Victoria lives with her father, brother Seth, and disabled husband of her dead Aunt. At 17 years it is her responsibility to keep house at her fathers peach farm in rural Colorado.When not engaged in household tasks she has to help with the farm and with selling the produce. A very tough life. One day she heads into town to bring her drunken brother home only to meet a stranger who has drifted in. An immediate attraction is felt on both sides
Wil is however an indigenous Indian, regarded with suspicion by the 'red-necked ' locals and in particular by Seth her brother. Victoria follows her heart and spends intimate time with her beloved Wil only to have him disappear. We learn that he was brutally killed by Seth and a friend. Victoria is pregnant, and so we follow her life for the next twenty years.
This is an emotionally raw story so very well written. It covers issues of racism, womens inequality,war and family values against a backdrop of rural living and hardship
A highly recommended read

I really don’t think this book should be compared to Where the Crawdads sing as that book was twice as good as this one. This was a slow, sad book which really doesn’t lift the spirits at all. Nit what I thought it would be. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Victoria Nash lives with her somewhat depleted family in the isolated beauty of a peach farm in rural Colorado. That her life is bleak and without meaning is evident from the very start, she toils ceaselessly often without thanks and certainly without love. The beautiful moment when she meets a charismatic stranger opens her heart to a world of possibility but it also heralds catastrophic change in the lives of those around her.

I think Go As a River is one of the saddest books I have read for some time and yet it is as beautiful as it is poignant. The writing so wonderfully lyrical that I had to stop and re-read whole sentences because they were just so descriptive. And as the tangled wilderness of the Colorado hills are laid open so we enter deep in to Victoria's soul as she faces tragedy on such a huge scale that it's impossible to comprehend the effect that this deep sadness has on her life going forward.

The story had such a profound effect on me that even now, days after finishing Go As A River, I am still imagining life with Victoria Nash, her bravery and beauty will live on forever in this lovely story

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

As a debut author the story is not bad. I do feel it should not be compared to Where the Crawdad's Sing as the story and writing are nowhere near that level. It was an okay book. It was a bit sweet at times, a lot of times, which put me off. I don't think the story went as far as it could as there were so many descriptions of woods, trees etc there could have been more story written in those parts. Lost opportunity with this novel.

On a cool autumn day in 1948, Victoria Nash delivers late-season peaches from her family's farm set amid the wild beauty of Colorado. As she heads into her village, a dishevelled stranger stops to ask her the way. How she chooses to answer will unknowingly alter the course of both their young lives.

So begins the mesmerising story of split-second choices and courageous acts that propel Victoria away from the only home she has ever known and towards a reckoning with loss, hope and her own untapped strength.

Gathering all the pieces of her small and extraordinary existence, spinning through the eddies of desire, heartbreak and betrayal, she will arrive at a single rocky decision that will change her life for ever.

Firstly, this is a wonderfully written story. The descriptions are terrific and the characters real. This a tale of hardship, misery and joy; of love and loss all beautifully described. It’s a hard-to-put-down story that draws you in wishing for it to continue, not end. A great read.

My thanks to #NetGalley for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Wow! It’s a wonderful, slow burn of a story, told by Torie, who shows great resilience and persistence to overcome her tragic start in life. She meets the love of her life, Wilson Moon, when she is 17 but their love affair doesn’t end well. There are some very sad moments but the story is ultimately hopeful. It’s a tale of endurance, courage and new beginnings. I loved it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Go As A River is a book that grasps you by the heart and doesn't let go. It is incredibly powerful and moving.

It's 1948 and already Victoria Nash has experienced loss. At 12 three members of her family were killed in an accident, including her Mom. She then stepped in to the role her Mom had filled, all while she's growing into a woman with no maternal guidance. Now 17, a fateful meeting with a stranger in her small town will forever alter the course of her life. Wilson Moon is the first person who has ever really seen her, and their connection is all consuming. They become lovers, but Victoria has a heavy sense of foreboding. Her brother Seth is hateful and when he discovers they are lovers, the consequences are devastating.

But Wilson will forever be connected to her as she finds herself pregnant and alone. From that moment forward, Victoria must find a strength and determination to carry on living despite her overwhelming sadness and grief.

Victoria was an absolutely phenomenal character, brought to life with the most exquisite writing. I was so in awe of her quiet fortitude and her will to live a humble and fulfilling life.

Without doubt one of the most moving books I've read in 2023. A testament to the strength of women, and a powerful reminder that even the most devastating of circumstances can be overcome with time, compassion and the healing qualities of nature.

This was a brilliantly written book, made all the more impressive when I realised it is Shelley Read's debut novel.
The plot carries you along at a leisurely pace, but the elements that truly make an impact are undoubtedly the writing and the characters. The descriptions also deserve a mention, as I was able to easily visualise the scenes I read about, and it felt like the power of watching a film play out as you turn the pages.
There is so much emotion that I ached for the characters several times, and Read's writing style is one I look forward to reading more of in the future.

