This is a mournful look at how drug addiction, heroin & opioids can cause suffering not only for the individual but extends to the family and community. Long Bright River is a crime mystery that alternates between “Now” & “Then”. Two sisters close in age and who were once protective of each other and tied deeply due to emotional damages as children but ended with different trajectories.

Mickey, a police officer who always tries to keep an eye on her sister, despite not having spoken to her in 5 years. Suddenly her sister, Kacey disappears during a time when a series of murders was happening in the area. Moore is able to make me feel for both sisters and the choices they each had to make in order to survive. The love that remains between them despite the mistakes each made.

During the last scenes of the book that depicted methadone addicted babies going through withdrawals, I was reminded of my own memories of the hospital in Philadelphia where I worked. Some of my tiny patients had their own methadone schedule to prevent severe withdrawals. I was heartbroken every single time. But this book portrays the view from the other side. The side of the mother, how hard it was and why they ended up in that position in the first place.

I wondered why the author called her novel, “Long Bright River” and it refers to the long bright river of departed souls from opioid overdoses in Philadelphia. This is a story that will prod at my soul because at the heart of it; it’s about two sisters & their love for each other.