In the small ranch town of Iola, Colorado, seventeen-year-old Victoria Nash, the sole surviving female in a family of troubled men, runs the household on her family’s historic peach farm.
Wilson Moon, a young drifter with a mysterious past, has left his tribal land and is determined to live as he chooses.
Go As a River by Shelley Reed is ultimately a story of Victoria’s survival. The fight to survive colors every aspect of her life. She faces the need to survive in the wilderness, in love, and in her livelihood.  The ultimate test, however, comes in the decision she must make for her son.
Go As a River is historical fiction only because the setting in mid-Twentieth Century Colorado, the peaches, and the apocalyptical events are factual. Veronica’s story and how she survives is fiction at its best. Her way of life, her very home and family are all threatened. She faces these challenges alone making her a remarkable woman finding strength she never knew she had. We follow her life from her teen years to middle age.
Her story is beautifully written with descriptive words and phrases pulling us into each scene. The clash of cultures brings love into her life then takes it away. The Colorado mountains embrace her and threaten her. The Gunnison River gives life and destroys it. There is a touch of mysticism that touches her life as she strives to be the person her strong ancestors would expect her to be.
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 face of hardship and loss, but also of finding courage, resilience, friendship, and, finally, home―where least expected. The novel explores what it means to lead your life as if it were a river―gathering and flowing, finding a way forward even when obstacles arise. Victoria’s spirit keeps this book from being heavy and oppressive.
I enjoyed this book and the unusual story it tells. Giving it four stars, I highly recommend it. If you’ve ever been moved by the majesty of mountains, the serenity of water, or the pleasure of biting into a peach that makes you exclaim, “this is heaven,” then you should read Go As A River.
The book is available at all major outlets, both brick and mortar and online and in many libraries. It has a variety of covers. The one above is my favorite.