This book has been everywhere lately and for good reason, it is beautiful! After seeing all the love, I knew I had to read it, so I was delighted to be granted this copy!

Go As A River follows Victoria, the only daughter of a peach farmer from a small town in Colorado. She's responsible for her father, brother and uncle after a tragic car crash killed her aunt, cousin and mother. A chance encounter in her teens changes her life completely and we're brought along the journey spanning decades.

This is a truly stunning tale. The writing flowed from page to page creating such a beautiful setting for such a heartbreaking story. I really felt for Victoria, probably the most I've felt for a character in a while! She goes through so much at such a young age and yet she's comes out so strong and courageous, sometimes making the hardest decisions someone would ever have to make. Following her and her story had my emotions all over the place. Whenever something good would happen, I was on edge just waiting to see of it would last for our main character.

This book should be on everyone's TBR. Not only is it a stunning piece of writing, it deals with important themes such as racism, war, baby loss and sexism. It's not a book I'll be forgetting about any time soon! Within its pages is a terribly sad story but also one of hope. It contains some of the most beautiful passages I've ever read and it's a book I will reread and take comfort in.

Thank you to NetGalley, DoubleDay Books and Shelley Read for this copy!

* Please look up trigger warnings before reading *

Books flows easily.
Loved this moving, joyful, tragic story. racism, Vietnam war, peach trees its all here.
Victoria is the daughter of a peach farmer, her parents are strict but fair, her brother Seth is the odd one in the family, disruptive and violent, her other brother Cal is not her brother but a boy taken in by the family, the opposite of Seth, kind and sensitive. Tragedy strikes with a car accident killing Victoria's mother, aunt and cal, she has to take over her Mother's role and run the household at a young age.
Victoria meets a stranger Wilson, he is of Indian heritage and shunned by most white people, he and Victoria get to know each other secretly, Wilson disappears leaving Victoria pregnant, her fight to keep her baby and her determination, instinct and bravery lead her to make a decision which she questions for the rest of her life.
Inga a new mother benefits from Victoria's decision and keeps her unnamed baby, bringing him up beside her own son Max, only to be faced later with the boys call up for the army.
So much more in this book, read it for yourself and relieve the emotions.
Thankfully Shelley and NetGalley.

The first book I have read by this author.

Set in 1940's Colorado where Tori works on her families peach farm where she ends up looking after the house and family.
A chance meeting and everything can change.

Well written slow paced but enjoyable.

Victoria lives on a peach farm in Colorado, looking after her dad and brother.
A stranger turns up in town and Victoria is smitten.
What happens from then on is gripping but so sad. I could feel myself welling up and feeling very down at the same time.
Highly recommended.

I've been waiting a while for a great book that just totally griped me, one that I want to just talk to everyone about... and I found it! Loved, loved loved Go as a River. The era it was set, the location, the character, the journey Tori went on. Made me weep a little which is unusual for me. One I will be adding to my book club selections and hoping it gets picked as would love to discuss this with the group (will have to pretend I haven’t read it yet as technically it is against the rules but I think they would all adore it!). So sad when I finished it, been thinking about it since ... all signs of a 5-star book!

Go As A River is a historical fiction set in the 1940’s and through the subsequent decades, it follows teenager Victoria (Torie) Nash as she lives and works on her family’s peach farm.
After her mother, aunt and cousin are killed in a tragic accident and her being the only girl left in the house, it’s her job to cook, clean, look after the chickens and tend to the garden. One day as she’s heading in to town to get her drunken brother from the poker house, she meets Wilson Moon and that one chance encounter with a handsome stranger changes the course of her life forever.

The writing and setting was beautiful and I easily became immersed in the story, I blinked and I had read the first 50% of the book in one sitting without even realising I had read that much. Overall I throughly enjoyed it and it was a nice change of pace from the rom coms and thrillers I’ve been reading recently.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was really looking forward to reading this, it sounded right up my street, and in many ways it was, but unfortunately it was a little too saccharine sweet for me. I loved the depictions of the landscape, the writing was gorgeous at time, and I found parts of it moving, but at times it veered into schmaltz, and it wasn't quite the weighty read I was expecting, There's absolutely nothing wrong with sweet or schmaltzy, but it didn't quite hit the spot for me.

A stranger comes to a small town and sets a young woman's life on a new trajectory in this short novel.

A native of Colorado herself, Read sets her debut novel in the small community of Iola, a town along the Gunnison River in the western part of the state. Iola no longer exists; it flooded when the Gunnison was dammed to create the Blue Mesa Reservoir.

