“An Appalachian murder ballad for the 21st century, Amanda McGee’s nail-biter of a novella shows us why it’s dangerous to be a witch and dangerous to cross one. At the same time, A River Wide overflows with joys and sorrows that arise from the deep blood ties of family, drawing from profound wells of grief and hope to brew a ghost-haunted spell.” —Mike Allen, World Fantasy and Shirley Jackson award-nominated author of Trail of Shadows

“A River Wide pulled me in with narrator Rhia's vivid voice, a small town's secrets, and a kind of elemental witchcraft I hadn't seen before. Rather than bend water to her will, Rhia must work with it, sometimes even bargain with it—and she can't take that lightly, even when what she's bargaining for amounts to her sister's life. I hope McGee has more plans for the witches of the Blackburn family and the Appalachian home they so lovingly, so precariously, inhabit.” —Laura Blackwell, Shirley Jackson Award-winning author

“Like Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic, and Amal El-Mohtar’s The River Has Roots, Amanda J. McGee’s novella A River Wide taps the bonds of sisterhood, survival, and power, and floods the senses with river water and witchcraft. McGee’s characters have a deep, Dillard-esque, and—dare I say—holy bond with the Appalachian landscape, which can be capricious, cruel, generous, or tender in turns, much like the prose itself. A River Wide wanders deftly into various creeks and hollows of genre: thriller, ghost story, romance, family drama, and a middle-of-life coming-of-age. It moved me, deeply.” —C. S. E. Cooney, World Fantasy Award-winning author of Saint Death’s Daughter