This book. This beautiful, beautiful book. I saw 2 or 3 posts online from book friends exclaiming their love for this book. I was intrigued.

The gorgeous cover adorned a single peach still clinging to its branch of green leaves. I will admit that cover art, while often catches my eye for a moment, is not something I find will cause me to be drawn more or less to a book. But before I even read the blurb, I found myself studying the image that was both behind and in front of the title. I used my phone to zoom in on the peach that contains a fuzzy image of a person peering out at a river in a canyon. Was it a woman? A man? I wasn't sure. I looked closer at the river and landscape and I just knew, this was a book about Colorado, my home. And I fell in love with the cover.

Go as a River is a sweeping historical fiction coming-of-age novel that takes place in western Colorado in the now extinct town of Iola. I did know that there were towns that had been swallowed up by the creation of the Grand Mesa Reservoir, but I really didn't know much more than that. We meet young Torie Nash, later going by Victoria, a teen in a household of men who is still deeply mourning the loss of her mother, aunt and cousin. She is running pretty much everything on the family peach farm in Iola, Nash Peaches, from cooking and cleaning to helping with farm work and selling peaches in the stand. One day she has a short but powerful run-in with Wilson Moon, a drifter from tribal lands. What could have been just that, a chance encounter, instead changes everything.

That is all I am going to say about the story itself as I just don't want to spoil a single thing. I want you to have the same opportunity I did to meet these unforgettable characters on your own terms. And on my own terms, I did. I find myself to be a fairly fast reader. It is not unusual for me to finish a book in a day or two. But not with Go as a River. I slowed it way down. I regularly found myself closing my kindle at the end of a chapter, getting up off the couch and engaging in a mindless task while just thinking about Victoria's story. I read every single word of every single sentence with intention. I have to admit I am having a hard time understanding how this is a debut novel by author Shelley Read. Each sentence was expertly crafted with each word flowing towards the next like the river that it follows throughout the story. And Victoria's voice! Shelley Read has managed to seamlessly incorporate Victoria's voice of the present, the future and the past all in one. We flip back and forth through time without the trendy voice change chapter breaks that have become the norm. She instead expertly crafts a story that we learn everything at once as she weaves her tale. Go as a River is some of the most beautiful writing that I have encountered.

Lastly, Colorado. I do believe that my friends and family that love Colorado as much as I do will be drawn even closer to this book. From my friend that lived on a peach farm in Palisade to those that have hiked among the peaks and passes mentioned; this is a love letter to Colorado from a 5th generation Coloradan. Those that live here will recognize and love many of the mentions within the pages. There is something about reading a book that you are familiar with the setting - you can actually see the landscape in your mind and it becomes much clearer beyond words what has occurred. The sacrifices, the struggles, the successes are so realistic because there is a deep understanding of how that would actually look or play out.

So did I love this book? Yes. Five big beautiful stars. I think there is a good possibility that I just read my #1 book of the year in January.

Thank you to NetGalley, Shelley Read and Spiegel & Grau for an advance e-copy in exchange for my honest review. Go as a River will be published on 2/28/2023.

Historical fiction isn’t my normal thing, but I’ll throw one in the mix now and then. When I got an email telling me I was pre-approved for this, I looked at some blurbs and decided it was time to venture out of my normal genres again.

I’m not falling all over myself about this, but I did like how it turned out. I liked the last half a lot more than the first—which was a real agony-fest—and I enjoyed the writing (more the vivid descriptions of nature and the connection Victoria felt to it than the emotional melodrama [the scene with Abel the horse made me roll my eyes pretty hard, since I felt like I’d seen it a million times before in movies and other books]).

I think this will appeal most to historical fiction fans and people who enjoy prettily-phrased descriptive writing.

