Go as a River by Shelley Read
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Web ID: 16376259A beautiful lyrical story.
Go as a River is written so beautifully, the imagery & detail will have you feeling like you were right there with the main character & narrator, Victoria "Torie". The author's ability to create a story with such beauty and to write it with so much lyricism is a true gift. I could feel the summer heat on my skin & smell the ripe peaches through the pages. I was slightly worried after the first 50 pages that it was only going to be a well written love story but boy oh boy I was wrong. It's a coming of age, a young women making her own path in life in rural Colorado in the 1940's -70's. I feel privileged to read this book as an e-arc. Thank you Net Galley & publisher for the advanced copy.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A Quietly Lovely Debut Noval
’I am peaches in September And corn from a roadside stall I'm the language of the natives I'm a cadence and a drawl. I'm the pines behind the graveyard And the cool beneath their shade Where the boys have left their beer cans I am weeds between the graves.’ --I Am a Town by Mary Chapin Carpenter Set in 1948 as this story begins, in a small town in Colorado, this is a quietly lovely debut novel of first love, intolerance, family, and loss. Loss of people, but also of the place you once called home. Victoria is somewhat of a loner. Her mother died when she was approaching her teen years, leaving her to take over the chores her mother used to do, as well as help with the farm alongside her brothers. Their uncle, who lives with them, was injured in the war and spends his days in a wheelchair. Since her mother died, she is expected to take over her chores, cleaning the house, washing their clothes, cleaning out the coops and the garden. The small town of Iola is a town that will soon no longer exist. Soon, it will be flooded to create a Reservoir if the powers that be have their way. It is 1948 the year a stranger comes to town, the year that Victoria Nash is 17, a young man who is charmed by her, and while she has never been one to yearn for a boy. Still, she is curious. This is the kind of place where almost everyone knows everyone else, and rumours spread quickly. So when someone from out of town arrives it is noticed. When it is someone who arrives from out of town and the colour of their skin is different, they are not welcomed. ’The stranger’s eyes were as dark and shiny as a raven’s wing. And kind—that is what I remember most about those eyes from that first glimpse until the final gaze—-a gentleness that seemed to fountain from his center and spill out like an overflowing well.’ This is a love story, a story of the love you have for the place you call home, a love of a way of life that grounds you, and a love of nature. A love of family. A story of first love. This is also a story of the heartbreak of loss, the loss of the place you used to call home, the loss of friends, of family. The loss of your hopes and dreams for the future. The heartbreaking loss of a decision that changes the lives of the people involved. An impressive, lovely debut.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
One of the best books I have read this year!
Victoria Nash is only twelve when her mother passes away, she becomes the homemaker for her father, brother Seth a troublemaker and uncle Ogden. They live near a little town called Iola, in Colorado, her family own a farm and orchard. Nash peaches are the best, big and juicy and they have a roadside stall and people drive for miles to buy their fruit. Wilson Moon is a handsome young drifter, he arrives in Iola and he’s quickly chased out of town. Wil is an American Indian, he was taken away from his parents as a toddler and he has no idea what tribe he belongs to. It was hard for Torie growing up without a mother, she had no one to explain womanly things to her and she’s now seventeen. Wil and Torie meet each other on a street in Iola, two lost and lonely souls, they see each other in secret and fall in love, until Wil disappears. Torie makes plans to hide in the mountains, she secretly starts gathering supplies and storing food to take with her. Torie stays in a deserted hunters shack and it’s much harder to survive in the wilderness than she anticipated, Torie has to make a difficult choice and a very distressing one. Torie returns home, she discovers the government is talking about buying land in Iola, and two nearby towns, and to build the Blue Mesa Reservoir. Anything left behind could be auctioned off or burnt and then entire valley would be submerged under water. Inspired by the real story of a reservoir being built in Colorado during the 1960’s and Ms. Read has created a phenomenal debut novel. I can’t believe this is the authors first book, the amazing narrative has as many twists and turns as a mighty Gunnison River and it’s tributaries. A historical saga spanning decades and it's about a young woman's ability to overcome difficult and challenging times and adversity. Tories meaningful friendships with characters Ruby-Alice and Zelda who provided help and guidance when she really needed it. Torie never gave up, she remained humble and always grateful. Five stars from me, the ultimate coming of age story, a captivating and hope filled one.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Historical Fiction with a Different Feel!
