In the past I haven’t made time to review many individual books here other than short blurbs on my monthly round ups. It truly has been more of a time issue than desire. But with Go as a River, I am making the time. It is worthy.
This book. This beautiful, beautiful book. I saw 2 or 3 posts online from other book friends exclaiming their love for this book. While it still had about six weeks until it was published, I was intrigued.
The gorgeous cover adorned a single peach still clinging to its branch of green leaves. I will admit that cover art, while often catches my eye for a moment, is not something I find will cause me to be drawn more or less to a book. But before I even read the blurb, I found myself studying the image that was both behind and in front of the title. I used my phone to zoom in on the peach that contains a fuzzy image of a person peering out at a river in a canyon. Was it a woman? A man? I wasn’t sure. I looked closer at the river and landscape and I just knew, this was a book about Colorado, my home. And I fell in love with the cover.
Go as a River is a sweeping historical fiction coming-of-age novel that takes place in western Colorado in the now extinct town of Iola. I did know that there were towns that had been swallowed up by the creation of the Grand Mesa Reservoir, but I really didn’t know much more than that. We meet young Torie Nash, later going by Victoria, a teen in a household of men who is still deeply mourning the loss of her mother, aunt and cousin. She is running pretty much everything on the family peach farm in Iola, Nash Peaches, from cooking and cleaning to helping with farm work and selling peaches in the stand. One day she has a short but powerful run-in with Wilson Moon, a drifter from tribal lands. What could have been just that, a chance encounter, instead changes everything.
That is all I am going to say about the story itself as I just don’t want to spoil a single thing. I want you to have the same opportunity I did to meet these unforgettable characters on your own terms. And on my own terms, I did. I find myself to be a fairly fast reader. It is not unusual for me to finish a book in a day or two. But not with Go as a River. I slowed it way down. I regularly found myself closing my kindle at the end of a chapter, getting up off the couch and engaging in a mindless task while just thinking about Victoria’s story. I read every single word of every single sentence with intention. I have to admit I am having a hard time understanding how this is a debut novel by author Shelley Read. Each sentence was expertly crafted with each word flowing towards the next like the river that it follows throughout the story. And Victoria’s voice! Shelley Read has managed to seamlessly incorporate Victoria’s voice of the present, the future and the past all in one. We flip back and forth through time without the trendy voice change chapter breaks that have become the norm. She instead expertly crafts a story that we learn everything at once as she weaves her tale. Go as a River is some of the most beautiful writing that I have encountered.
Lastly, Colorado. I do believe that my friends and family that love Colorado as much as I do will be drawn even closer to this book. From my friend that lived on a peach farm in Palisade to those that have hiked among the peaks and passes mentioned; this is a love letter to Colorado from a 5th generation Coloradan. Those that live here will recognize and love many of the mentions within the pages. There is something about reading a book that you are familiar with the setting – you can actually see the landscape in your mind and it becomes much clearer beyond words what has occurred. The sacrifices, the struggles, the successes are so realistic because there is a deep understanding of how that would actually look or play out.
So did I love this book? Yes. Five big beautiful stars. I think there is a good possibility that I just read my #1 book of the year in January. Funny thing, this actually happened to me last year as well.
After requesting and receiving the book, I did read a bit more about the author. I was tickled to find that Shelley Read is also a fellow University of Denver alum. So for my DU friends, she’s also one of us!
Thank you to NetGalley, Shelley Read and Spiegel & Grau for an advance e-copy in exchange for my honest review. Go as a River will be published on 2/28/2023. I will not be surprised if this beautiful book was a March celeb pick of Reese Witherspoon or Jenna Bush or one of the other high profile book clubs. And I’ll take it one further and predict that it won’t be long before we meet Victoria on a screen. It is already getting so much early buzz and praise, and it is truly worthy of all of it.
Specifically for my Colorado friends, author Shelley Read will be making the rounds at various Colorado bookstore locations as Go as a River is released. I am hoping to meet her as she chats about her lovely book and I hope some of you will join me.
If you would like to pre-order Go As a River, you can do so here:
(Pre-orders are very important to an author’s success and sends a message to publishers of what readers want!)
Go as a River on Amazon
Go as a River at Tattered Cover
Go as a River Barnes & Noble