But in 1948, when Read’s tale begins, Iola is the home of 17-year-old Victoria (Tori) Nash, who lives in a somewhat rundown farmhouse with her father, a peach farmer; an embittered uncle disabled through war injuries, and her angry, vengeful brother.

Her mother, aunt, and a beloved cousin were killed in a car accident when Torie was 12, leaving each family member bereft and Torie resigned to the burden of caretaking. After her mother died, Torie realised, “the men expected me to slip silently into her role—to cook their meals, clean their pee off the toilet, wash and hang their soiled clothes, and tend to every last thing in the house and the coops and the garden.” She hardly leaves her family’s 47 acres except for essential trips to town, where, one day, she notices a young man who attracts her attention as no one has before. This encounter will set her life on a new trajectory.

This young man has tanned skin, straight black hair, gentle eyes, and a dazzling smile. His name is Wilson Moon, and to Torie, he is mysterious and exotic. Wil had been working in the coal mines, he tells Torie, and he had run away. Now, he’s looking for the local flophouse, where he hopes to find a room.

Their growing mutual attraction is gently unfurled by Read and is set against the town’s vicious bigotry and prejudices toward Native Americans. Their love is the “small fateful twist” that forever changes the direction of Torie’s life.

I've seen this book compared to ‘Crawdads’, and I'm not going to lie, that worried me as to put it mildly, I'm not a fan. There are similarities in the eloquent, descriptive writing of Colorado’s rugged wilderness and the small-town vibes, but that's as far as it goes for me. Sometimes the “exceptional lurks beneath the ordinary”, and this coming of age book is one of those times. 4⭐

Thank you to the publisher for an advance review copy. This delightful book is published tomorrow.

An absolutely spectacular debut from Shelley Read! This is one of those books that simply sweeps you along and you can’t put it down: such is the incredibly beautiful lyrical writing, the all absorbing story line, the powerful descriptions, the raw emotions, the superbly drawn characters.
The story spans the life of Victoria Nash from a young girl, who tragically loses her mother, aunt and a cousin, to her late thirties when her life story has taken her on a journey of love, loss, desire, heartbreak, despair, betrayal and yet at the heart of it all, hope, strength and resilience. A chance encounter aged seventeen sets the wheels turning for a life path Victoria feels she was destined to follow, despite the difficulties and heartbreak she will face along the way. And what a truly amazing, courageous woman she becomes.
I can’t wait to see what Shelley has in store for us in the future!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for a review.

Perfect mix between Tiffany McDaniel's "Betty" and Jean Hegland's "Into the forest", this beautiful book has been a real pleasure to read.
Torie is a young Colorado girl. She lives in her father's peaches farm, along with her brother and crippled uncle. She's the only girl in the family. One day, as an evidence, she meets a boy in the street. And she can't take her eyes away from him. They have to meet again, and soon. They quickly fall in love. But his skin is too dark, his hair too black, is blood too Injun. And one day, he disappears. And Torie is alone once again. But is she really alone ?
To hide her secret, she will go back to the nature, and live in the mountain. Until the first snow, the lack of food and dispair force her to come back to civilazation. And to live the saddest day of her life...

This book is a sad resilience story of a strong girl, who doesn't know how else to live than to go as the river. It doesn't mean that her life is quiet, it just means that it still goes on, whatever it takes in his way.

Beautifully poetic and wonderfully evocative, <em>Go As A River</em> is an absorbing historical fiction that's rich in atmosphere and character development.

The writing is absolutely gorgeous and exudes so much emotion. From the 1940s Colorado setting to the diverse characters and conflicting emotions, you get a powerful sense of time and place. The themes of belonging, motherhood, love, loss and resilience are all explored so sensitively, as every page makes you feel something different.

The book is inspired by the landscape from where the author comes from, and you can imagine Read sitting on her porch, detailing the beauty around her. Every detail is described so meticulously, painting a vivid picture of the mountains, rivers and forests that overwhelm your senses while reading. I could read the prologue over and over again as Read's writing evokes so many emotions.

As a debut, it's beyond impressive. If you're a fan of historical fiction, you're sure to love this breathtaking story.

(I'm on the tour for this 0n 17th April so my links will be live then!)

A tragic car accident kills three members of a family leaving the surviving members and the family life they shared irrecoverably shattered. The young daughter on the cusp of puberty has no time to grieve the loss as she struggles to become everything to everyone , all incapable of moving on . The loneliness and bleakness of her life miraculously changes with the meeting of a stranger. What follows is a second heartbreaking tragedy that the young girl Victoria can neither forget nor forgive. Using the poetic beauty of the writing to describe the scenery and environment do we follow her struggles to overcome hardships and misfortune, isolation, loneliness and her burden of guilt. Over several decades, through the narrative of the chief protagonist Victoria are we watching events unfold in heartbreaking detail until an amazingly crafted conclusion demonstrates the strength of a mothers love in its many guises. Many thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.