River Sing Me Home cover art

River Sing Me Home

A powerful, uplifting novel of a remarkable journey to find family, inspired by true events

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River Sing Me Home

By: Eleanor Shearer
Narrated by: Debra Michaels
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About this listen

 Powerful, moving and redemptive, RIVER SING ME HOME tells of a mother's desperate search to find her stolen children and her freedom.

We whisper the names of the ones we love like the words of a song. That was the taste of freedom to us, those names on our lips.

Mary Grace, Micah, Thomas Augustus, Cherry Jane and Mercy.

These are the names of her children. The five who survived, only to be sold to other plantations. The faces Rachel cannot forget.

It's 1834, and the law says her people are now free. But for Rachel freedom means finding her children, even if the truth is more than she can bear.

With fear snapping at her heels, Rachel keeps moving. From sunrise to sunset, through the cane fields of Barbados to the forests of British Guiana and on to Trinidad, to the dangerous river and the open sea.

Only once she knows their stories can she rest.

Only then can she finally find home.

(P) 2023 Headline Publishing Group Ltd©2023 Eleanor Shearer Caribbean Creators Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Motherhood Parenting & Families Relationships Caribbean

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Critic reviews

Every once in a while, a book comes along that is so assured and so powerful you can't believe it's a debut novel. RIVER SING ME HOME is just such a book . . . Eleanor Shearer is a remarkable writer and she brings this story of a mother's courage to the page with compassion, tenderness and pitch-perfect prose (Natasha Lester, New York Times bestselling author of The Riviera House)
An extraordinary odyssey of pain, love, and homecoming . . . RIVER SING ME HOME is a haunting and powerful debut (Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Diamond Eye)
A strong and beautiful novel that stares into the face of brutality and the heart of love (Jeanette Winterson)
Epic and lyrical, a story about love and the power it brings us (Frank Cottrell-Boyce)
A searing debut full of love, loss, and the shadows of the past . . . Heartbreaking, hopeful, and unforgettable. Both a powerful ode to the endless depths of a mother's love and an important meditation on what freedom really means, this is the kind of book that will stay with readers for years to come (Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author)
An extraordinary and gripping debut. Rachel's love for her children resonates through each page as she fights for her freedom and theirs. A must-read! (Chanel Cleeton)
A powerful story, beautifully told. Shearer skilfully depicts the cruelty of the British slave trade, contrasted with one mother's indomitable love for her children, and her burning will to live. An empathic, elegantly rendered and deeply humane novel (Jessica Moor)
A powerful novel that explores how freedom and family are truly defined (Marie Benedict, New York Times bestselling co-author of The Personal Librarian)
RIVER SING ME HOME is a masterclass in how to speak of unspeakable things. A beautiful read (Meg Clothier)
RIVER SING ME HOME slices you open . . . and knits you back up again. A powerful account of love, loss, defiance and the lengths to which a mother will go in order to make herself and her family whole again. Breathtaking (Chikodili Emelumadu)
Lyrical, heartbreaking, thought-provoking . . . A book about love, motherhood and survival that will stay with you long after you've finished it' (Costanza Casati)
I absolutely loved this book and Eleanor Shearer's lyrical prose kept me gripped as the story moved from Barbados to Demerara and Trinidad . . . a beautifully written debut (Stacey Thomas)
Propulsive . . . This compelling premise of a mother in search of her children powers a moving and dynamic novel. The pacing is swift, and Shearer writes in clear, energetic prose. There is an accessibility to the language that is refreshing; it buoys the narrative, giving us intimate access to a complex period in history
All stars
Most relevant
Such a beautifully written book conveying the hardships endured, and the lengths a mother will go to, to put her fractured family back together in the aftermath of slavery. The narration as well is fantastic, I couldn't recommend this book more.

A must-read

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This is a fantastic book, a hard listen at times but so inspiring and heartbreaking in equal measure. It is incredibly thought provoking and powerfully evokes the strength and power of a mother’s love. The narration is superb. The last chapter had me gripped with anxiety and hope. As Rachel points out, love is the one thing no-one can take from you. Loved the author’s note at the end.

Heartbreaking, inspiring

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Incredible story-telling, with true heart. The author has given everything to this work and it’s absolutely remarkable. Devastating and uplifting, in equal measure.

Remarkable

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beautifully written story with vivid imagery as well as being incredibly moving and engaging and the performance was outstanding. An important read/listen.

a beautiful story filled with heart ache and hope

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Cannot recommend this book enough, a beautifully written story with historical, hard truths we all need to learn.

Great view into a period on time

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