Annie and Helen's relationship has never been easy. Annie is now dealing with the aftermath of a stroke that threatens her fierce independence. And Helen, her daughter, who has moved into Annie's small home in rural Ontario to care for her, is flooded with the feelings her mother has always evoked in her -- shame, guilt, an all-pervasive sense of failure. But as they take stock of their lives, trying to make sense of love, they are both drawn to the slow and steady river that runs through the back of Annie's property. Annie's memory floats upstream, wandering into her past with a mysterious man. Helen, seeking solace by the water's edge, encounters a mysterious man of her own. Flowing freely back and forth through time, River Reel explores our most common and often most fraught relationships. Laing renders the complexities of these relationships with tenderness, humour and sparks of brilliant insight.