River of Our Return (Gemstar) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0759503079 ISBN 13: 9780759503076

Inhaltsangabe

While Hattie Clark’s husband was alive, their homestead in the soaring crags of Idaho’s Salmon River Canyon was their paradise. When the raging river claimed her husband’s life, Hattie grew lonelier than she thought possible. Then Toby, an eight-year-old runaway, comes into her life. An unspeakable secret has driven Toby into the wilderness to search for his great-uncle, Afton McCabe, Hattie’s gold-mining neighbor. McCabe, a loner, struggles to eke a living from a river that promises riches but delivers heartbreak. He resents Toby’s intrusion, but lets him stay. After Toby is nearly killed by a devastating illness, Hattie and Afton become convinced that they must return Toby to his father, despite the boy’s wish to remain in the wilds. Together they make the treacherous downriver trip in an all-out confrontation with nature’s fiercest elements. From the menace of the wilderness to the dangers of civilization, River of Our Return travels an extraordinary journey of the land and the heart.

Über diesen Titel

From the Author:

Three lonely people take a journey of life and death.
River of Our Return is a novel of connection: of three lonely people and the river that can break or mend their spirit.

Her name is Hattie Clark. Before her husband drowned beneath the river ice, her homestead among the soaring crags of Idaho's Salmon River Canyon was a paradise. Now, at mid-life, she must survive the wilderness on her own.

His name is Afton McCAbe. A loner, he ekes a living sluicing gold from a river that promises riches but often delivers heartbreak.

The boy's name is Toby, McCabe's nephew. Fear drives the eight-year-old runaway into the canyon, where Hattie draws him and his grand-uncle into the warmth of a make-shift family.

When Toby nearly dies from a devastating illness, Hattie and McCabe are convinced they must return the boy to his father. McCabe's plan is audacious--a scow trip down the treacherous Salmon River. For Afton McCabe, the journey holds the irresistible promise of relived adventure, for Hattie the need to protect those she loves, for Toby, a return to fear.

Excerpt: "I was certain we'd crash. Spray showered us like a waterfall. the shock of it made me shiver and gasp for breath. Squinting through straggles of hair glued to my face, I saw we'd avoided the foaming cavern and were rounding the rock wall on an aisle of racing water. I had no idea how Afton had prevented certain calamity, but it wasn't without effort. His shirt had pulled free of his belt and flapped in the wind generated by the surge. His hair stood out in all directions like a wild man's.

He turned slightly, his face gaunt, and said something I couldn't hear above the blare of the river. In that moment, his daring fell aside, and I saw the vulnerability he tried to keep hidden. Empathy swept my feelings, as well as a startling awareness that Afton McCabe, whether he wanted it or not, owned a piece of my heart."

Set in 1901, River of Our Return takes the reader on a journey of life and death, from the dangers of the wilderness to the menace of civilization, and ultimately on a journey of the heart. END

About the Author:

Gladys Smith taught in rural schools for thirty-one years before she became a writer. Her novel River of Our Return won the coveted Willa Cather Literary Award in 1999. She repeated her success when Deliverance Valley won the 2004 Willa Cather. She lives in Montana with her husband John, three Labrador retrievers, and a host of wild birds.

Über diese Auflage

• ISBN 10: 0759503079
• ISBN 13: 9780759503076
• Einband: Hardcover