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River Sing Me Home
River Sing Me Home | Eleanor Shearer
Rare. Moving. Powerful. This beautiful, page-turning and redemptive story of a mothers gripping journey across the Caribbean to find her stolen children in the aftermath of slavery is a remarkable debut. Her search begins with an ending. The master of the Providence plantation in Barbados gathers his slaves and announces the king has decreed an end to slavery. As of the following day, the Emancipation Act of 1834 will come into effect. The cries of joy fall silent when he announces that they are no longer his slaves; they are now his apprentices. No one can leave. They must work for him for another six years. Freedom is just another name for the life they have always lived. So Rachel runs. Away from Providence, she begins a desperate search to find her childrenthe five who survived birth and were sold. Are any of them still alive? Rachel has to know. The grueling, dangerous journey takes her from Barbados then, by river, deep into the forest of British Guiana and finally across the sea to Trinidad. She is driven on by the certainty that a mother cannot be truly free without knowing what has become of her children, even if the answer is more than she can bear. These are the stories of Mary Grace, Micah, Thomas Augustus, Cherry Jane and Mercy. But above all this is the story of Rachel and the extraordinary lengths to which a mother will go to find her children...and her freedom.
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Cinfhen
River Sing Me Home | Eleanor Shearer
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Pickpick

A solid debut - when slavery is abolished in 1834 the Caribbean plantation owners institute a mandatory 6 year “apprenticeship” where the slaves MUST remain & work under the same harsh conditions. Rachel, a slave woman decides to put her faith in GD and escapes #Barbados to go & search for her 5 children who were taken from her. A moving & powerful story of a mother‘s love. Based on real events. #ReadingTheAmericas23 #Trinidad

Librarybelle So glad this is good! I got this from #BOTM and cannot wait to read it! 3w
Cinfhen I think you‘ll really like it @Librarybelle 🫶🏼 3w
Megabooks Wow! Sounds powerful! 1w
See All 7 Comments
Megabooks Great review!! 1w
Cinfhen It was a solid debut @Megabooks 💜 1w
Lizpixie 🙌🎉 18h
86 likes2 stack adds7 comments
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JHSiess
River Sing Me Home | Eleanor Shearer
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📙February Wrap-Up 📙

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐇𝐞 𝐊𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐇𝐞r by 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘢 𝘔𝘰𝘦𝘩𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞 by 𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘳 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐆𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 by 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪 𝘙𝘺𝘢𝘯 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐞 by 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘈𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘯 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐔𝐬 by 𝘑.𝘛. 𝘌𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝐂𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞 by 𝘗𝘢𝘮 𝘑𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘧𝘧 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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TEArificbooks
River Sing Me Home | Eleanor Shearer
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Pickpick

An amazing debut. Would not be surprised if this gets put in the year finalists.

42 likes2 stack adds
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Violet97
River Sing Me Home | Eleanor Shearer
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Pickpick

Inspiring story with a bittersweet ending.

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nitalibrarian
River Sing Me Home | Eleanor Shearer
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Starting River Sing Me Home today.

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Cazxxx
River Sing Me Home | Eleanor Shearer
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Pickpick

This historical tale tells of Rachel who has been a slave in Barbados for years. Her children are taken away from her so she runs away and we follow her journey to reunite with them. Heartbreaking but hopeful this is beautiful and powerful with lots of tender moments and a story you won‘t forget
#netgalley

60 likes1 stack add
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marleed
River Sing Me Home | Eleanor Shearer
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This is a story both tragic and hopeful. Most books I‘ve read telling the horrors of slavery are set in the USA. This one is set in the Caribbean and I‘ve never read anything on this aspect of slavery.

80 likes9 stack adds
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jploves2read
River Sing Me Home | Eleanor Shearer
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Pickpick

I‘m not a big fan of historical fiction, partially because it usually holds a lot of trauma. Although this is certainly true of this book there was also a lot of hope. I loved the main character - her growth over the course of the book. Shearer writes Rachel‘s story with great emotional depth. It‘s a book that I might want to come back to (after I have recovered).

10 likes2 stack adds
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jlhammar
River Sing Me Home | Eleanor Shearer
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Mehso-so

Well, I seem to be in the minority here (so far anyhow), but this was disappointing. She‘s trying to tell an important story, but something about this did not work for me. I didn‘t really get on with the writing and the characters did not feel real. What should have been moving and powerful, given the subject matter, just left me cold. It is a quick and somewhat propulsive read though and I cared enough to finish. #BOTM

Tamra What an awesome cover through - too bad. 1mo
78 likes1 comment
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NikkiKey94
River Sing Me Home | Eleanor Shearer
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Pickpick

I was surprised at how fast this book sucked me into the story. I try to read the GMA book club every month so I was super excited when I got this one so fast on Libby. I started it and I couldn‘t put it down. My heart broke for Rachel at times on her journey to find her children. This book was so good and I‘m so glad I read it!

14 likes1 stack add
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Endowarrior21
River Sing Me Home | Eleanor Shearer
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I got my BOTM books today I can't wait to read them especially the book I picked from this month's books.

CBee Take my Hand and Tomorrow x3 are both excellent 😊 2mo
32 likes1 comment
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jlhammar
River Sing Me Home | Eleanor Shearer
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#BOTM delivery! Just one in my blue box this month. I was hoping we‘d have the new Rebecca Makkai, Jane Harper &/or Tiffany McDaniel to choose from. Oh well. Excited to try this debut. GMA chose this for their book club this month and I usually enjoy their picks. Plus, seemed like a good one for #BlackHistoryMonth.

Jess Me too! I really kept my fingers crossed for the Makkai. Oh well. I got the same book you did an am looking forward to it. Enjoy! 2mo
71 likes1 comment
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Born.A.Reader
River Sing Me Home | Eleanor Shearer
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nitalibrarian
River Sing Me Home | Eleanor Shearer
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February #botm books are up! Here are my picks. I already read an ARC of Georgie, All Along, but couldn't resist getting a hardcover copy. I loved it so much.

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Mpcacher
River Sing Me Home | Eleanor Shearer
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Pickpick

This is a difficult subject, but so worthy of your time. The author has captured some of the experiences of the black people in the British ruled Caribbean as slavery came to an end in 1834 (spoiler...it didn't make that much of a difference). The drive of a mother to reunite with her stolen children and find freedom drives the plot and the author has created some wonderful characters. This is a debut novel and I look forward to more. 4.5 stars!

lynneamch Just watched her on the aftershow of Friends & Fiction. Fascinating! 2mo
12 likes1 stack add1 comment
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PatriciaU
River Sing Me Home | Eleanor Shearer
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Pickpick

This stunning novel will take you on an emotional journey that you will not soon forget, especially if you are a parent. The experiences of mothers, fathers, children, siblings born into slavery & ripped away from each other are just too horrific to fully understand. While not an easy read, this is ultimately a story of joyous reunification driven by the incandescent love of a mother for her children.

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VanessaCW
River Sing Me Home | Eleanor Shearer
Pickpick

I enjoyed this moving story of love and hope set amidst the brutality and inhumanity of the time of the slave trade. The research gone into putting this tale together is excellent. It‘s well written and the descriptions of the various backdrops are very vivid. It‘s a gripping and enlightening read, a worthy debut. It‘s a story that needs to be told. A journey of education and illumination. #Pigeonhole

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VanessaCW
River Sing Me Home | Eleanor Shearer