In 1938, two botanists who happened to be women decided that they wanted to catalogue and collect plant specimens along the Colorado River and into the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, the press around that time chose to focus on their gender rather than their incredible scientific accomplishments. This narrative nonfiction from science writer Melissa Sevigny shares the story of that journey, during a time where the landscape was changing in a lot of ways, and how Jotter and Cutter managed to capture a particular moment in time that continues to be referenced even now, nearly a century later.

This book is so obviously a love letter to this field, the west, and the (mostly unchampioned) contributions of Jotter and Clover. Sevigny is clearly passionate about this story, about the work that these two women did and the generations of scientists (of all genders) that they inspired. While there were specifics about botany that just flew right over my head, the storytelling here is so strong and effective. I felt connected to these real people and their real struggles. I bemoaned their setbacks and celebrated their triumphs. As a mostly inside kid with somehow a deep appreciation for the outdoors, I felt inspired to get out into the wilderness and merely observe the wonders of it all.

Where the narrative really shone for me was the ancillary moments. Brave the Wild River is one of the best of these kinds of stories that I've read for acknowledging and honoring the work that Indigenous peoples have done in the past and continue to do when it comes to ecology and preservation. The side quests about the development of the national parks and the philosophical disagreements about land use were incredibly relevant to conversations we're having today as we face down the climate crises that increase annually. And of course I always love to see women be underestimated only to prove everybody wrong.

Did I cry when reading about Lois Jotter's return trip in the 1990s when she was 80? Yes I did. Did I cry again when reading about the author taking a matchcase from the 1938 trip down the river with her just a few years ago? Also yes. I am admittedly a soft touch, but Sevigny managed to capture some incredibly touching moments in quite affecting ways.

I know this won't be for everyone, but I think readers in this niche will appreciate this so much. I know I did.

I liked this one enough that I'll be getting my dad a copy for Christmas.
Thank you very much to W. W. Norton & Company and NetGalley for the ARC!

My first nonfiction read of the year and it was a good one! Brave The Wild River is the story of two women who mapped the botany of the Grand Canyon. In 1938 Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter set off on an expedition down the Colorado River with three male boatmen and their leader. The Colorado River was the most dangerous river in America and only a few people had ever attempted the rapids. No one had yet surveyed the plants in the Grand Canyon and the two botanists wanted to be the first. It was a very important but dangerous job.

Their story is exciting, interesting, and informative. Within the first few pages I had already learned a lot. Botany was considered a girly science, yet women didn't hold high-ranking jobs. Collecting plants while out for a stroll was nice but white water rafting was dangerous and incomprehensible. These women had to deal with a lot just to live their dream.

And then there was the river. I felt like I was right there with them. The descriptions of the river and Grand Canyon are so beautiful and well done. You can imagine how everyone felt on the 43 day journey. This story is well researched and well written. We get the history of the river, the native people who originally lived there, and how everything changed when people came with money and big plans.

If you are interested in nature, the Grand Canyon, exploring, or women's stories then you will like this. I highly recommend it. It's so interesting and fun to read. I was a little sad when I got to the last page because I had such a good time.

Brave The Wild River comes out May 23. Thank you so much to the publisher & Netgalley for the chance to read!

This is a story of adventure, pushing boundaries, disregarding gender norms, and setting historical precedents. Within 300 pages, you are taken through a death-defying journey of the little-explored rapids of the Colorado river, you eddy at times over botanical descriptives and ecological backdrops before shoring up to learn more about the history of environmental science and the Grand Canyon National Park.

In 1938 Elazada Clover and Lois Jotter join four other men, across three boats, to journey 600 miles down the Colorado river in the hope of collecting and surveying its plant life. For the women, this trip was to provide an exciting opportunity to further their studies and contribute to the fast-evolving science of botany. The men too, each had their own agendas in making the trip. However, only one man, the expedition leader, had any sort of rafting experience. In fact, by 1938, there had only been about a dozen trips made, since it was first attempted some 70 years prior. That small handful of successful expeditions contained only men. When the rafting party set out, the media ran riot with harbingers of disaster and death and the complete foolhardiness of women being allowed at all, 'Women have their place in the world, but they do not belong in the Canyon of the Colorado'. Unfortunately, this dramatic publicity overshadowed and virtually dismissed the science that initiated the endeavour. It did not, however, preclude the two women from carefully documenting and collecting the plants; work which proved invaluable as future generations sought to redress the balance of the river's ecosystem. 'Before them, men...saw the river for what it could be, harnessed for human use. Clover and Jotter saw it as it was, a living system....'

Melissa Sevigny really brought this story to life with her descriptive and evocative language. A story that could have been bogged down with botanical, Latin names, is given context and life as we ride down the rapids and learn the history of the place. The grandiose achievement of Clover and Jotter being the first white women to have successfully journeyed down the Colorado river is nicely tempered with the value of their resulting scientific contribution. This book pleasantly surprised me and I'd recommend it to not just readers interested in science and botany but to anyone who enjoys women's non-fiction and their stories.

It was a very interesting story to learn about. I always enjoy learning about the canyon exploration I would definitely recommend the book to a friend. It was also interesting learning about the canyon and its exploration before the dam was in place.

A fascinating story that I had no prior knowledge about. So glad I read this! I’ll be recommending it to so many people.