One word - wow! I absolutely loved this book - from the gorgeous cover to the writing to the storyline. Hard to believe it’s a debut novel! It’s a beautiful sweeping saga comparable to those written by Kristin Hannah and Delia Owens. The story takes place in Colorado beginning in the 1940’s and taking us all the way up to the Vietnam War. We are introduced to the main character, Victoria “Torie” Nash as a young teen living on a peach farm with her father, brother and uncle taking care of all the household chores after her mother tragically passes away. She lives a fairly isolated life until a chance meeting with Wilson Moon, a Native American teen who is not much older than her and homeless. Their relationship blooms and while it consumes the two of them it is also dangerous because of Wilson’s ethnicity. Suffice it to say what happens to Torie shapes the course of the rest of her life as time after time she has to draw on her inner strength, courage and resilience.
I can’t wait to recommend this when it comes out to the public. I predict it will be a bestseller!
Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review the advanced readers copy of this book.

What an amazing debut novel. I absolutely loved everything about this beautifully written historical fiction novel. It is similar to Where the Crawdads Sing but with different twists and is based in a real life town that no longer exists.
Victoria Nash’s life changes forever with a chance meeting in her hometown of Iola, CO. Her life until then is full of loneliness caring for her grieving father and cruel brother and uncle on their peach farm overlooking the river. Circumstances lead her away from her home and she is forced to make difficult decisions surviving on her own.
I especially loved the author’s descriptions of the Colorado wilderness. I felt like I could breathe in the mountain air and feel the cold water of the river. It also made me crave a fresh, sweet Nash peach.
I did not want this book to end and I believe this author is going to be one to watch in the future.
Thank you to NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau for an advanced copy.

Wow, this debut novel blew me away with beautifully written words and the emotions it stirred inside my heart.

“My secret tickled at my insides as if I had swallowed a spiraling feather”. Victoria Nash is just a teenager in the 1940’s, but she runs the household on her family’s peach farm in Colorado. Go as a river is a coming of age story about love and loss, resiliency and the meaning of finding home.

The story pulled me in immediately with such vivid details of the Colorado landscape. It also pulled at my heartstrings as I rooted for Victoria all the way to the end. If you enjoy stories about family, friendships and freedom from past mistakes, read this debut novel!

I received an electronic advanced reader copy from publishers Spiegel and Grau and Netgalley Thank you for the opportunity to preview this poignant debut novel.

“A woman is more than a vessel meant to carry babies and grief.”

I am crying in public because thats where i had the bad luck of finishing this absolutely beautiful book.

Victoria Nash, the daughter of the only peach farmer in Iola, Colorado, is bound to a house of men-broken by war and work and love, when she meets a Wilson Moon- a boy who changes the course of her life forever. Iola is flooded and lost beneath the blue mesa resevior, and victoria is born away by life but haunted by what was left behind, and what might still be hers.

More than romance, more than a family drama, more than time and progress...this book was just so much about love, and what this someone to the world and life. It was so beautifully written and i just loved it so so so so much.

Thank you a million #netgalley for giving me this book.

This was such a beautifully written book. It tells the story of Victoria, who is dealt a bad hand in life. She loses her Mom, older brother and beloved Aunt and is left with her awful brother and her Dad and takes the role of caregiver on their peach farm. She works hard but wants more than the small minded thinking of others around her. The minute she meets Will Moon things change for her and in her. Their love is pure, simple but complicated. And sets Torie on a path she wasn't expecting. Well developed characters, beautiful writing and a book I won't forget. I think it will be on my best of list in 2023. Well done!

This novel hits some of my favorite topics – motherhood and what it means to be a woman with living with the expectations of society pressing down on them. In this story we follow Victoria Nash from her teenage years in the 1940s to later adulthood in the 1970s as she navigates her changing world on a family peach farm in Colorado. It deals with first love, tough family dynamics and the unexpected loss of a mother and cousin and what that means for Victoria’s life as the only female left on the farm.

Read’s writing is beautiful and this is one of those books that will stay with me for a long time. I will be thinking of late-picked peaches and dammed-over towns. I loved that the novel stayed with one character for most of her life and we are introduced to others as they come in and out of her life. Such a special story.

