Richard Haddaway's novel is a warm-hearted, realistic, multi-generational story of
the Beckwith clan, a Texas oil family dominated by its wealthy patriarch who does
his best to mold his children and grandchildren to his narrow views of propriety
and restraint. His grandson Stephen watches in grief as his father's life withers
under Granddaddy's long shadow. Stephen's own life takes a turn into the same
alcoholism and despair that ruined his father. Haddaway's narrative moves through
joy and loss, failure and courage. Set near Fort Worth, Texas, the novel takes
place from the mid-1950s to the mid-1990s.
Where the River Bends is a much-expanded version of Haddaway's first novel,
Our Island Home (Latitudes Press, 1990).

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RICHARD HADDAWAY is a third-generation Texan whose father and
grandfather were independent oilmen. He grew up in Fort Worth among an odd lot
of literate eccentrics. In addition to his degree in journalism from the University of
Texas at Austin, he is also proud of his certifications from the Bradley School of
Bartending and the J. P. Elwood School of Taxidermy. A longtime newspaperman,
Haddaway worked at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for more than twenty years in
various capacities-as a copy editor, travel editor, and columnist. Currently he is
fiction editor of Boys' Life magazine. He lives with his wife, Kay, a CPA, in Fort
Worth. They have one grown son, James.

What people are saying about this book
"A fine yarn, never pulling a punch. A story going hard toward, and not turning
away from the truth of us. Haddaway's a writer as full of hope as he is of honesty,
of compassion as he is of conscience, of faith as he is of fear."—Lee K. Abbott

"A lively, eccentric, often very funny (though not without its moments of deep
sadness) account of several generations of a Texas family, and by extension, a
history of the twentieth century. This is an admirable, ambitious piece of work and
a story that was a great and deep pleasure to read."—George Garrett

"On one level Richard Haddaway's Where the River Bends is a strongly written
family novel. On another, it is the story of the life of its narrator, Stephen
Beckwith, from childhood in the 1950s to the present, and of the chaotic social
changes that have marked that period. It is packed with well-drawn and varied
characters and with humor, tragedy, and genuine human love. I found it to be a
very moving piece of work."—John Graves