I am so sorry but i was not able to finish the book. I cant put a finger on it but it definitely could be an issue with the app because half the time i could not hear what was being said.

An absolutely stunning and heartbreaking story - One mother's quest to track down all the children stolen from her during her enslavement. Despite the supposed end to slavery, freedom is still not available without dangerous risks to escape. Beautifully written story, narrated with such grace. I listened feverishly, wishing with every fibre that she would manage to find all her children. #riversingmehome #eleanorshearer #netgalley

River Sing Me Home is a very thoughtful and powerful debut novel from Eleanor Shearer. It is, in fact, a brilliant book. Rachel is a slave working on a sugar cane plantation in Northern Barbados in the early 1830s. She has several still births and five living children. Each of the five was taken from her and sold at various stages of their childhood. This was, we are told, absolutely standard procedure. Humans were treated as animals. Eventually Rachel flips and takes the extraordinarily dangerous decision to break out of the plantation and search for her children wherever they may be. Extraordinarily dangerous because she will be pursued by armed overseers who will seek to kill her or recapture her (with the promise of beatings, rape or worse) as a deterrent to others. She runs and runs until eventually she is befriended by Mama B on the far side of the island. Mama B helps her to set off on her search by taking her to Bridgetown – a ‘safe’ place for escaping slaves, where they had a better chance there of being absorbed into the mass of the population.

She moves on in her search for her daughters and sons. Intelligence and rumours of sightings are many. She follows a trail that leads to Demerara (now part of Guyana on the South American coast) and then on the British Guiana and finally Trinidad – all the time with hope in her heart that the children will be found.

River Sing Me Home is a remarkable and quite beautifully written book. On one level it is a profound, and very depressing, look at the lives of slaves transported from Africa to the plantations of the Caribbean. The working conditions and violence they endured were quite horrific. It was a very grim period in the history of mankind. On another level it is a very uplifting story that focuses on the love, strength and courage of a woman seeking to reunite her family. The hardships she endures are nothing to what she seeks to achieve, Rachel is a very strong and very determined woman.

The author, Eleanor Shearer, is herself the granddaughter of a couple who came to the UK from the Caribbean in the 1950s as part of the Windrush generation. The story of Rachel is for her very personal.

Very highly recommended.

Incredible to think that this is a debut novel. The narration is stunning and the story heartbreaking, impossible not to feel moved by it. A book I recommend to anyone and everyone.

River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer Narrated by Debra Michaels was a beautifully narrated book and the cover was just beautiful as well. This book was a good page turner and very emotional, at time with great characters and an interesting storyline together it made a great book.
River Sing Me Home is a story of a mother’s gripping journey across the Caribbean to find her stolen children in the aftermath of slavery is a “celebration of motherhood and female resilience........It just took my breath away.

determined mother’s perilous quest to find her five lost children, who are scattered throughout the Caribbean after being sold through the horrors of slavery.

This story is simply stunning and you cannot fail but be moved by Rachel’s epic search. She is the most wonderful character, so vibrant and full of life in the face of adversity, and her love for her children pours out of every page.

Rachel’s story hit extra hard reading as mother myself and I was willing her on every step of the way, even though I read half of it through my fingers as I was so worried for her. And it is such a horrific situation that she finds herself in that although fellow parents can empathise to an extent, what has happened to her family (and so many others) is just unimaginable, it’s beyond comprehension that such things could’ve taken place. But of course they did, and while some of RSMH is fictional and Rachel’s quest is pretty epic, it is still grounded in truth and sadly isn’t all that far-fetched.

Though I’ve studied (and taught) a fair bit on the history slavery I’ve not really delved all that much into the situation in Caribbean, so I found this story hugely enlightening in its scope as well as being very moving. I think it would make an excellent text to examine in both English and History classrooms, and it would certainly bring life and do justice to a difficult but incredibly important topic. If I ever go back to teaching I’ll definitely be using extracts from it in my own lesson, it’s an incredible book.

I listened to the audio version and the narrator really brought the story to life. Her lovely lilt and her different voices added a depth to the story that made it even more heart-breaking than it already was. She transported me to the Caribbean and kept me hooked throughout.

Absolutely heart-breaking whilst uplifting at the same time, it’s just stunning and definitely deserves to be read far and wide. I already know it’s going to be one of my books of the year and I would highly recommend it to all.

This was a beautifully written and emotional story that I am sure will stay with me for a long time.

The vivid descriptions made me feel like I was a part of the story.

Rachel was such a strong character and I loved following her story. I would have preferred for her background to be explained earlier in the story but it was revealed in a good way.

I was really invested in the story which I find difficult sometimes with historical fiction.

Would definitely read more of the authors work.

This book will haunt me. An enslaved woman called Rachel escapes the plantation to look for her five stolen children. Not knowing how far they were taken or whether they’re even still alive, Rachel has to evade the pursuit of the foreman from her old plantation, the cruelty of white men’s belief in her inferiority, and the heartbreaking reality that the years her children spent without her did not leave them unchanged.

A stunning, devastating, powerful debut written with so much heart. It is both action-packed and meditative in it’s consideration of Rachel’s love as a mother and her all-consuming drive to be reunited with her children. The prose is beautiful and lyrical, and the dialogue is cleverly written to be evocatie of Caribbean Creole languages while being perfectly understandable to someone who has no experience with them (like me). It created a very grounding atmosphere, and made the connection between the people, the islands (and Guyana) and the circumstances of slavery and colonialism.

