In the Heart of the Canyon

Having taken four two week raft trips down the Grand Canyon over the years this book rings absolutely true. While the Canyon is about the rocks, the starry skies, the geology, and of course the river in all its guises, a raft trip away from phones, email, etc. leaves you with a cast of characters with whom you have to live for two weeks. The characters in this book are a metaphor for all the folks we run into in real life. Elisabeth Hyde captures the variety of passengers with such exactitude that I could believe she had been on each and every one of my trips. One of the most fun things on the trip is listening to the guides tell all kinds of stories about past nightmare passengers and events. But I can guarantee that the ending to this story will hopefully not be in the story list of any guide. It is a total surprise as are the character's response to this unexpected event. I found it a-no-put-down book.

Like one of the twelve disparate people who signed up for this river trip through the canyon, I could tell before Hyde had even taken me over the first rapid that I was in the hands of a master storyteller. Heart of the Canyon is an apt title, resonating evocatively with the real aim of this novel, to sink us deep into the hearts of the rafters and their guides. I was amazed by Hyde's ability to interweave the concerns and secret insecurities, dreams, and fears of so many different characters without confusing me, losing me, or miring me in the shallows. Rather, she plunged me into deep water almost from page one. Each character emerges as a complete human being on whom the river slowly works its life-changing magic. These changes are not overstated, but subterranean shifts in attitude induced by an immersion in nature's raw beauty, at the mercy of her raw power.

JT Maroney has guided raft tours down the Colorado River 124 times. His 125th trip will be the one he never forgets, although he has no way of knowing that as his passengers begin to gather at the start of their journey, along with his seasoned assistant guides, Dixie and Abo. JT finds nothing remarkable in this set of clients...yet. He is already well acquainted with one couple. Ruth and Lloyd Frankel are from Illinois. They are in their 70s now, but have been down the Colorado many times, sometimes with JT as their guide. Their river trips have been a unifying, grounding and spiritual experience for them over their married years --- a touchstone neither would willingly give up. However, Ruth is well aware that this will be their last rafting trip. Lloyd is exhibiting signs of Alzheimer's disease. Although his doctor gave the okay for him to take the trip, Ruth knows bringing him is risky. She also realizes that their age alone will make for a challenging journey, but little does she know the test that is in store for both of them. Amy is 17 years old and traveling with her mother, Susan. Theirs is a relationship fraught with emotions. Amy is hyper-conscious of being overweight (in her journal pages, which weave through the chapters, she dubs herself "FAT GIRL"). She is positive that she is a disappointment to her mom, with some validity. Susan has high hopes that this trip will help mend her troubled relationship with the daughter she loves but doesn't understand. Jill and Mark Compson are another pair of rafters with a powder-keg relationship. They travel with their young sons, whose shenanigans often add to the tensions of their marriage. The couple's problems are laid bare during the trip as Jill gains a new perspective on her husband. Another married couple, Mitchell and Lena, add to the group's frictions. Mitchell is an historian and researcher who often feels the need to elbow JT out of the way in order to try to lead the trip himself. Lena is a bit of an unknown quantity, overshadowed by her outspoken husband. Two single clients are also on the rafting trip. Both are recovering from recently broken relationships. Peter is in his 20s and smarting from having his girlfriend leave him. He is instantly enamored with assistant guide Dixie. Evelyn is a Harvard professor who doesn't fit in well with the others despite great effort, and nurses a terrible loneliness for her ex. As their journey begins, new relationships start to form and old ones are seen in a new light. An unexpected newcomer joins the group along the way, unleashing even more conflicts as well as joyful reactions and humorous scenes. JT's feeling that this 125th trip is just another journey down the Colorado River changes as his group experiences one extraordinary disaster after another, causing him to wonder what his own future might hold. IN THE HEART OF THE CANYON works well as a study of group and individual reactions and interactions during unique internal and exter

Elizabeth Hyde is a mystery writer, though not in the conventional sense. Even when writing what is in plot a murder mystery - her book from two years ago, The Abortionist's Daughter -- her mysteries are what a Victorian would call mysteries of the heart, attempts to understand what lies at the core of one or more of her characters. In the Heart of the Canyon is no exception. This time she has produced an adventure story about a float trip through the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River by 12 travelers of various ages and stations and their 3 guides. Here there are two mysteries. One is that of discovering which character will prove to be central to the story. Over the 13 day trip of 225 miles this mystery slowly becomes manageable, as a few characters are set aside and relationships among many of the others are disclosed. In then end, when there are only two possibilities left, the story quite abruptly comes together as the central character and that character's mystery becomes the topic of attention for all of the adults in the group. Ms. Hyde's work throughout is deft. The prose is clean and direct, a pleasure to read, always in the sweet spot between corpulent and sinewy. At the same time the prose is anything but uniform. Lazing down the River, it is slow; in the rapids that define the River, it is muscular; at stops along the shore, it takes the occasionally chattery directness of people thrown together in unexpected circumstances. All the characters are nicely fleshed out even when not particularly important for the plot, with the result that, as the story moves forward, even those being set aside are not neglected. And the whole is propelled, not by the River, but by a stray dog named Blender, a MacGuffin that would make Hitchcock smile. A careful reader of Ms. Hyde's fiction would note that, starting with a still earlier book, Crazy as Chocolate, her ability to handle multiple characters has grown, while she has maintained the very high quality and clarity of her prose. This is no small achievement. Such a reader might also note a continuity of theme. However, to discuss such would be to give away the mystery In the Heart of the River. It would be far better for the reader to take the journey and enjoy the time getting there.