History and humanity flow through Empire Falls, Maine, like the strange flotsam washed up at the bend of the vast, slow-moving Knox River. The Whiting family, owners of the mills and the shirt factory, have sold out to a multinational. The Whiting men have invariably married women who make their lives a misery. C. B. Whitin g was no exception. Now his wife, Francine, the last Mrs Whiting, presides like a blac