Though it covers a large area - Rachel having to travel far in her search - it is an intensely personal story, character-driven and propelled by interconnection: Rachel and her children are only able to survive to the next day, make it to the next location, because of the people who care for them along the way. While Rachel shows strength and courage throughout, her search is only possible, only fruitful, because of the community that steps up to help her.

5/5 stars
A very emotional, fast paced book with good characterisation balanced with an interesting plot.
I loved how we found out the stories of so many characters entwined with Rachel, like Mr and Mrs Armstrong, Nobody, Nuno and so many others.
This book is a look at life in post slavery Barbados and beyond through the eyes of a ‘free’ black woman searching for her children across the Caribbean and South America. My favourite section was when Rachel and her new little family search for Thomas Augustus along the river in British Guyana, especially the moment with the caiman,
I highly recommend this book, if you’re interested in historical fiction or even just family dramas then this book is for you.

Beautifully told story of freedom, resistance, resilience and community that needs to be read and shared. I never expected to be invested in Rachel’s journey like this but I cried with her and wanted to fight for her. Loved it

River Sing Me Home is an incredible debut historical fiction novelset in 1834 after the abolition of slavery in Barbados. The writer Eleanor Shearerwas inspired by the 4 million women who fled seeking their children after emancipationand loosely based the story on a real woman Mother Rachel who walked across Antigua tobe reunited with one of her daughter’s after slavery ended. This novel begins at the time of emancipation with Rachel running away from the plantation in Providence, Barbados to try and reunite her family after her children had been sold one at a time and taken away from her over the years. The search for her children is utterly heart-breaking and fraught with danger, the journey leads her from Barbados to British Guiana and Trinidad and Tobago as they had been scattered in many directions and she is determined to contact them all again. Shearer brings you on  such an emotional journey with Rachel as she tries to  find each of her children, never knowing if they are alive or dead, and with the constant uncertainty as to whether people are willing to help her or  would get her arrested  as a runaway.
It's such a hugely important read about the harrowing history of slavery in the Caribbean, recounting how emancipation was hard-earned through various rebellions and uprisings and that even when slavery was abolished the Black population were made "apprentices" for sic years.  This devastating and emotional story will stay with you long after you finish reading the last word. Huge thanks to @netgalley and @headlinebooks for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

Actual rating 4.5.

As you can see, I didn’t choose the most lighthearted reads over Christmas (my fault for reading all my Christmas reads in October!), but I can safely say I chose some of the most brilliant - and this stunning debut is no exception.

Another moving novel which shows that the road after emancipation in the Caribbean wasn’t an easy one, but that a mother’s love knows no limits. Rachel is an absolutely extraordinary character, desperate to find the children that were taken from her and sold over the years she was a slave - and her journey will take her across oceans and rivers to find them.

This is another one which will devastate you at times, but again also brings joy and hope as Rachel is slowly reunited with some of her children, as well as making some beautiful new friendships along the way. The Caribbean island landscapes and language are so evocative but the thing which stands out above anything in this story is the power of a mother’s love. I cried more than a few times as Rachel recounted her children being taken from her and the powerlessness she felt, and then I cried even more as, against the odds, they found each other again. I think that quote on the back says it all really - there’s brutality, but there is so much more love.

This is a captivating, emotional story that hits you right in the heart, with characters and stories which will stay with you long after the last page.

This book describe the history of the end of slavery, from a family of freed slaves point of view. When history may lead people to believe that slavery ended quickly, smoothly. Even fairly- this book tells the truth from the real point of view. It’s a heart breaking tale of one mothers journey to find her children. Scattered over miles, she is drawn to places, people and events that bring some of her family back together. The injustice, and pain suffered by slaves is laid out in this book in vivid, horrific clarity. It really is an eye opener.
I listened to this book as an audio book gifted to me by NetGalley and the publishers- I am so grateful for the opportunity to read this/ hear this story. More people should find out the truths of the past- it’s the only way we can truly move forward to a better world.

Beautiful audiobook, what a triumph!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this book in exchange for my review.

Thank you for granting me access to this audiobook.
As far as audio performances, I think this was pretty decent, I wasn't turned off but I wasn't the biggest fan, It was an OK performance. I'm not from the Caribbean so I can't speak to the accent.
Now, the story itself is beautiful, it is heartbreaking but healing as well. I don't even think I have the words to explain how this story touched me. I'm very impressed this is a debut and I'm looking forward to more work from this author. Her storytelling abilities is 10/10.

I think listening to the audio book added a little something to this one, not that it needed it.
An incredibly good debut, that taught Mr something about slavery.
A moving tale of a mother's love and determination, that has moments of joy too.
I'll be thinking about Rachel for a while.

River Sing Me Home is a powerful audiobook depicting the story of Rachel , a former slave who has just been set free and who is now trying to track down her six children who have been sold off over the years from a plantation in Barbados in the 1800’s. This book - wow! It’s heart wrenching informative, thoroughly engaging and yet still manages to instil the basic human needs within one of love and hope and kindness. Incredibly this is a debut! The audiobook is narrated by Debra Michaels who gives a magnificent performance and does great justice for Shearers book. This is a must read for 2023.!