What readers think of River Sing Me Home, plus links to write your own review.

Really enjoyed this book. The writing is lyrical, the characters are full and the story evokes empathy, anger and great imagery. A few parts in the second half seemed a bit slow, but not enough to detract from the overall story. I did notice what seemed like some inconsistencies in speech patterns in a few places. I would recommend this book to friends and book groups.

River Sing Me Home is a triumph of tragedy and hope. Joining Rachel's journey to find the family that she lost over many years of slavery was sometimes difficult but always with a glimmer of anticipation that she would be reunited with her loved ones. Eleanor Shearer's lyrical prose and story that is in need of being told to everyone touched my heart. We cannot allow this type of history to be repeated. Thank you Eleanor for keeping the hope alive that a better world is within our grasp.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story. It was a story of love of family and struggles. What one woman risked to find her children was incredibly brave. The author did a wonderful job bringing the story to life. Highly recommend.

I really loved River Sing Me Home! My heart just felt for Rachel as she looked to find each one of her children that was torn away from her. The history of slavery in the Caribbean Islands was new to me, and I enjoyed learning more about that. Such a sad time in our worlds history, this book made me feel all the feels. Very few books can make me cry, but the last page of this one was a real tear jerker for me. Great character building in this one! I connected with almost everyone, but none more than Rachel.

River Sing Me Home is a beautifully written novel. Ms Shearer states in the Acknowledgements that the main character's story(Rachel) is inspired by a real person. It is the story of a mother who is a slave and her courageous, desperate, and heartbreaking attempt to find the children that were ripped from her by plantation owners. The events take place i the early 1800's. The story starts in Barbados and follows Rachel's journey to other parts of the Caribbean.
Ms Shearer's story telling paints a very vivid picture of the characters, the feelings, the settings, and history of the time period. This historical piece was not something I had read about in the past.
I would highly recommend this touching book.

This was one of the best books I have read in ages! Imagine a novel that grips your entire being both physically and emotionally throughout the story. Every aspect of this story was so well crafted, from the scenery (I was always there with the characters), to the credibility of the storyline, to the characters. I cannot find any fault but highly, highly recommend reading this story that takes place at the end of slavery in the Caribbean. This book shares strength of character, love, fear, determination but mostly, hope.

I can't wait to read this author in the future…what a marvelous debut!

This engrossing novel is a must read for anyone wanting to see grit and determination in action. Our hero, Rachel, is technically a formerly enslaved person because the novel begins with the declaration of emancipation in 1834. However, emancipation was a farce as local laws were quickly enacted to keep people enslaved under what were called apprenticeships. Rachel rejects her apprenticeship status and runs away from the plantation to find her children that, over a course of many years, had been taken away from her and sold.

The first child that Rachel finds is her mute daughter working in Bridgetown – the largest city in Barbados both then and now. The daughter is going by a different name than her birth name, because being mute and illiterate cannot convey her name to others, and yet Rachel finds her through sheer determination. The two of them and a sailor named Nobody (there's a story there) join forces to find the rest of the children. The travels take them to another side of Barbados, to boarding a ship for British Guiana, where they most travel for weeks by canoe up a seemingly uninhabited river, and then by boat again to Trinidad.

The descriptions of people and places are compelling. Like the film director, Alfred Hitchcock, the author is a genius as providing just enough description and then letting your imagination fill in details to complete the imagery. As with Hitchcock, this technique can make an event more emotional and compelling than if the author used five more paragraphs of description.

At times this book was hard to read because of the cruelty of the world at that time, however, it was always interesting. Further, the author struck a good balance to keep the story line from becoming morose. It is very much worth reading to learn more about the enslaved people in the Caribbean and just to read a great book.

From the first time you meet Rachel her strength and determination will be an example of the human spirit and its ability to carry on no matter how hard the task. I couldn't stop reading this story and thinking about it after reading each chapter. Three things make, for me, this one of the best books of the year.
1. It is historical fiction of what life was like in the Caribbean islands.
2. It shows the determination of a mother to find her children who have been taken from her and sold at a young age.
3. 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

I recommend this is a very readable, interesting book.