Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read and review this ARC. Full review to be found on Goodreads and on my website.

This looked like a great book, but unfortunately it was archived before I could read it. I will pay more attention to that before requesting. Thank you.

This was a hard book for me, it was slow and seemed like a diary of one person not a story about two. Got through about a quarter of it gave up.

First off the cover of this book is awesome. It is what caught my eye right from the start and had me stopping to read the synopsis. However, as we all know a cover (or synopsis) can only carry a book so far. If the story between the pretty covers isn't up to par, then all the book becomes is something nice to look at. Fortunately, the adventure we get here was all kinds of entertaining.

The year is 1908, and two Irish American brothers leave their jobs in Hoboken, NJ and set off on an adventure to the South American rainforest hoping to make their fortune tapping rubber trees. Unfortunately, things don't go quite as they imagined and the two brothers are left fighting sickness, hunger, and the jungle wildlife. Just when they have lost all hope, they are saved by strangest of people.

I found this book to be beautifully written. I especially loved the Irish slang which gave the book a very authentic feeling. It was very well paced with the story moving along at a good clip. The plot was engaging. It was full of mystery, danger, emotions. The characters both primary and secondary were well developed and intriguing. Last, this book ends on what I would call a cliffhanger. The fates of many of these characters are still unknown, and you can bet this reader will be first in line to get her hands on book two...

The setting in this historical fiction novel was fascinatingly unique. Imagine harvesting / milking trees in the Amazon jungle for the production of rubber over a hundred years ago under the worst conditions. Follow two Irish American brothers traveling from Hoboken, NJ to the Amazon in hopes to pad their wallets and bank accounts quickly by getting into the trade.

"Rubber trees don't grow in groves; they are spread throughout forests thick with vegetation and frought with danger. Nor can trees be tapped throughout the year. Still, people rushed to the jungle to make their fortune in rubber."
- Joan Schweighhardt

"Often the rubber tappers died from maliaria, yellow fever, snake bites or starvation - before they could pay off their debt to their sponsors."
- Joan Schweighardt

1908, Hoboken NJ, Jack and Baxter are ready to to embark on the ship that marks the beginning of their journey to the Amazon. Their mum is clinging their shirtsleeves, bawling and keening like it was their Da's funeral all over again. But the strapping young lads have it all figured out and are unstoppable. "We'll have ourselves our own business. We'll take turns going to South America to oversee, but eventually hire an overseer, and then we'll conduct our business from here." ..is what they are planning to do. If only their Da was there to see it!

Abalo is the man that is sponsoring the outfit and the set up for Jack and Baxter. He is to meet them and provide all they need to get started and arrange for further travel and camp with a guide. Unsure of where they are to meet Abalo, they are headed in a smaller boat, a gaiola to continue to Manoas but not before taking in the scene around them. There are lot's of Portuguese, "copper colored people" caboclos, Indians and plenty of brancos, white people. Footbridges adorn the sides of the rivers everywhere for easy crossing of the waterways, and there are horse drawn carriages and boats with fishermen galore. On the next part of their journey it does not take long for their first encounter with the dangers that lurk in the jungle - River Caimans.

Manoas is a busy place. An international city in the middle of the jungle. Steamers and boats are filled with cargo of caged birds, monkeys, turtles and fruit. Coffee colored women in gay frocks are cackling away as they beat their laundry and carry baskets to and fro.

"Between the birds and the women, the air was full of music and color, and I will be the first to admit I was fuckin elated."
- Joan Schweighardt

After finally meeting Abalo and stocked with provisions, the brothers make it to camp. They are to meet two other men, Leon and Ted, with whom they are to work in a team and by evening time they all are getting on well toasting to their brotherhood and to working off their skinny arses to the bone. In the next few days they are learning all the necessary to cut into the trees and harvest the milk. The work is grueling and wet. Their hammocks never dry and the moisture in the camp is making things reek and rot. This gives rise to fowl moods and tensions among the group of men. The work is grueling, and when one is down the others have to make up for the loss. Ever so slowly now, sickness is befalling the men as well.

To make things worse, they are running out of provisions sooner then expected. The local gha-ru tribes people in the woods will end up as the saving grace to some of the men, but not in the all over picture against the evil rich rubber lords. This part of the plot will take on a whole other set of circumstances in the face of good, and the evil operations for riches with disregard of contracts or fatalities.

The question is, will Jack and Baxter strike it rich? Will they even survive and make it out of the jungle? How about their Mum and loved ones?

"I was a fallen man; I had lost my humanity. I was never much of a dogooder, it's true, but I believed in the work do-gooders did..."
- Joan Schweighardt


***

This was the first novel in the Rivers series.

Going over my notes and re-reading parts of this novel, I am still at awe at the entire thematic of it. I do enjoy history and now this novel has added another puzzle piece to gap my missing knowledge as well as woken my need to research this more. According to the acknowledgements in the back of the book, Joan Schweighardt has had an obsession with the jungle since childhood, while discovering about the rubber tapping much later as an adult. To put this novel into fruition, she did a lot of research about the tribal cultures, the plants and wildlife as well as a trip into that area. Further reading and sources are listed in the back of the book, that I'll be sure to check out.

My review and inexpertise in the matter cannot do justice to the colorful writing of BEFORE WE DIED. The characters are easy to get on with and relate to. Parts of this novel read like a thriller while others stir your heart with sorrow or romance. The underlying message that commences is about the circle of humanity that goes beyond borders, race or beliefs. While the focus of the lesser fortunate lies in the relationships they build and have with others, those that are greedy will never be satisfied. And then there are those that just fall for the wrong dream.

