Wow, what a gem this debut is! This beautifully written and well crafted novel goes straight to the top of my list of favourites for the year. People have been calling it “the new Crawdads” (referring to a bestselling book by Delia Owens called Where the Crawdads Sing). I think there are some similarities but also some differences. Both books are hugely compelling and atmospheric, and feature strong resilient women.
I couldn’t put this book down but I also wanted to make notes and write down quotes–I finally gave up on that, there were just too many, and decided to just re-read it sometime. This debut would be an excellent book club choice with a lot to enjoy and discuss.
On a cool autumn day in 1948, Victoria Nash delivers late-season peaches from her family’s farm set amid the wild beauty of Colorado. As she heads into her village, a disheveled stranger stops to ask her the way. How she chooses to answer will unknowingly alter the course of both their young lives. Go As a River is a heart-wrenching coming-of-age story and a powerful drama. Combining unforgettable characters and a breathtaking natural setting, it is a sweeping story of survival, injustice, love, and perseverance.
Go as a river. A river flows forward, gathering pieces along the way. It is shaped by the landscape and weather, gaining strength and swiftness in gravity and spinning in rapids, pushing around bends and moving faithfully forward in the straights. So we all go. What a gorgeous metaphor to follow as this story flows as a river.
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