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AuthorsLive: Wally Lamb - The River is Waiting

AuthorsLive is thrilled to welcome beloved and bestselling author Wally Lamb to Greenwich Library for a discussion of his new novel, The River is Waiting, the propulsive story of a young father who, after an unbearable tragedy, reckons with the possibility of atonement for the unforgivable.

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?

Join us for Wally Lamb's discussion, in conversation with Barbara Hoffert, former longtime editor of Prepub Alert at Library Journal.

IN-PERSON REGISTRATION IS FULL. **This program will be livestreamed to the Library's YouTube channel during the event - no sign-up required. This program will be recorded and available on the Library's YouTube channel for 30 days after the event.

Copies of The River is Waiting, She's Come Undone, and I Know This Much is True will be available for purchase and signing through Diane's Books.

While advance reading of The River is Waiting is not necessary, please note that the discussion may reveal plot elements that could be considered spoilers. 

Date:
Tuesday, July 29, 2025
Time:
7:00pm - 8:30pm
Location:
Berkley Theater
Audience:
  Adult     Senior  
Categories:
  Author Talk  
Registration has closed.

Wally Lamb is the author of six New York Times bestselling novels: I’ll Take You There, We Are Water, Wishin’ and Hopin’, The Hour I First Believed, I 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.

Barbara Hoffert was the literary fiction, poetry, and Prepub Alert editor at Library Journal for 37 years and is now doing her own writing. She served as the president, awards chair, and treasurer of the National Book Critics Circle, which awarded her its inaugural service award in 2022.