This novel is simply absorbing with binding details of a different world...I highly recommend :)


I received a digital copy from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I downloaded an advance reader copy of this book from netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

This is a historical fiction adventure novel -- the first in what will be a trilogy. It was exciting and I can't wait for the next one!

It is 1908 and Jack and Baxter Hopper decide to accept an offer to go to South American to tap rubber and make their fortune. They leave Hoboken, New York, and their mother and Bax's girlfriend Nora as cocky, young men but the Amazon jungle introduces them to physical and mental hardships they never expected.

This is written in the Irish vernacular of the time and gives the reader an insight into a native south american tribe as well as the trials of working in such a tropical environment. I found it engaging and particularly fascinating as the cultural traditions of the tribe that take them in are explored.

“It was Clementine, the old italian hag who passed herself off as a fortune-teller, who started it all.”

Jack and Baxter, Irish American boys need to get away from work on the docks and have themselves an adventure, get past their Da’s passing, at least according to the hag. Their plan is to make a fortune themselves, by tapping rubber trees in the South American rainforest, dangerous dream for men who barely have a pot to piss in. They cannot imagine the deadly competition nor all the danger besides human beings that awaits them.

Readied with provisions such as food and medicine (one to prevent malaria in particular) they will travel with a team of men, make camp, build their own abode, quickly learn the tree tapping process with little time to spare before the wet season. Jack and Bax are figuring out that money won’t be as quick to come as they had imagined, that one season isn’t even enough to even out expenses. But if someone as rich and successful as Carnegie himself said the ‘best opportunity today is in rubber’, then the brothers from Hoboken, New Jersey are on their way to untold wealth! It isn’t long before they suffer the threats, from fish( those that can swim up any human orifice), caiman, piranhas, vampire bats with a liking for toes, mosquitoes and other insects. Soon everyone is ‘verbalizing their fears’, such as the story of the river snake that rules it.

Then there are the ‘savages’, the caboclos whom some of the men would as soon as shoot then see alive and ‘wasting space’. Afterall, what good are people who can’t read or write, know nothing of the civilized world? The caboclos rely as much on their tapping season, desperate to bring in enough rubber to support their own families. The canoes too are frightening , floating along at nearly surface level, vulnerable to creatures in the water as those threatening from the land. If illness overtake the men, they are likely to be left behind like garbage. The elements are not friendly, particularly to men who are laboring to the point of exhaustion against nature’s clock, the workload heavier to shoulder as men deal with fevers. Storms rush at them, taking down bridges. Will they ever be able to complete their tasks? Then, the jaguar is near, the howl of monkeys can wake a man from dreams dripping from the sweat of fear.

The brothers become captives of the Gha- ru which for me was the best part of the entire novel. The Chief of the tribe holds their fate in his hands, and the women are full of nothing but love and nurturing. They are one with the hostile environment, the land and it’s animals, a fruitful existence for the Gha-ru. Their mysterious healing ways could be salvation, but they could also be the brother’s doom.

Will the brothers survive, return to their mother with untold riches, or will this really be a story before they each die? One thing is certain, they underestimated their journey and the savageness of the Amazon. It isn’t the things you expect alone that become obstacles, but the wild things you couldn’t fathom.

Before We Died is a fascinating historical fiction about the rubber industry, when you think about the products we take for granted its wild to know people have lost their lives to secure it. It’s not often modern folks examine the things we surround ourselves with and think about how they were produced, on whose sweat and blood. Just look into the history, it certainly destroyed indigenous societies and forced untold numbers to work, because any resistance was met with violence or death. Of course as with anything in high demand, it brought immigrants and cities grew as well. (Tires, pencils, Tupperware, latex, shoes,the list of rubber products is long) Rubber barons made a killing (literally). This novel takes you into the start of the boom, with the story of Jack and Bax, a telling of why and how some men took on the challenge of rubber tapping. This is the first in the River series.

Publication Date: September 15, 2018

Five Directions Press

Thank you Netgalley and Five Directions Press for the ARC

This book grabbed from the first sentence and I knew I was in for a good ride. The language used is pretty 'tough-guy' with a lot of slang and not always easy to follow, but the dialogues made me smile all the same.

Jack and Baxter, brothers from Hoboken, New Jersey travel deep into the Amazon to join the rubber tappers.
An interesting piece of history I didn't know a lot about.
On the long journey to base camp we pass beautiful scenery, vividly colored birds and quirky animals, while the brothers get familiar with their new surroundings.
Finally at their destination they are forced to work hard to earn their keep. What really struck me was their comradery. Facing harsh realities, odd behaviour and near starvation, they never give up on each other.
By chance they end up with the Indians, seeing firsthand how nature feeds and medicates. Respect and hope grow, friendships are formed. The descriptions of the Gha-ru tribe and its ceremonies are magical.
While at first intending to make a fortune, both Jack and Baxter evolve with the story and become better men.
The end is left to the reader's imagination, which suited me just fine. There's a lot to digest, all told at a pleasant pace. Before We Died is a gem and I am looking forward to the next part in the River series.

This just wasn’t my cup of tea. I thought the premise sounded interesting, as I had never heard about harvesting rubber before. But I wasn’t a fan of the way the dialogue was written and within the first 1/5 of the book there was just too much “locker room” talk going on between the male characters for my tastes. It seemed excessive to me. I just couldn’t get into this book unfortunately, which is a shame because it sounded interesting based on the historical basis. :(