The River Witch Paperback – April 6, 2012

This is a story of healing, when healing seems so far away as to be impossible. It is also a story of love, kindness, and self-forgiveness, for without self-forgiveness, healing would not happen.I really got involved in this story. At times, it is difficult to separate life in the book and life as I could easily imagine it. I grew up in northern Michigan, about as far north as you can get in Michigan. I found a few parts in the book to be difficult to understand, the story takes place in the southern United States, and some of what makes the southern United States southern is difficult to understand for a northerner. However, I found the story well written, with good explanations throughout the book. I very much disliked Damascus's father, he is everything I dislike about the male parent raising a daughter. At the same time, I could identify with him, since I raised my daughter as a single father.I hope one of the goals of the author in writing this book is to help spread southern wisdom. I thoroughly enjoyed the parts of the book about the people of the south, along with some of the customs observed. There is just enough explanation to leave the reader wanting more.Since I did like this book, I will recommend it to all who enjoy a tender tale of love, without much romance. It is a wonderful book to read, without the usual violence, crime, and vampires of today. I will look forward to the authors next book. This is just what one needs to allow the imagination to wander without getting lost.

One of my favourite authors, Alma Katsu, recommended this book a while ago, and upon reflection, I can see why she did. The River Witch did not turn out quite the way I expected it to (for which I am very grateful), and while I feel the novel could have benefited from having its various arcs tightened, it will nonetheless stay with me for a long time.Roslyn Byrne is a broken women, an ex-ballerina fallen from grace who's suffered an accident and a miscarriage--all of which have conspired to drive her into seclusion. When she rents a house in Manny's Island it is to find healing and a fresh current for her own life. While this is the ultimate result of her sojourn, she also plays a massive part in the lives of the family there. At times I felt she verged on being wangsty and overly self-indulgent in her misery; other times she came across as a bit of a manipulative busy body. I'll be honest and say I personally didn't like her at all, but I enjoyed watching her find her feet as she is a compelling narrator.Damascus lost her mother at a young age, and her father Urey has been distant, leaving much of her upbringing in the hands of her aunt Ivy. All she has left of her mother is an envelope containing pumpkin seeds (those giant ones) and all throughout one summer, she focuses on growing these massive pumpkins in order to find some closure (and direction) in her own young life. She's a confused, angry young person, but her quiet determination to grow her pumpkins hinted at a resilience and a strength of character beyond the ordinary. Some powerful imagery just there.Roslyn is renting the old family home where Damascus and her father used to live, and the girl is drawn there and enters a complicated, almost mother-daughter relationship, with Roslyn. Urey is a ghost who hovers at the edges of their lives, somewhat threatening, but also tragic, for his inability to provide an emotional connection with those close to him in the aftermath of his wife's death.Brock's voice is rich and textured. She weaves a wonderful, tactile world with a wealth of imagery; it's easy to immerse oneself in Manny's Island and be reluctant to leave. Her description of The Sacred Harp music was fascinating, and led me to do further research into an American cultural tradition I'd never heard of before (go look up the music, there are plenty of fascinating resources online). Magic underpins the milieu, always suggesting that there might be more to the story than one initially expects--haunting; downright eerie at times.Ultimately this is a story about coming to terms with one's past, and also people's expectations and finding one's own identity, perhaps despite what one thought of others' expectations. It's a coming of age story, and a tale of personal alchemy. It's about accepting the past but not being shackled by it. It's about burying one's dead and finding a fresh current. It's about finding one's identity. It's about taking a definite step. The River Witch is rich in symbolism of growth, rebirth and harvesting, and running through it is the inexorable flow of a river. Perhaps to try to look too deeply into this story is to rob it of meaning, and I suspect each of you who go on to reading The River Witch will take with you something slightly different from the telling.

The River Witch by Kimberly Brock was pure listening pleasure. I loved the story woven throughout and the narrator, Alison Edwards, was amazing. I know I would have loved this novel in print as well but the narrator simply brought this story to life for me. The River Witch is a haunting Southern story with a touch of the magical; it is a story of a woman once broken who learns to find herself again through others — simply beautiful.Twenty-four year old Roslyn used to be a professional ballet dancer. It was all she knew and how she identified herself until the day it all ended in a tragic car accident…and then a miscarriage. Roslyn is more broken than she has ever been and can’t imagine a way out of all the grief and despair she is feeling. She retreats to Manny’s Island in Georgia and it is there that she discovers a land haunted by the past, a child as lost as she herself is, and ultimately hope for the future.Roslyn escapes to the island for peace and quiet. All she wants is to be left alone and try to recover from all that has gone wrong in her life. Yet it seems that peace and quiet is the last thing she’ll get once she meets ten-year-old Damascus. Damascus is a fiesty young girl and with her comes a wealth of things like alligators, a little crazy magical goings on, and a pumpkin patch that holds more for this little girl than Roslyn could ever imagine. The most important thing that Damascus brings even though she can be quite the handful is that spark of life and love that becomes ignited in Roslyn once again.Kimberly writes in such a beautiful way that her words take you away to another place – a place where you feel sure you are walking in her character’s shoes. The lush descriptions of the land made me wish I was there walking along the riverbank and hearing the music float through the mist. I loved all of the characters but my favorites were Roslyn and Damascus and the special friendship that they formed. Both woman and girl were broken and both needed each other and through that came hope. This is a beautiful novel that I will revisit again in the future by listening to the audio once again. It is a story that will stay with me for a long while and I would most definitely rank it as one of my favorite novels this year!

A gorgeous, rich and sensual book, beautifully written.A story of ghosts, magic, regret and love.Haunted me for months. Absolutely loved it!

Good book, hard to put it down..