the Canning family background, covering everything from Etta's husband's infidelities to Edmund striking Lily in a rage. This is felt in the second-to-last chapter, where Lily takes the chapter and we learn the real reason for her death - a description of neuroses a modern psychiatrist would call manic-depressive but fails to measure up to the import placed on it by the bereaved.