Book Review: Not the Same River

Reviewed by Elizabeth Zender

Discover the profound within the ordinary with this impactful collection.

W. A. Polf’s Not The Same River explores the timelessness of the ordinary experiences that make life extraordinary. Loss, connection, and tough decisions permeate the stories within the collection. A woman deals with the loss of her mother before she passes away; a man battles internally with a toxic friend; a friendship strains during instances of police violence against San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ community. Polf’s stories traverse the terrain of turmoil and triumph, even when triumph looks a little more commonplace than you might expect.

I can’t start talking about this book without first talking about “The Sawmill Pond,” an undeniable favorite. Here, a man lives his life in a house near a pond. When he grows old, he witnesses two boys and their troublemaking around that pond. I won’t spoil any more of the story because I highly recommend it, but let’s just say Polf’s writing reminds me of Shirley Jackson and Flannery O’Connor: an intriguing message told through something dark and unexpected. 

Not the Same River exemplifies what depth of character and emotion can look like on the page. Each story will give you something real & genuine to think about. Holding true to the saying after which it is named, the stories in this book tell of individuals who are irreversibly changed and are no longer the people they were when they stepped into the story. Each tale is connected by this change while Polf expertly navigates the dark waters. 

Polf displays an open and honest talent here. The emotion of these everyday people’s struggles is palpable, shown to their fullest in the right author’s hands. While some stories do contain larger-than-life experiences, most are centered around things we all could go through: a love that seems perfect on the outside, but has never quite lived up to expectations; a desire to stand up for oneself without the follow through. Polf cuts to the heart of these relatable stories and imbues them with accessible, poignant life lessons. 

This is a terrific collection for setting down and picking back up at your leisure. With no overarching plot to worry about and with emotions palpable on each singular page, this book is an easy one to recommend to both eager and reluctant readers. It’d even be a good binge-reading experience for all you stay-up-through-the-nighters. There’s something absolutely wonderful and haunting about these stories and how they make you look at life differently. So I’d say: Immerse yourself in the worlds of these stories. You won’t regret it.

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