Fleeing the ravages of wartime Vienna, Pepa and her family find safe harbor in the small town of El Castillo, on the banks of the San Juan River in Nicaragua. There, her parents seek to eradicate yellow fever while Pepa falls under the spell of the jungle and the townâs eccentric inhabitants. But Pepaâs lifeâincluding her relationship with local boy Guillermoâcomes to a halt when her family abruptly moves to New York, leaving the young girl disoriented and heartbroken.
As the years pass, Pepaâs and Guillermoâs lives diverge, and Guillermoâs homeland slips into chaos. Nicaragua soon becomes engulfed in revolutionary fervor as the Sandinista movement vies for the nationâs soul. Guillermoâs daughter transforms into an accidental revolutionary. Pepaâs son defies his parentsâ wishes and joins the revolution in Nicaragua, only to disappear into the jungle. It will take decades before the fates of these two families converge again, revealing how love, grief, and passion are intertwined with a nationâs destiny.
Spanning generations and several wars, Only the River explores the way displacement both destroys two families and creates new ones, sparking a revolution that changes their lives in the most unexpected ways.