Go as a River by Shelley Read is a Historical Fiction Story with a Different Feel to It! The past five years, seventeen-year-old Victoria Nash has been relegated to running the household on her family's peach ranch after her mother's untimely death. As the only living female in her family, this responsibility is expected, without question. Victoria doesn't have time to dream of a life outside the family ranch. This changes when she meets Wilson Moon, a stranger passing through town. She's attracted to his kindness, his unique looks, and believes they're meant to be together. The love they share is risky but the lessons Wilson teaches Victoria about the flow of the river will sustain her through her hardships, ease the pain of her losses, and guide her to find her niche in life. Go as a River is a Historical Fiction story that has a different feel to it. It's a woman's story, but there's so much more. The four decades of the 20th century it's set in, the small rural Colorado community and location, the tedious and arduous pace of ranch-life, and the images the author's writing creates and stirs in my head are ones I couldn't stop thinking about. It's hard to believe Go as a River is a debut novel. The writing is beautifully picturesque, despite a flicker of purple-prose in the beginning chapters that softens as the story progresses. The characters are well-developed and diverse, the setting is so well-described that you visualize the rugged terrain of the mountains, feel the heat of the sun, and smell the ripeness of the warm peaches the author writes about so lovingly. Topics of racism and prejudice are depicted as harsh as the landscape of the Colorado wilderness and coalesce to feel as deep and frigid as the Gunnison River. Victoria is both resilient and brave and as her memory intently holds Wilson's words "Go as a river", she knows she is meant to always move forward with her life to find a better way. The audiobook narrator, Cynthia Farrell, does a fine job with her narration, never skipping a beat with character voicing, and giving life and believability to the main character, Victoria. Historical Fiction is not a genre I read often as most feel so similar, but after discovering, and listening to this one, I'll definitely look for more. I highly recommend Go as a River to those who love Historical Fiction and to readers, like me, who prefer HF that feels a little different! 4.5 stars! Thank you to NetGalley, OrangeSky Audio, and Shelley Read for an ALC of this book. It has been an honor to give my honest and voluntary review.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Beautifully written emotional story
Go as a River by Shelley Read is a beautifully written, poignant story about one woman’s journey after a fateful choice that changed her life forever. Story Recap: Victoria Nash is a teenager in the 1940s living on her family's peach farm. As the only woman in the family, she learned to run the household early. She meets a mysterious stranger in town, Wilson Moon (Wil), a young drifter from the local tribal lands. Although dusty and grimy, Will has kind eyes and Will and Victoria are immediately drawn to each other. However, a white woman with a native man is not acceptable to many in those times and tragedy ensues. My Thoughts: Hard to believe this novel is written by a debut author. The writing is beautiful and drew me right in. I also loved the setting of southwest Colorado. I’ve visited that area of the country many times, and some of the locations of the story are very familiar to me. The blurb didn’t grab me and when I got to this book, I wasn’t excited to read it. But, from the very first page, the writing and the story drew me in and I found myself engrossed in the story immediately. It’s also a book I continue to think about long after I read the last page. Recommendation: I highly recommend Go As a River to anyone who enjoys fiction. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A Young Girl's Courage
The time spans the 1940's to the 1970's. The place is a small town in Colorado. A family tragedy takes the mother of the family leaving the father to cope and raise his son and daughter. He does not cope well and the running of the household is left to his daughter Victoria. At seventeen Victoria is in desperate need of her mother. She is young and naive and when she meets a young boy new to town she is taken in by him. It is however a forbidden romance and because of it tragedy strikes. Victoria runs away and in the forests of Colorado she learns what it is to become an adult and the responsibilities she faces for her actions. Although it is a tragedy that changes many lives and especially that of Victoria she learns love and forgiveness and meets the world with courage and determination. I listened to the audio book and the pleasant voice of the narrator. It was a great story the narrator did a wonderful job and I enjoyed listening to it. Thanks to Shelley Read for writing a great story, to Cynthia Farrell for the great narration, to Orange Sky Audio for publishing it and to NetGalley for providing me with a copy to listen to and review.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Stunning debut!
“But if these mountains had taught me anything, it’s that the land endures, riding out human folly when it must, reclaiming itself when it is able, and moving on.” The setting is a family peach farm in a small Colorado ranch town in the 1940s, and the orchard and surrounding landscape play a pivotal and evocative role in this gorgeous debut novel. A peach itself, rough and textured on the outside containing tender and sweet flesh, was the perfect metaphor for this narrative. We meet Victoria Nash, a teenager who has been the sole homemaker at the farm for 4 years following the loss of her mother, aunt and cousin. Generations of troubled and complicated men set a framework for how she navigates her world. A chance encounter with a mysterious young man sets this story on track, where Victoria’s journey of self discovery and survival develops at a frenetic pace. Her joys and sorrows along the way are volatile and at times heartbreaking but the way in which Ms. Read enhances each event with generosity and compassion is perhaps her greatest achievement. Revealing more details would rob the reader of a thought provoking experience which I thoroughly enjoyed. Sure to be this Spring’s book club darling, devotees of This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger will especially savor Go As a River.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
One in a Blue Moon
Every once in a blue moon a book comes along that you just have to sit with awhile after you finish to let it really sink in, absorb it all. This was one of those blue moons…and from a debut author, no less. First and foremost, Read’s writing is simply beautiful. Evocative and emotional (without being overly maudlin), it transported me both physically and mentally into the setting and dynamics of the story. The descriptions of nature were especially visceral with elements of both deep wisdom and whimsy all at once. There were so many haunting and lyrical passages that I gave up trying to highlight them all as it just served to distract me from the easy flow of the narrative. Writing and imagery this well done is a true gift for a reader. Like Victoria Nash, I fell in love with Wilson Moon on the corner of North Laura and Main Street, and there was no turning back. The characters in this story, especially Victoria, Wilson and Ruby-Alice are achingly real and so very well fleshed out. I felt for them, wept with them, cheered for them and hurt with them. Through tragedies and triumphs, ebbs and flows, they were so very real and deeply rooted that I honestly had the strange feeling that I might have met them somewhere before. I won’t talk too much here about the storyline as it needs to be experienced on a personal level by each reader. But there’s an iconic peach orchard, a mountain cabin haven, and a river that can’t be tamed, as well as messy family and social issues. The first chapter lured me in, beginning with a sentence that set the tone for the entire storyline. And I never looked back. Highly recommended. I’m already looking forward to the re-read. My heartfelt thanks to the author, NetGalley and Spiegel and Grau for providing the free early arc of Go as a River for review. The opinions are strictly my own.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com