Little Chapel On The River: A Pub, a Town and the Search for What Matters Most [Hardcover]

"Little Chapel on the River", a delightful book by Gwendolyn Bounds, is a story of three families....the Guinans, who run the local pub and store, the extended Guinan family (patrons, mostly) of Garrison, New York and the family of the author, herself. It's a "feel good" book in the best possible sense.

Having been displaced by the attacks on 9/11, Wendy and her girlfriend, Kathryn, are introduced to the tiny hamlet of Garrison just across the river from West Point. Within a short time, Wendy has begun to make friends at Guinan's and ends up being a part of the entourage that makes its way into Guinan's each morning and evening. Along the way, the author finds more than a few things about herself as she begins to piece together what's missing from her life.

Bounds is enticingly descriptive about the characters she meets at Guinan's. Some, naturally, are small town skeptics regarding this new face in the crowd but without giving much more than an inch, Wendy finds herself enmeshed in their lives as they become her new friends, far from the roaring din of Manhattan. There's Fitz, a former U.S. federal marshal and Vietnam war veteran who likes to butt heads with Dan Donnelly, the "limousine liberal" lawyer. Jane and Mary Ellen form a duo of town females who help out at the pub and enjoy Guinan's to the fullest. Their loyalty is never questioned. The list of patrons goes on. The real story, though, centers around the Guinan family....Jim, an emigré from Ireland and his four children. This is indeed a family that despite its ups and downs is a close-knit unit that takes care of its own...and while they're doing so, take care of everyone else, too. Having been drawn into the life of a small, warm place, Wendy, Kathryn and their "bonus puppy", Dolly, decide to make Garrison their home. Even Governor George Pataki has a cameo role in this book.

The author keeps a good pace throughout and one gets a terrific insider's view of life at Guinan's. To say "Little Chapel on the River" has a happy ending does not in any way betray or diminish Bounds's writing. Rather it enhances it, I suspect, because goodness begets goodness and there's plenty of it here. One hint that might help the reader enjoy the book even more... most of the "action" takes place in the hours of darkness, so reading this book at night gives it more meaning and consequence.

I applaud Gwendolyn Bounds and her "Little Chapel on the River". Guinan's is a place that time has not so much passed by, but preserved. The author has done a magnificent job in relating the tales that go on in this little place on the Hudson.

Sometimes Life throws us a curve, and we land somewhere we didn't expect to be. And that place turns out to be the home we should have been looking for all along. That's what happened to NYC residents Wendy Bounds and Kathryn Kranhold in the aftermath of 9/11. Their post-traumatic experiences eventually put them in Garrison, a small Hudson River settlement 50 miles north of Grand Central Station. What makes Garrison most memorable is a combination store-and-bar called Guinan's (GUY-nenz). Named after proprietor Jim Guinan, the building serves as a newspaper outlet for rail commuters, a refreshment stand for thirsty West Pointers, a monthly mecca of Irish ballads for local musicians, and the social center of the community. How this family business got started and keeps on going is the real story, and it comes to light now because Wendy is a Wall Street Journal reporter. Her journalistic instinct led her to take notes and record conversations; her heart led her to a real estate agent to make permanent her connection with the people and the area. The CHEERS theme song got it right: You want to be where everyone knows your name. A warm, beautiful, compelling, and true example of sense of place.

This book's message reminds me of a song on Jack Johnson's newest CD. In the song, "Breakdown," he sings, "I hope this old train breaks down. Then I could take a walk around and see what there is to see. And time is just a melody. All the people in the street walk as fast as their feet can take them. I just roam through town."

In this beautifully written tale Bounds teaches us that it's OK to roam because it's then that we might just find what we're looking for.

It took something as dramatic as the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to get Bounds to realize this. It was then that she moved from lower Manhattan a block from the Trade Center to a tiny town up the Hudson River where life is more like the way it once was. People take time to get to know -- and help -- their neighbors.

Like so many small towns, a chapel is the main gathering place, though this one isn't the typical house of worship. It's a bar on the river where the town's characters gather night after night to trade stories, jokes and barbs and even find support. And when their chapel is threatened, they come together to help protect it, including Bounds.

I'm willing to bet that this book will make most readers remember a simpler time, and perhaps encourage them to seek those days one more time.