Have you ever wondered what it would be like to guide a whitewater rafting trip on the Zambezi River? Reading Bridget Crocker’s memoir, The River’s Daughter, is like floating down the water on an adventurous ride.

What I Liked About The River’s Daughter:
If you know me personally, you know how much I love rafting on rivers. This was the perfect read while sitting next to the Flathead River in Montana. Crocker was able to take me on all of her adventures, and I felt like I was rafting down the whitewaters of The Kern, The Snake, and The Zambezi River.

Crocker does a wonderful job of leading us through her tumultuous childhood. Her past showed how she became such a strong, independent woman and a world-class rafting guide. She grew up along the Snake River, close to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She wasn’t the one wearing the expensive clothing or driving the expensive cars. She didn’t live in the perfect family home. However, Crocker didn’t let this stop her from achieving her goals.

Although this is her memoir, the details and story line read almost like fiction. I was absorbed in her words. I could picture the interesting people she met along the way: the loves gained, the lives lost, and the family that sometimes stood in her way. I’m sure this wasn’t an easy story to write.

This story makes me want to go whitewater rafting tomorrow! This is definitely worth the read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Spiegel & Grau, and Bridget Crocker for sharing this book with me. This is my honest opinion.

I don't usually read memoirs for review, and while The River's Daughter isn't an easy read, I think Bridget's honesty throughout will definitely help people who've had similar journeys to hers. (Be aware of trigger warnings).

Thank you to Net Galley and Spiegel and Grau for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This is a memoir of finding one's way and belonging. The author's early life is affected by a violent father which is where the author finds her affinity and connection with water. There is a happy period when her mother remarries a man who is a wonderful father to the author. But her mother takes a turn, leaves the stepfather and starts a relationship with another man who is dangerous to the author's safety. Through this all, the Snake River is what she goes back to in times of trouble and, as a teenager, she is introduced to whitewater rafting and becomes a guide taking her all of over the world and eventually becoming a world-class guide. The book is half family trauma/trying to survive with little parental direction or protection and half learning to be a guide and whitewater rafting adventures, bringing it all together in the end. Learning about whitewater rafting and being a guide was the most interesting and the author created a good story about her life and adventures.

Wonderful memoir of author telling a touching. Story of how she handled with stress and changes in Her life. Touching and written well.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I seem to be on quite the memoir kick lately, and the vast majority deal with childhood trauma (namely, sexual abuse or physical abuse) and the way it manifests in our bodies in choices as adults. I found Bridget's story fascinating, as she tried to outrun her trauma from one source of whitewater to another, all the way to Tanzania. Of course, she finds that one cannot run away from your past. Sooner or later it catches up to you. Readers who enjoyed The Tell will also enjoy Bridget's story as she confronts her past and discovers that rivers CAN be re-routed, that we can enact change in our lives that will set a new course for our family's future.

This is a heartbreaking, wrenching and personal story of survival, fortitude and overcoming. There are times, several times, that the author's voice in the story, the first-person nature of it, brought me to tears for the young woman she was and what she was enduring. There were times it was a painful read, having not experienced these atrocities myself yet walking through them with her. Ms Crocker's writing style is warm and encompassing, as if you are actually watching the scenes of her life unfold. I feel honored to have had the opportunity to read her story and encourage her on during the worst times of her life. This is an example of breaking the chains of the past that force generations to repeat the same atrocities on each other, and a celebration of having the strength and eventual self-awareness to overcome those chains.

I really appreciate the vulnerability it took to write this book. I admired Bridget’s strength to overcome the difficult times. This is a wonderful memoir.
Thank you NetGalley and Spiegal & Grau for the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for my honest review.

A moving memoir of resilience and self-discovery, The River’s Daughter paints vivid scenes of wild rivers and personal turbulence. Bridget’s love for whitewater rafting and her growth through nature’s power are inspiring. However, the narrative sometimes meanders, and emotional beats can feel muted under layers of description. It’s a thoughtful journey worth taking, though it may not grip all readers from start to finish.

Thanks to NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

In this memoir, Bridget Crocker reflects on her dysfunctional family, life as a whitewater rafting guide, and as a woman trying to find her place in the world.

Three things I know to be true in the aftermath of my reading experience: First, Bridget Crocker is a tough cookie. Second, there are parts of this memoir that were tough to read because her parents were certainly dysfunctional. Third, I have never gone whitewater rafting, but I would love to have that experience.

That being said, I did find some parts rushed, especially the road to reconciliation with each of her parents. But I suppose- a memoir can only be so many pages, and a publisher is going to ask the writer to wrap it up. All in all, it was a good reading experience.




TW: SCENES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT

#TheRiversDaughter #NetGalley
Publication Date 03/06/25
Goodreads Review 17/06/25

This is an excellent book. The author traces her own life, full of ups and downs as she traverses the rivers of America's west and Africa. This is a story of survival, both emotional and physical. It is about learning to navigate life's hurts, find true love, and the hurts inside families and their secrets. The author does a beautiful job of telling her story, a Mom who has to find herself, a step-father who loves her, and several men who while they share the love of rivers are not necessarily ones of her heart. This book was not one I would typically read and I am so glad I stepped out of my usual fiction thriller genre to look into the life of a young woman who navigated not just the river, but life. Thanks to author Bridget Crocker for telling us this story. Also thanks to #NetGalley#TheRiver'sDaughter for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Well done memoir involving adventure, the river, heartbreak, love and incredible strength. Parts were very hard to read such as the abuse she endured but it was well written

What a thriller this was! It will take you on a ride of a lifetime with bumps, and many twists and turns! A must summer read!

