The River Is Waiting Oprahs Book Cl..., Wally Lamb
The River Is Waiting Oprahs Book Cl..., Wally Lamb
13 Rating(s)
List: $29.99 | Sale: $19.20
Club: $14.99

The River Is Waiting (Oprah's Book Club)

Bestseller

Author: Wally Lamb

Narrator: Jeremy Sisto

Unabridged: 14 hr 35 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/10/2025

Categories: Fiction, Sagas, Crime


Synopsis

OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK

#1 New York Times bestselling author Wally Lamb, celebrated for two prior Oprah Book Club selections, returns with an exceptional third pick, a propulsive novel following a young father grappling with unbearable tragedy as he searches for hope, redemption, and the possibility of forgiveness.

Corby Ledbetter is struggling. New fatherhood, the loss of his job, and a growing secret addiction have thrown his marriage to his beloved Emily into a tailspin. And that’s before he causes the tragedy that tears the family apart. Sentenced to prison, Corby struggles to survive life on the inside, where he bears witness to frightful acts of brutality but also experiences small acts of kindness and elemental kinship with a prison librarian who sees his light and some of his fellow offenders, including a tender-hearted cellmate and a troubled teen desperate for a role model. Buoyed by them and by his mother’s enduring faith in him, Corby begins to transcend the boundaries of his confinement, sustained by his hope that mercy and reconciliation might still be possible. Can his crimes ever be forgiven by those he loves?

About Wally Lamb

Wally Lamb is the author of six New York Times bestselling novels: I’ll Take You ThereWe Are WaterWishin’ and Hopin’, The Hour I First BelievedI Know This Much Is True, and She’s Come Undone. Lamb also edited Couldn’t Keep It to Myself and I’ll Fly Away, two volumes of essays from students in his writing workshop at York Correctional Institution, a women’s prison in Connecticut, where he was a volunteer facilitator for twenty years. Lamb lives in Connecticut with his wife, Christine, and they have three sons.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Nilufer on June 29, 2025

OMG! This is one of those profoundly haunting books with a devastatingly powerful narrative that lingers long after you turn the final page. It’s not just a hard read—it’s an emotionally gut-wrenching experience that forces you to confront humanity’s darkest corners. The raw portrayal of crime, the......more

Goodreads review by Canadian Jen on June 20, 2025

This starts off with a tragedy that will make your jaw drop. Intense. Life can be tough. Losing a job, having twins to care for, a marriage once thought to be solid. Everything can change in the blink of an eye as Corby finds out -in the most horrible way. Then life can become tragic. This is a story......more

Goodreads review by Debra on June 04, 2025

Heartbreaking, gut wrenching, tragic, thought provoking and hard to put down! The River Is Waiting put me and its characters through an emotional ringer. The River Is Waiting explores themes of guilt, loss, addiction, anger, blame, forgiveness, bullying, choices, redemption, and marriage. This is no......more

Goodreads review by NZLisaM on June 26, 2025

The 27 of April 2017 marked the day Corbin Ledbetter’s world broke! By 6:15 am on that fateful day Corby had already popped an anti-anxiety pill and added hundred-proof spirits to his morning coffee. He craves both just to get through every day, is drinking and drugging in secret, hiding his addictio......more

Goodreads review by Stephanie on May 31, 2025

Run, don’t walk when Wally Lamb’s first book in nine years hits the shelves in June of 2025. Insert gif of Oprah screaming in her “YOU GET A FIVE STAR READ, EVERYONE GETS A FIVE STAR READ!” And this is how I feel about Wally lamb’s latest book The River is Waiting. I devoured this in two days and was......more


Quotes

"Actor Jeremy Sisto is a convincing and talented performer who skillfully immerses listeners in the psyche of Corby Ledbetter, particularly with his tone."