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Go as a River

A Novel

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Go as a River

Written by: Shelley Read
Narrated by: Cynthia Farrell
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About this listen

In the spirit of Where the Crawdads Sing, and set amid the beauty and wilderness of the Colorado mountains, an unforgettable and deeply moving story of a young woman who follows her heart

Seventeen-year-old Victoria Nash runs the household on her family's peach farm in the small ranch town of Iola, Colorado—the sole surviving female in a family of troubled men. Wilson Moon is a young drifter with a mysterious past, displaced from his tribal land but determined to live as he chooses.

Victoria's chance encounter with Wil on a street corner profoundly alters both of their young lives, igniting as much passion as danger. When tragedy strikes, Victoria leaves the only life she has ever known, fleeing into the nearby mountains. Taking shelter in a small hut, she struggles to survive in the wilderness, with no clear notion of what her future will be. As the seasons change, she also charts the changes in herself, finding in the natural world the strength and meaning that set her on a quest to regain all that she has lost, even as the Gunnison River rises to submerge her homeland—its ranches, farms, and the beloved peach orchard that has been in her family for generations.

Inspired by true events surrounding the destruction of the town of Iola in the 1960s, Go as a River is a story of deeply held love in the midst of hardship and loss, but also of finding courage, resilience, friendship, and finally, home—where least expected. This stunning debut explores what it means to lead your life as if it were a river—gathering and flowing, finding a way forward even when the river is dammed.

©2023 Shelley Read (P)2023 Doubleday Canada
Coming of Age Fiction Literary Fiction Women's Fiction Heartfelt Tearjerking Ranch
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What the critics say

"Shelley Read's lyrical voice is a force of nature, and when she lends it to a woman leading a hardscrabble life in rural Colorado, the result is tragic, uplifting—and completely unforgettable." —Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry

"A key title for 2023. This soaring, compassionate tale of female resilience is set against the breath-taking beauty of the natural world—its trees and mountains and light." Independent

"A beautiful, compassion-filled debuta hymn to the cycles of the natural world and testament to the resilience of the human spirit." Daily Mail

What listeners say about Go as a River

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A Bittersweet Story

Go as a River is an emotional and bittersweet story of Victoria Nash. The story follows her from the age sixteen onwards and takes the reader through the ups and downs of her life.

Overall I found the story decent and I enjoyed some of the characters, but I found other aspects and characters fell flat. I found myself tuning in and out as the story lulled here and there. I also had a hard time with the narrator, in my opinion she has a hard time voicing male characters and it made any time a male character spoke hard to listen to. Other than the male characters her narration was pretty good.

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interesting

Good story of love loss and finding . not sure if probable but still a good read and interesting views about pesch orchards and daming rivers

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Cute story

It's a book that resembles a light morning breeze, will touch superficially, caress a bit and leave without a trace

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A beautiful story of hardships

This book was slow to start but gripping within a few chapters. I couldn’t put it down. It was beautifully written.

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Stunning

An absolutely beautiful, humbling story of love and loss. Couldn’t put it down! Thank you Shelley Read for this incredible book

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Siri read this book

An excellent, well-written, compelling story, however I feel the narrator did this book a big disservice by reading it so robotically. She read the words… but did not tell the story.

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