The Wind Is Not a River - Softcover

"In this gripping, meditative second novel, Brian Payton explores this nearly forgotten chapter of American history."--New York Times Book Review

"Exquisite....[Payton] gives us images that are bright and crisp... [and] can write the heck out of Alaska and war..."--Chicago Tribune

"Powerful... thoughtfully conceived...The pages of this book practically turn themselves... By turns greathearted and grim, "The Wind Is Not a River" probes the reasons for, and the consequences of, the human practice of war...this story may haunt you long after you've put the book down."--Seattle Times

"Set against a meticulously described Alaskan setting, each harrowing or quietly painful minute is portrayed in realistic detail...The book arcs poetically across the distance between Helen and John, drawing out the separation that they (and the reader) can hardly bear."--BookPage

"Payton, in the loveliest of prose, illuminates a little-known aspect of WWII while portraying a devoted couple who bravely face down the isolation, pain, and sacrifice of wartime."--Booklist

"This moving and powerfully written novel explores themes of war, life and death, morality, and love in a unique World War II battleground that very few people outside Alaska know about or remember...Payton...has written a suspenseful, beautifully researched title that readers will want to devour in one sitting."--Library Journal (starred review)

"What a great-hearted, beautifully written, and utterly riveting novel. It has a power that brings to mind the old Greek stories of war, love, and journey."--Ron Rash, bestselling author of Serena and Nothing Gold Can Stay

"Beautifully written, lyrical and elegiac, The Wind Is Not A River is a novel you must read...John Easley's struggle to survive and his wife Helen's struggle to find him form the most triumphant and heartbreaking love story I've read in years."--David Vann, author of Legend of a Suicide and Caribou Island

"Not since Cold Mountain have I read such a brilliantly sustained metaphor for our collective guilt and grief, nor such a stirring testament to the redemptive power of love. We need this novel now."--Wayne Grady, author of Emancipation Day

"A haunting love story wrapped in an engaging and unsettling history lesson...Along the way, readers will learn not just about a fascinating and largely forgotten slice of American history, but what it felt like to live through it."--USA Today