BookBrowse Reviews River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer

BookBrowse:

A beautifully descriptive and emotional historical novel about a mother seeking to be reunited with her children after the abolition of slavery in the Caribbean.

Eleanor Shearer's debut novel River Sing Me Home, set in the Caribbean in the immediate aftermath of the 1834 Emancipation Act that legally abolished slavery in most British colonies, was influenced by her fieldwork in St. Lucia and Barbados for her Master's degree in politics at the University of Oxford. Our First Impressions reviewers showered the book with praise, giving it an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars.

What the book is about:

A keenly observed lyrical historical novel about an enslaved mother's resolve to search for her five children sold away from her. When the plantation master in Barbados announces in one breath that the Emancipation Act of 1834 abolishes slavery, but in the next breath takes all that joy away, stating the enslaved are now "apprentices" for the next six years and cannot leave the plantation without grave consequences, Rachel decides to take her freedom now and runs away with a cruel overseer on her heels. Through Rachel's journey, with seemingly impossible odds and insurmountable obstacles to learning the truth of what happened to her children, the storylines explore how she and each of her children define freedom for themselves in the cruel world they inhabit (Beverly J).

Readers loved Shearer's description, remarking on its ability to transport them into the book's events.

The descriptions of people and places are compelling. Like the film director Alfred Hitchcock, the author is a genius, providing just enough description and then letting your imagination fill in details to complete the imagery. This technique can make an event more emotional and compelling than if the author used five more paragraphs of description (Mary S). The writing is so good that it puts you in the story, you can feel the heat, the rush of the river, and all the feelings and paths Rachel must follow (Susan B).

Many also appreciated her focus on facets of history that were previously unknown to them.

River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer is inspired by the true stories of the brave women who went looking for their stolen children after the abolition of slavery in 1834. I love reading historical fiction, respect history and I'm grateful to have learned about this time in the past (Cindy R). Ms. Shearer's storytelling paints a very vivid picture of the characters, the feelings, the settings and the history of the time period. This history was not something I had read about in the past (Mary B).

A few reviewers felt that the novel was slow-paced at times.

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 (Molly O). I thought the pace of the story was a bit slow at times, but it is a story that tears at your heart (Cindy C).

But others thought it offered a constantly intriguing sense of adventure.

Feelings ranging from fear to despair to elation are all to be expected as one accompanies Rachel on this epic journey. In the end, however, one cannot help but feel they have experienced a literary adventure not easily rivaled (Kevin D). This book was wonderful! It was much more of an adventure than I expected. Rachel travels about in search of her children and encounters so many interesting situations along the way (Nathalie M).

All in all, readers found River Sing Me Home to be a thoroughly worthwhile book with a strong emotional core.

River Sing Me Home brings to life and awareness a depth of emotions and the true impact of slavery on victims. It is a close-up experience of the despair, desperation and determination of a mother trying to locate and retrieve her taken children, wherever they may be (L D). Occasionally I read a book that stops my heart, takes my breath away and pulls at all the emotions I can possibly feel at one time. River Sing Me Home is that book (Rebecca G).

This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in February 2023, and has been updated for the August 2023 edition. Click here to go to this issue.