What readers think of Go as a River, plus links to write your own review.

OH! How this novel pulled at every heartstring I think I can/could/may/might/would feel! Go as a River is an emotional roller coaster ride with imagery so vivid, I was transported to every location with each descriptive sentence, feeling every heartbeat, and every heartache.

Taking place in rural Colorado between the 1940's and 1970's, this coming of age novel deals with both the depth of loss and of becoming, as well as the social, moral, and political issues of the American West (and westward expansion) at that time. Additionally, one of the reasons I fell for this book is because it also touches on a bit of our American history I hadn't known - the drowning of several Colorado towns buried under governmental river reservoir projects.

Read's novel not only challenges extreme loss and strength of self, but the ideology of self worth. "but in the known world, each step surely unfurls the next, and we must walk into that open space, mapless and without invitation. Right or wrong, my next step lay before me, and I tried my best to trust it." There are just too many favorite quotes from this debut novel of Shelley Read, so rich with feeling and perspective! After reading this particular quote, though, I felt it really sums up the book without giving away any true spoilers:
"the unforeseen ripple effects of an honest act do not make the choice less truthful".

I really do not want to give any spoilers away, as I was treated to an advanced copy from Net Galley, the author, and the publisher.

The flow of rivers is a metaphor in this story of love, grief, racism and inner strength. Young Victoria is a motherless girl with a grieving father and abusive brother. She finds love with a mixed race young man-Wil-who has native american blood. Tori's brother finds the coupling abhorrent and sets out to destroy their love.

After Wil mysteriously disappears, Tori finds herself pregnant and cannot face her family so she, too, leaves their orchard and escapes in the forest with a newborn. How will she survive in the woods with no resources? What happened to Wil and will she ever find "home" again? Tori faces a major decision so that she and her son can survive; her choices will haunt her for the next 20 years.

The book builds to a dramatic conclusion as Tori rebuilds a life for herself but at great cost. As the government threatens her home town with a new dam construction, Tori must uproot her life, her peach trees and the only home she has ever known.

The true story of this book is that the town she writes about- Iola- was indeed flooded by a new dam in CO during the 60s.This story, while fiction, provides a backdrop for the rivers that flow and those that are destroyed by the hand of man.

Shelley Read's “Go As a River” does readers a favor by revealing little in the flap. A farm and drifter meet. Tragedy and romance ensue. That gets you to page 25. What results is a family drama about loss, grief, and development that will remind you of “Where the Crawdads Sing” with its love of the outdoors and its surroundings.

The Colorado landscape in a peach-growing community in the late 1940s serves as the backdrop, and the casual racism will surprise you but should not. It was a strange time. When crimes up to and including murder receive rationalization, you realize that people had a lot of hatred that they needed to release. A $20 reward motivated many narrow-minded people.

Heroine Torie goes on a journey of self-discovery under challenging circumstances, and you do not know how the story will go. You are meant to discover this on your own when the middle of the book reminds you of “Cast Away,” which turns out to be the false dawn. Like a river, you go from plotline to newer plotline seamlessly.

At the halfway point, you start to question how much pain and suffering an author can put on her main character. Reviewing this book is tough without revealing its trials. Some stories have their inevitable happy ending, but you must endure a lot to get there, and “Go As a River” is no different. Be prepared for the worst.

If you read a lot, you may predict what will happen, and that’s fine because star-crossed Victoria earns and deserves her happiness. She has a “Shawshank Redemption” level of hope and blind faith. The ending, which I will not reveal, has a nod to the power of writing in bringing people together that those who wanted to write professionally would appreciate.

Our book club has just finished this book, which was chosen because the author is from our area. The book is beautifully written and the love story is a tribute to anti-racial beliefs.