River Sing Me Home

By: Eleanor Shearer

Narrated by: Debra Michaels, Eleonor Shearer

A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • This beautiful redemptive story of a mother’s gripping journey across the Caribbean to find her stolen children and piece her family back together is a “celebration of motherhood and female resilience” (The Observer).

Named One of Time’s 100 Must-Read Books of 2023 • A Dayton Literary Peace Prize Finalist

“A powerful novel that explores how freedom and family are truly defined”—Marie Benedict, New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Personal Librarian

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 children—the 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.

©2023 Eleanor Shearer (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Shearer’s dynamic debut… weaves together a historical accounting of the perils of British emancipation with a moving interrogation of what freedom really means." —Time

"[A] gripping novel about the resilience of a mother’s love.” —People

“A powerful novel that explores how freedom and family are truly defined.” —Marie Benedict, New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Personal Librarian

Welcome to perseverance

Heartfelt story. Empowering women of all colors. Welcome to perseverance would be a great title too.

Inspiring and beautiful

Eloquently written and a story that should not be forgotten. Precious children were stolen from their families. A mother’s love will ensure a reunion against all perils. Thank you for the beautiful story especially now when history is being hidden from our children.

A heartbreakingly beautiful story

I was deeply touched by the characters and the story line. It is well written and well narrated.

Just learned a piece of our history

This was a sad and sweet story depicting the strength of island women. Realizing I quite liked the setting.

Beautifully Written

I was instantly captivated by the depth of the characters and invested in this mother’s search for her children. The narrator does a phenomenal job of making this story real. Unforgettable!

Incredible!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

THIS. WAS. INCREDIBLE!! The writing was poetic, the story powerful, about Rachel an enslaved woman’s journey to find her stolen children after emancipation in the Caribbean. Parts were brutal and uncomfortable, but a beautiful story about a mother’s love and a people’s will to survive.

Amazing

This was a piece of history I never knew. This is such a beautiful story of a mother’s love.

An epic journey fueled by a mother’s love

I really enjoyed reading the story of Rachel and her quest to find her lost/stolen children. The author did a great job detailing the experiences, emotions and strengths of the heroine. I appreciate that she kept it real by detailing the hard fact that not all made it to the other side of slavery and some questions may never be answered.

The title of this book fits it perfectly.

This was such a beautiful book. The author gracefully bridges the character’s feelings, thoughts, and emotions to the reader’s understanding. River Sing me Home flows like the river featured in the book, it’s saddening, maddening, frightful, but ultimately redeeming. Although it’s an easy read, I think it’s best read by a more mature audience that can appreciate the spoken and unspoken words of this book and use it to better understand how ‘freedom’ looks different for us all.

Another history lesson that I was never taught about slavery and the Caribbbean

The characters, especially Rachel, had me living through their experiences with them.
The book was well written and the authors epilogue was powerful.