Thanks to @kellyhook.readsbooks for putting this on my reading radar, I look forward to the chat she will be hosting with the author later this year. Thanks to @netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest unbiased review. This comes out March 7, 2023.

A story of loss and love set in the Colorado wild.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this story. At first glance, it was far outside my usual reading choices. However, the cover was calling to me. My curiosity was entirely on the book. Sitting down to begin reading, I was whisked away to the Colorado wild. The story had be crying in places, and laughing in others.
While the story was enjoyable, the content is far above the level of young readers. Unfortunately, the book would not be appropriate for a school library.

This was one of the most beautifully written and transportive novels I’ve ever read. Shelley Read’s descriptions of the land and characters in Go As a River instantly immersed me into this world and allowed me to vividly imagine every person and place in the story. It starts off as a bit of a slow burn in the best way; at first the world building happens as a series of intricate memories linked to small events happening in Victoria’s (the main character) present, which proves to be an effective mechanism to establish the rich details and distinct atmosphere of the story. The pace picks up once the events begin to unfold, but doesn’t move so quickly that you can’t feel your feelings, and believe me when I tell you — you’re going to feel a lot.

Go As a River is a coming of age tale, a love story, and it’s also a contemporary Western that dances might close to being a tragedy. This story is filled with with grief, loss, and sorrow, all of it written so well that I finished this book in a single day because I could not let myself put it down until I could finally feel hope for Victoria again. Go As a River’s story is still lingering with me today; I woke up this with Victoria and Wil still heavily on my mind, their star crossed love, the events that followed.

Though the story is more contemporary, I think this book will also appeal to fans of historical fiction, as well as fans of Westerns. I couldn’t help but hear the narration in my mind as the voice of Isabel May, the actress that plays Elsa in the Western series 1883, though the time period and the premise of Go As a River is different.

It blows my mind that this is Read’s debut novel. I won’t be a bit surprised when it becomes a bestseller in 2023 and I think it’s destined to collect awards. I can’t wait to see what else this author will give us.

Go as a River by Shelley Read caught my attention because of the time period and setting - 1940's western Colorado, where a young woman runs a peach farm with the troubled men in her family after her mother's tragic death. Victoria Nash is largely ignored by said troubled men except when they need something from her. When she meets a forbidden young man and has a secret relationship with him, she is dealt more tragedy, eventually making decisions about her life and home that will change the course of her life forever.

I loved the writing style and lush descriptions of the peach farm and the natural world, which plays a big part in the story. I learned about the history of the land, as I was amazed that Iola, Colorado, along with a few other towns, was actually destroyed by the creation of the Blue Mesa Reservoir in the 1960's. The impact this had on real families is described in vivid and heart-wrenching detail. In fact, the town's destruction runs parallel to the upending of Victoria's life around the same time.

Victoria's character is described so distinctly that I ached and cheered for her in equal measure. Although she had few relationships with people, her introspection and love for the land were striking. The ending stole my heart and the beautiful language made this book a solid 5 stars.

I will recommend this to readers who like family dramas that involve nature.

Thank you to Spiegel & Grau and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Torie meets a young man only to lose him due to the prejudices of her brother and father. Tragedy causes her to make gut wrenching choices, and she gives up a part of herself. The ending is redemptive.

Set in the 1940s, a young woman, the sole woman in her family, keeps house on her family's peach farm in Colorado. When she meets and falls in love with an indigenous man, her family is not best pleased. Beautifully written, this sweeping novel follows the lovers as they experience the changes of their times - and circumstances, both wonderful and tragic. Fans of sweeping family sagas will enjoy it.

📚 Go As A River by Shelly Read
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Every once in awhile a book comes along that I know I will never forget. Go As A River is one of the best books I have ever read. It’s a story of love and loss and the Colorado wilderness. A coming of age story about a girl on peach farm in Colorado. A story about how one moment can change the entire course of your life. The little decisions that can set life changing events into motion.

“Just as a single rainstorm can erode the banks and change the course of a river, so can a single circumstance of a girl’s life erase who she was before.”

