The Longest River

By: Hildred Billings

Narrated by: Sara Morsey

High in the mountains of central Japan, there's a town that makes it official business to invite in a host of spirits every summer....

Helen's twin sister has drowned. After 60 years of relying on each other, Helen must now learn to not only work through her grief, but to embrace a life without the only person who ever mattered.

Fate brings her to Gujo, a secluded Japanese village that's not only stuck in time, but is reliant on the unpredictable Nagara River, a reminder of Helen's grief. Between this unhappy circumstance and being completely lost in a culture not her own, she could really use a friend....

Enter Kiyoko, the introverted bookstore owner. Kiyoko has not only made peace with her husband's death a decade ago, but with Gujo, a town she has called home for over 30 years.

When Helen and Kiyoko meet, it feels like fate. A fate awash in the tears of grief and the flowing river that won't let sleeping ghosts go. With the obon spirit season afoot, it's only a matter of time before the dead begin their meddling and attempt to set these would-be lovebirds on a path they both claim to not need. It's going to be one Hell of a summer.

©2016, 2017 Barachou Press (P)2017 Barachou Press

Some of my favorite subjects told really well

I very much enjoyed the both the story and the narration. Japan as seen and discovered through the eyes of a first-time (and ignorant) visitor was very interesting, as well older women as main characters. Very well done, please more lesbian book like this!

West Meets East

An unlikely romance between two women who were separated by an ocean. Helen is mourning the loss of her twin sister and travels to Japan to heal. Kiyoko lives in Gujo and runs a small bookstore. She’s the only English speaker in town and stills mourns the loss of her husband ten years ago. Fate has a new life in store for them and ghosts push them together. Great performance and story. Recommend.