I would call Bridget Crocker a River Whisperer, while instinctively knowledgeable about survival and first aid. Talk about survival-abuse from parents, friends of parents, your own life choices of being drugged on drugs, alcohol, and abuse from partners, This author has experienced so much but has had the amazing resilience to become a world class water rafting guide. She manages to retain the nature lessons that she has been taught from parents and a stepfather, lovers and other guides plus her own innate instinct to observe the runnings of the water in getting through so many of the most challenging water rapids in the world. Part of her success in foreign lands was respect of the people and gaining their respect of her. A fascinating read for travelers of all types-armchair, novices or the most adventurous persons seeking their next great adventure. Thanks to NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau publishers for an advance ebook; the review is my own opinion.

The River’s Daughter is truly an incredible memoir - full of angst and action. Bridget grew up near the Snake River. She had respect and felt very drawn to the river, spending a great deal of time on its banks as her home life with her family fell apart. The river drew her and she drew strength from it. She survived abuse from her parents and a sexual assault at a young age, along with another attempted assault by a coworker. Eventually she became a white water rafting guide on the river. Her harrowing stories of her experiences on the river were so very chilling. Loved her descriptions of struggling for acceptance among her male peers. As a child she holed up in her closet which she decorated with magazine pictures of Africa seeking to escape her parents. As a young adult she had the opportunity to guide white water rafting on the Zambezi River. More harrowing adventures, especially on her first time on the river.
I learned a great deal about white water rafting - enough to know it is not for me. Her respect and the relationship she developed with each of the rivers and her conversations with them was fascinating to read. So enjoyed her reconnection with her dad on the rafting trip. I struggled with her choice of a partner, especially given the way he treated her. I would have chosen the one she left behind. Bridget found her niche in life sharing her passion for rafting, but I do believe she also has a gift for writing as she kept me enthralled throughout this read.
Many thanks to Bridget Crocker, Spiegel& Grau, and NetGalley for affording me the pleasure of reading an arc of this just published memoir.

A memoir of Bridget's moments of defeat and how she found her strength to be unbreakable. It is a long road to overcome hardships and betrayal from loved ones, but this book brings an inspiring and uplifting account of Bridget Crocker's life. With her mother and father experiencing abuse as children, the cycle continued, as they raised her. Her mother decided to walk away with Bridget and found happiness with another man. She loved her stepfather, but her mother upended their lives once again.
Living on the Snake River in Jackson Hole, she finds the resilience and strength to build her stamina and overcome the trials of sexual abuse and betrayal. Her courage came from her own desire to be at force with the Snake River challenging her as a guide. Some of the challenges she faced brought healing and adventures. I found the book to be gripping and inspiring. So many times I see students suffering from family hardships and later seeing them as successful adults. Her story is a testament to many that face traumatic experiences but find hope and courage from this. I love the cover!!
I love the river also and can find solace and peace from a day kayaking. Right now I'm sitting on an island in the Gulf of America and enjoying a much quieter life than normal.🌴
Thank you NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau for this incredible ARC in exchange for my review.

Bridget Crocker grew up in a broken home, in a trailer park along the Snake River in Wyoming. Her childhood was full of trauma, but she drew her resilience from the river. Her teen years were troubled, but she met a man who showed her what it was like to be loved. He also taught her how to be a river guide, leading whitewater rafting tours down the Snake River and eventually to Africa, where she led the rafts down the most treacherous rapids. I loved this coming-of-age memoir, which reads like a novel. It is a story of resilience and perseverance. The river rides were exciting to read about!

3.5
Read by the author herself, we hear from Bridget and her upbringing. Full of disappointment, abuse, moving, but then also being popular and others unaware of what was going on behind closed doors, she is an open book. She then finds respite in river running as a guide in Idaho on the Snake and then eventually to Zambia. Such a cool experience but really a healing thing for her.

Overall, it almost felt like her journal and a way for her to process what happened to her in life. I preferred the second half, but would have loved more river stories rather than life choices she made in general moving from A to B etc.

Thank you to NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau for the gifted e-arc of this book.

I read both Wild by Cheryl Strayed and Educated by Tara Westover when they were released years ago and picked this up because it seemed similar but better. I feel that The Rivers Daughter is much better, You do need to be prepared for the sad and scary stuff in the beginning of the book. The river stuff is interesting too. I do love these books that talk about how parents and all the weird stuff they did, but I am really hoping my own kids do not feel compelled to write about me.

This memoir swept me away! As someone who’s spent time in Jackson Hole and rafted the Snake River—yes, even the Lunch Counter rapids—I felt an immediate connection to Bridget’s journey. Her vivid storytelling brought back so many memories and made me fall in love with the river all over again. 🌲🚣‍♀️

Bridget’s life is a remarkable blend of outdoor adventure and deep personal resilience. Her stories of rafting not only in the U.S. but in Africa were captivating and unlike anything I’ve read before.

⚠️ Trigger warnings: This book includes sensitive topics such as domestic violence, child abuse, neglect, sexual assault, harassment, and racism. Bridget doesn’t shy away from the hard truths, but instead, she transforms them into a powerful testament of survival and strength.

She is an exceptional woman, and her story is raw, inspiring, and absolutely worth reading.

✨ Favorite Quotes:
📖 “The Snake had touched me, and in some way, I now belonged to the river.”
📖 “Over the years, I had spent quite a lot of time ruminating about what my family had not given me, overlooking what I’d inherited as my birthright: the ability to transform suffering, rise up, and survive.”

If you love memoirs, wild rivers, and stories of incredible inner strength—add this one to your list. 💙🌍

HOLY CANNOLI THIS ONE MAKES YOU FEEL IT ALL.
Memoirs are so hard to judge- it’s someone life that they are presenting to us for what? Us to rip it apart? I hate that!

This one is so well done. It is heartfelt, so raw and really compelling. Once I started it was impossible to put down- amazing.