During the summer of 1958 in the English village of Cameldip, two children drown while playing in a leaky boat on the river. Their parents, Isabel and Robert, are bound together in guilt and anger. Thirty years later, a young woman secretly pregnant and determined to make a new start for herself arrives in Cameldip. Taken in by Isabel, she slowly uncovers the secrets of the village's past and is inexorably drawn into the conflict.

A story of families, old secrets, and new beginnings, The River is a lyrical and haunting tale of betrayal, failure, love, and fortitude.