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There are currently 33 member reviews
for River Sing Me Home
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Sandi W. (East Moline, IL)
From Barbados to Trinidad she walked and sailed
3.75 stars Thanks to BookBrowse and Berkley Books for the ARC and allowing me to read and review. Publishes January 31, 2023
Mary Grace, Micah, Thomas Augustus, Cherry Jane and Mercy. These are the names that have Rachel laying awake at night yearning. These are the five living children that were taken away from Rachel over the years as her Master sold them away.
Rachel was a slave in Barbados in the 1800s. The Emancipation Act of 1834 freed the slaves, but on her plantation slaves had to apprentice for six more years before they could gain their freedom. So Rachel ran. She was determined to find her missing children.
This story tells of her travels and which children she found. From Barbados to Trinidad she walked and sailed, determined. Without her children freedom meant nothing. Each child now an adult with a life of their own. Who would travel with her, who would turn their back on her and who was lost forever?
This is a debut book. Shearer did a good job of putting her story across. Enough was given to vest you in the story, to allow you to dream with the protagonist, and to understand the circumstance of the adult children. The trip that Rachel was on was almost a character in itself. Shearer tells you at the end that the story was in part built off her own families situation and their misgivings, which only adds another dimension to the novel.
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Amber H. (Asheville, NC)
Wonderful book, highly recommend
I loved the story and characters of this book. This book is based on the practice of separating slave children from their parents and one mother's desire to find out what happen to her own. This was a quick read and although difficult, provides important information to more fully understand the brutal history of slavery.
Spoiler
If you can set aside the unlikelihood of a woman with very limited resources being able to easily island hop across the Caribbean and in relatively short time find all her missing children after many years, this is a great book. I found this piece of the story unrealistic, so deducted 1 star.
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Pamela W. (Piney Flats, TN)
Another Slave Novel, but ...
River Sing Me Home is based on extensive research by Eleanor Shearer. The Caribbean setting may be outside the United States, but the stories are all too familiar. As Rachel searches for her "lost" grown children, the reader lives some freed slaves' experiences - revolt and death, selective mutism, living off the grid, and passing as elite mulatto. Rachel says, "'Freedom is something different to me. The search, that is freedom.'" So freedom is individual. The reader wonders what his/her freedom would be.
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Cindy C.
Worthwhile read
I thought the pace of the story was a bit slow at times, but it is a story that tears at your heart. It takes place as slavery is ending in the Caribbean, and slaves are being moved into an apprenticeship system. The main character, Rachel, runs from her plantation, and goes on a journey to find the children that were taken from her over the years, and in the process learns some things about herself. I really wanted Rachel and her children to have a happy ending. I also learned some things and feel this is a story that needs to be told. The author's note at the end of the book was very informative and her connections to the story are also interesting to read about. I would recommend this book to others.
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Molly O. (Centennial, CO)
River Sing Me Home
I was immediately attracted to this book by its lyrical title, and the writing throughout did not disappoint. What did disappoint me was the pace of the narrative. While certainly I felt the long, arduous journey Rachel and her family made through the islands, it was a slog much of the time. Many of Rachel's thoughts were repeated and repeated and while thought-provoking, lost their power through the constant reiteration. I enjoyed the historical aspect of the post-slavery era in the islands, not knowing much of what went on at that time. An average read at best.
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