Rating  - Jonis Agee is ambitious...
Jonis Agee is an ambitious novelist who'll take a risk. In "The River Wife" she has written a "Western" (how many women writers have tried THAT?) that explores - through the eyes of five very different women - the settlement of a small parcel of land along the Mississippi River in Missouri from 1811, the year of the New Madrid earthquake, until the 1930s.
The life of each woman in this sprawling saga has been touched by her relationship with the French fur-trapper and amoral river pirate Jacques Ducharme. From Annie Lark, the teenager left for dead by her family after the earthquake, who Ducharme rescued and loved, to Hedie Rails, the woman Jacques' bootlegger grandson would marry in 1930, Agee weaves a tapestry of complex themes: isolation, hardship, identity and independence, loyalty and friendship, unspeakable violence and desolation.
Not all the women are as beautifully drawn as Annie Lark and Omah, Jacques' partner in crime. Laura, Jacques' second wife, is manipulated more like a paper doll than a human character. (Perhaps I have a bias against gold-diggers?)
The violence in the book may not be suitable for young or squeamish readers.
Agee's risk pays off. "The River Wife" offers its characters remarkably rich personal histories and explores the consequences of their decisions. The action and uncompromising violence are compelling. If only a thoughtful movie producer would buy this book, we'd be treated to five strong female roles and a potential Oscar-winning male role in a gritty compelling drama. An "Unforgiven" with a feminine twist.
Rating - Page-turner
I am enjoying this book and find it to be a page-turner. The prose is lush and, being a Missouri native, her description of how the river influences life is accurate and reminds me of home.
Well done.
Rating  - "There's just no way of knowing the infinite devices we have to stitch ourselves together across time."
Agee's fascinating story bridges the lives of two women over a century apart, Annie Lark Ducharme and Hedie Rails Ducharme. Annie is trapped in the earthquake of 1811, her family's cabin near the mighty Mississippi collapsing in the earth's sudden violence. Immobilized by a roof beam, Annie is left to die by her family, clinging to life day by day while in agonizing pain. When French trapper and river pirate, Jacques Ducharme, rescues the helpless girl, it is inevitable that she fall in love with this rough but tender man who wants only to protect her and build a home that will stand as a testament to them, Jacques Landing, a place of refuge for weary river travelers and traders. Annie becomes his "river wife", living rough until they return to the banks of the river and begin building Jacques' dream, Annie pregnant with their child. The building progresses against all odds, although Jacques and his cohorts revert to their piracy to find the means.
Despite her older husband's flaws, Annie is happy, reluctant to defy this man of such great ambition. Then a truly monstrous event destroys any forgiveness that exists between them, neither able to recapture their prior hopefulness. Though other Ducharme women people Jacques' life, including his second wife, Laura Burke Shut Ducharme, who gives an ageing man a new lease on life, none can replace his passion for Annie. In 1930, Hedie Rails Ducharme arrives, the naïve young bride of the older Clement Ducharme, returning with him to Jacques Landing where they act out the fate of a family blighted by tragedy and ill-starred relationships. Like Annie, Hedie is hopelessly in love; like Jacques, Clement lives outside the law, leaving his pregnant wife alone at night with the unfamiliar groaning of the house while he pursues whatever criminal enterprise draws him away night after night.
Hedie's only solace is in Annie's diaries, which she pours over through the long, dark hours waiting for Clement to return, aware only that she is connected to Annie and the other river wives who have been a part of the Ducharme legacy. Detailing the private hopes and sorrows of these women, from Annie, Laura, the enigmatic Omah, who learns the ways of piracy from Jacques himself, to Hedie, who will add her story to Annie's, this novel is rich in regional history. Agee's images rise from the past, the waiting, patient river, the aggressive, dangerous men, the Landing that draws all manner of traveler and the women who bring heart to a tale of tragedy and violence begun with Jacques and ending with Clement. The river runs in the blood of these men and the women seduced by their natural charm, even when that love is defeated by greed, ambition and disillusion. A powerful tale, here is the essence of the river, the country and the women blinded by their passions. Luan Gaines/ 2008.
Rating - A great summer read
This, grand, sweeping, epic novel makes for great summer reading. Full of cinematic scenes, this book is richly detailed and beautifully executed, beginning with a vivid evocation of the New Madrid earthquake, and including a violent attack by pirates of a merchant vessel on the Mississippi, a lushly romantic encounter between two women taking a cure at Hot Springs, ghostly visitations, and a harrowing barn fire. The many marriages of long-lived Jacques Ducharme and his descendants are an album of the types of love possible in relationships: passionate, devoted, protective, companionable, and enduring. Read this book!
Go to the Product Information page
Customer Reviews for Random House Trade Paperbacks,081297719X,9780812977196,081297719X,813 |
