An Intense Story of Lost Love and Survival in Rural America
- Book: Go As A River
- Location: Colorado, Gunnison County, Paonia
- Author: Shelley Read
I’d heard great things about this book before receiving my ARC – and I wasn’t disappointed. Shelley Read paints such a vivid picture, not just of the dramatic and unforgiving scenery of Colorado but also of the intense emotional landscape that surrounds the story of Victoria Nash. For me, the descriptive writing evoked Steinbeck and the heart-rending pivotal moments in the plot reminded me of Sophie’s Choice. That’s not to say that this original and engaging book is in any way derivative.
Twelve-year-old Victoria’s childhood is ended by a tragic accident that kills her closest family in 1943. Without discussion she has to take responsibility for keeping house for her emotionally abusive father, brother and uncle on their Colorado peach farm. We feel the intense love that she had for those who have died, and her fear and loathing for the way she is treated by the men in her family. She draws on great inner strength to survive but has no female presence to offer comfort or advice.
At seventeen, Victoria meets a young itinerant worker, Wilson Moon. She’s inexperienced in the ways of love and life, but she is captivated by his gentle ways and dark good looks. This is the love of her life, and she is swept up in her emotions, with no compass to guide her. But Wilson is an outsider, and their relationship is in trouble from the start. The decisions she makes about her future are hers alone and they affect the rest of her life. Wil advises her to ‘go as a river’, attempting to flow around the obstacles that life throws up and constantly aiming for the future that she desires. It is advice that keeps her afloat in times of overwhelming grief and despair.
Adding to Victoria’s troubles, her peach farm – the one constant in her life – is threatened by a government reservoir scheme. This time the river itself is the obstacle and again she must decide how to survive and continue being true to herself.
The author makes great use of foreshadowing, meaning that we have an inkling what might be in store for the key characters, but no idea how it will work out and the suspense is kept up to the very last page.
I had fun looking up the locations on Google Maps and exploring the area online, matching them with the book’s physical descriptions of the fertile farmland and the contrasting savage mountains. It would be great fun to go and see them in real life, so if you’re bound for Colorado on holiday, make sure you read this first!
All I can add is that I will never again look at a peach without thinking of Go As A River.
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