I finished River Sing me home by Eleanor Shearer just in time for Read Caribbean month and it’s definitely a book that surprised me. In this post, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on it.
Synopsis
“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.”
My thoughts
I listened to this as I read – so I’m not sure if that played a role in how much I enjoyed it. River sing me home is set in Barbados, Trinidad, British Guiana over a span of one year, It’s a deeply moving story of Rachel, a woman who runs from a plantation in Barbados shortly after the king decreed an end to slavery, trying to find all her five stolen children. With each child she finds, it gets so emotional. She hears about their lives – moments she missed. River sing me home is a story of a mother’s journey to freedom. Although the freedom here felt bittersweet. The author writes so beautifully in a way that draws you in and makes you connect to her characters deeply. I definitely recommend this if you’re looking to pick up a Caribbean book.
Themes explored – Motherhood, Family, Loss, Grief, Slavery.
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