The working title of the novel I’m writing is River of Time. While debating titles (with myself, of course), I also considered River of Life, but ultimately decided that this option sounded too much like a self-help book. Other options were – I think I’ve discarded most of them – Gallery Laborde, The Paris Gallery, Portraits of Time, and Camille (the main character is Camille).
This past week, while editing, my thoughts kept coming back to this title, and I realized that featured in the novel are the Seine River in Paris, an unnamed river that is a favourite spot for boating, and a small, meandering river near the made-up town of Beaufort. Situated not far from Arras, Beaufort was originally featured in Lies Told In Silence with characters in that novel that also appear in Paris In Ruins plus some of their descendants. Each of these rivers is significant to the story.
With the first draft completed, I’m thinking about titles once again. Is River of Time the right choice?
Life as a river is a familiar metaphor. Like life, rivers begin as something small, gathering strength and growing as it flows, encountering obstacles along the way, and usually merging into something larger. Like time, rivers are not reversible. Rivers reshape landscapes. As a metaphor, they suggest that change is persistent and, for the most part, unstoppable.
My grandmother’s book Familiar Quotations edited by John Bartlett is on my resource shelf. In it, I’ve found a number of quotes that resonate with the story I’ve created.
- It is not possible to step twice into the same river … Heraclitus
- Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away … Marcus Aurelius Antonius
- Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep … Shakespeare
- It is with rivers as it is with people; the greatest are not always the most agreeable nor the best to live with … Henry Van Dyke
- Time like an ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away … Psalm 90
- We should count time like heartthrobs … Philip James Bailey
- On the wings of time, grief flies away … Jean de la Fontaine
Sitting here writing this, I’m happy with the title. What do you think?
And by the way, River of Time features a few impressionist artists including Berthe Morisot who created the painting above.
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M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel THAT WAS THEN is a contemporary thriller. Mary’s other novels, THE ADMIRAL’S WIFE, PARIS IN RUINS, TIME AND REGRET, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook or on her website www.mktod.com.