The writing in this book is stunning. I can’t believe this is Read’s debit novel. Her characters a deep and real and I connected with them from the first page. The Colorado landscape and the orchards full of peaches are their own characters brought to life by Read. Thank you to the publisher Spiegel & Grau for this advanced copy to review. Go As A River will be released on March 7th. I have no doubt it will be one of the most talked about and most loved books this year.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Spiegel & Grau for an advanced copy of this e-book.
*Pub Day March 7, 2023*

4.5 This beautiful story takes places in 1940's Colorado. 17 year old Victoria is the lone female on her family's peach orchard after her mother, aunt and favorite cousin are killed in a car accident. It is sunup to sundown to work, but life takes an interesting twist as she is walking in town and sees an interesting drifter about her age. She meets Wil Moon, who is from an Indian tribe from the Four Corners area, but she never knew which one. We follow Victoria as she makes some life changing decisions which haunt her all her life. But seeing her find her inner strength without losing the love for those who matter most. The reader wants so much for Victoria to find what is most important to her and her story plays out in this page-turner that I highly recommend.

What a moving, gorgeous book this is. The story of the life of Victoria, born and raised on a peach farm in the US is one of love, loss and resilience, and is intrinsically linked to the natural world in a lyrical way. A life full of heartbreak and yet ultimately hope and redemption, it is a beautiful read.

Gorgeous writing - beyond gorgeous. As I read other reviews, I see I’m in the minority. Although I loved the writing and the concept for the plot, I felt the pacing was off. Some areas felt slow and drawn out while the last 1/3 felt incredibly rushed. A few of the relationships, to me, seemed missing details or more information to make them full and whole. Enjoy this one for the writing - what a gift this author has. I felt like I could see the town, smell the peaches as they ripened, and hear the men come through the door for breakfast. Stunning writing.

Such a beautiful but heart-wrenching novel! This historical fiction novel contains well developed characters and amazing descriptions. Torie's story is one of great loss and great love while dealing with the decisions you make. Such a well written story that I'll definitely being recommending to others!

It's early yet in 2023, and yet I can predict that this will end up as one of my best reads of the year. A remarkable debut by Shelley Read, GO AS A RIVER tells the story of Victoria "Torrie" Nash, a young motherless women doing her best to figure out how to keep her family afloat in the wake of a tragic accident. When she meets and falls madly and immediately for the mysterious and self-assured Wilson Moon, she careens towards a new and complicated trajectory.

Following the tragedy that upends her life, Torrie becomes Victoria, and pledges to live her life as Wilson taught her - as a river. It takes decades for her to learn the true meaning of the phrase, as well as to come to terms with the decisions she's made along the way. With lyrical prose that is boldly powerful in its understated quietness, I was completely absorbed by this book. I both barely wanted to put it down and never wanted it to end. This is an enthusiastic five star read for me. Thank you to NetGalley Spiegel & Grau for the ARC.

This coming of Age Historical fiction tale takes us to a family owned Peach farm in a rural town called Iowa in Colorado in the late 1940's.Sixteen year old Tori is the only surviving female in her family.Her daily tasks are endless as she struggles with growing up in a male dominated household with a volatile brother, a grieving father and bitter uncle confined to a wheelchair after he was sent home from war.
Everything changes when Tori happens upon a young drifter,Wilson Moon, in her local town. Their connection is instant, life changing and tragic all at once. Tori finds herself in an impossible situation and must leave everything she knows in order to survive and protect her scandalous secret.

The writing of this novel is sublime and you will feel instantly transported to the beautiful landscapes of Colorado, the harsh realities of Mother Nature and all its beauty and forgiveness. I adore tales about strong resilient women and this does not dissapoint. This unique story pulls you in from the very first page and you will not want to put it down.

A tale of forbidden love, resilience, family bonds and never giving up. A mothers love is a bond that can never be broken but sometimes our choices are born of this stoic and purest of love.

This will surely be on everyones must read for 2023.


*Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Doubleday for an ARC in exchange for an honest unbiased review *