Grit can take you far
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.

Wow! What a powerful book!! I read this for a book club I lead, and this book lead to such rich conversations. I learned a lot from a new part of history. And I thought the characters were richly written. Recommended!!

(4.5) darn me for waiting so long to write this review. This is such a well written beautiful, painful story. I was blown away by the imagery and the impact this story had on me. I’ve studied history for so many years, but it’s stories like these that really drive home what times were like. And to know this story has personal ties for the author makes it all that much more beautiful and impactful. I highly recommend this one!

“All her life, nothing had belonged to her, not even the children pushed out of her own body.”

“Was it fair that because they never drew breath, or never took form, their passing hurt less?”

Rachel had 11 children, only 5 were still alive. She does on a journey, determine to find her remaining children or at least, what became of them.

The part about how the master announced to the slaves that The Emancipation Act would come into effect and explained to the slaves that they were free but would have to work as “apprentices” for 6 years and “Rachel heard the news of hollow freedom in silence.” was so powerful.

When Albert tells Rachel about the story of Mr. Beaumont and how he was accused of being black and wanted to go to court to prove he was innocent….of being black. Things like that, while I know they happened just blow my mind.

After reading this book I have new knowledge & deep appreciation of Caribbean history. It’s so much more than a beautiful tourist destination. I was ignorant to the history of the Caribbean and that’s what makes books like this so important. There are deep roots in places like British Guiana, Trinidad, Barbados, St. Lucia etc, spanning generations and through all the horrible things that took place, there were people like Rachel and her children who persevered, had hope and found freedom of their own…people who raised their babies outside of the constraints and abuse of the plantation owners and there were also many who did not escape. Some found freedom and others created their own versions of freedom.

If I ever get to go to Barbados, I’ll see the statue of Bussa and have a deeper understanding of just how important his life was, I’ll have that because of the love I had for the characters in this book and everything it taught me.

In the author notes she said how she struggled a bit with how to convey the dialogue in the book so that everyone could understand it yet it would still feel authentic. She truly did an amazing job in writing this story and capturing that dialogue so that everyone could feel connected.

I never cry when I read books and I’m not a big fan of historical fiction but I loved this story and I absolutely teared up with this book. So when you get around the last 1/3 or so of the book….make sure you have some tissues on hand.

This would make a really good movie. It was such a powerful story.

The prose is simultaneously luscious and snappy. We are set up for an interesting story. I stopped after chapter 1 (5%) but if it continues, I’d imagine a strong four stars for the target audience and five for the right readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC.

One of my favorite reads of 2023! Moving, heartfelt and poignant. Rachel runs away from a plantation in Barbados in 1834, knowing that although slavery has been abolished, she will never be free. She embarks on a journey to find her five children who were snatched away from her either at birth or when they were old enough to be sold off. The book makes you tear up with Rachel’s never ending strength and resilience.
All the characters are fleshed out beautifully and the songs sung by the runaways to protect their language from extinction was heart touching.
This book will make your heart ache for every mother who yearns for their child.

I was left undone by this piercing but beautifully rendered story. My heart broke so many times in the reading but the stunning prose kept stitching it back together. This will be a 2023 favorite…

I had high hopes for this book, but despite the promising premise and the much-needed history lesson about slavery in the Carribean, this book simply did not pull me in. I found my attention wandering by page 30, and it became difficult to convince myself to keep reading. Everything just felt sort of flat and I felt as if we never really got to know any of the characters. The book seemed very YA to me. That said, some of the writing was very beautiful, and I would read another book by the author in the future. Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

A fascinating and heartbreaking story. A mother escapes from slavery and searches for the children who were taken from her years before. The people she finds along the way, who help her in her search, become family. The search for her children takes her to different parts of the Caribbean and through her story we experience many different ways that people survived - or didn't - slavery. Heartbreaking and fascinating. Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy.

This is such a powerful book that is both heartbreaking and beautiful. The book takes place after the end of slavery and we follow the story of a woman trying to find all her children that she had been separated from. The writing is stunning. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC.

This book ripped my heart to shreds and put it back together several times. The writing in this book was stunningly beautiful. I felt like I was in this world with Rachel. It’s enraging, tragic, beautiful and ultimately about a Mother’s deep & abiding love and determination.

▪️ 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: That Rachel is a mother who would go to the ends of the Earth to find her children because they give her life and purpose. More importantly, Rachel’s quest in the novel is to make sure her 5 children are FREE. I believe this novel read more as a travelogue than as an interesting fiction so at times I was bored. I expected more.

