The River Running By

About the Book

The British community of Portugal in the nineteen-thirties welcomes Ruth, the bride of wine-taster Bobby Teape, into a privileged and wealthy world of rolling hills, great rivers and endless vineyards. But the Teapes' marriage is overshadowed by guilt, because Natalia, the housemaid Ruth hires, is the girl Bobby once raped. In the post-war turbulence of Portugal under Salazar's fascist regime, the children of Ruth and Natalia inherit a future that is scarred by Bobby's secret from the past.

About the Author

Ex-Royal Navy pilot Charles Gidley Wheeler is the author of six best-selling novels including the acclaimed The Raging of the Sea (Viking, 1984) and Armada (Viking, 1988). The River Running By was first published in 1981. More recently he has published Basic Flying Instruction, A Comprehensive Introduction to Western Philosophy (iUniverse, 2004). He is married to the artist Susan Keeble.