▪️ 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿’𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲: “That without roots things die” is a clear theme throughout. Slavery did its best to savagely ruin the lives of so many families, but the roots of families and legacies tied a place cannot die, cannot be severed—slavery cannot do that, only people can. Stories like these and people can continue to make the roots stronger day by day.

▪️𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸: Heck yeah, I did. Thanks to @libby.app and @prhaudio for the free listen. I needed to hear an authentic speaker and the narrator Debra Michaels delivered beautifully for this novel that takes us on a journey across the Caribbean. The narrator’s voice was faster than most so I had to lower my speed from 2.8 to 2.5 so I could clearly comprehend. I love the tone and sound of the words. Michaels also recently did the audio for 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙬𝙞𝙛𝙚 as well.

▪️𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨✨ (3.75)

▪️𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱: For readers of historical fiction, Caribbean history and slavery, and geography.

River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer was a beautiful story about redemption and the risks a mother will take to find her children after the Emancipation Act in 1834. Although the law was meant to free the slaves, masters didn’t necessarily accept it as law.

Rachel, the protagonist in the book, runs after learning her master has no plans to free them. She faces capture and a painful death if caught, but she’s set on finding her five children taken from her and sold off to other places. At first this seemed like a futile search, but the author took me on a harrowing journey filled with suspense, joy, romance, grief and contentment.

Each of her children had an incredible story that moved me.

I really enjoyed learning about Barbados and Trinidad and both the Demerara River in British Guiana and the another that followed the coast of Trinidad. As the title suggests, the rivers in the book are symbolic of their journey and the singing they did as they walked along them or paddled in them. I definitely recommend this one for historical fiction lovers.

This was such a beautifully written story, a historical fiction right after slavery ends, and it was so good. It follows a woman in the Caribbean now looking for all of her children that were displaced. It was heartbreaking yet so beautiful.

*many thanks to Berkley for the gifted copy

I completely forgot to send my feedback on this when I read it months ago! I enjoyed this quiet and beautifully written novel.

Genre: Historical Fiction

4🌟 - I liked it!

I really enjoyed this one! I have never read a book focused on slavery in the Caribbean, so I really enjoyed having that perspective and learning about slavery during this time. This was such a beautiful story of motherhood! It was filled with so much emotion, grief, and love.

What an extraordinary story about a mother’s love and the fight for freedom. I found Rachel to be such a resilient and wonderful main character in this novel. She was intelligent and brave when it came to seeking out to find her stolen children and she was so persistent with obstacles thrown her way. Her bond with her children was so special and it was heartbreaking to think that their family was so fractured because of slavery. The storytelling in this novel was well done and I was so invested in Rachel’s journey. This story broke my heart and slowly stitched it back up. Highly recommend!

A stunning story of a woman, Rachel, who flees the plantation in Barbados where she is enslaved to look for her five children who were sold. This story is broad in scope, moving to Guiana and Trinidad. There is also a broad expanse of characters, telling the story of her children. But mostly, it's about Rachel, family, and freedom. It's truly beautiful.

In 1834, Rachel is no longer enslaved but an apprentice who must work for her previous master for six more years to indeed be free. So she decides to run and begins a quest to locate her five children, who were sold across the Caribbean islands.

What I loved:
✨Writing: beautiful, lyrical prose with vivid settings and heartbreaking moments. The reader can truly see, hear, and feel every scene as Shearer questions the meaning of freedom as Rachel locates her children.
✨Historical significance - Shearer brings to life a story told through generational oral storytelling. The author's note provides excellent insight into the story and should not be skipped. Thank you for sharing this important history.
✨Narration: perfectly brings the prose to life. Shearer pens Caribbean dialects into the dialogue, and Michaels executes it brilliantly. I highly recommend the audiobook.

I’m stunned that River Sings Me Home is a debut novel. Eleanor Shearer somehow wraps the devastation with hope. As a mother, I cannot fathom what Black slaved mothers endured when their babies were sold one by one, never knowing their future. But then, after “freedom,” these same women searched, reconnected, and created a new kind of freedom with their children - shows the resiliency and strength of a mother's love.

If you haven’t read this for #BlackHistoryMonth please do yourself a favor and read this for #WomensHistoryMonth in March! #HistoryIsKnowledge

This was a beautiful yet heartbreaking story of overcoming adversity, having courage, and testimony to how far a mother will go for the love of her children. I feel like I learned so much about this particular historical time period and geographic setting from this story. Highly recommend.