The River Widow

By: Ann Howard Creel

Narrated by: Brittany Pressley

From the bestselling author of The Whiskey Sea comes a stirring novel of a young woman’s survival and liberation during the Great Depression.

In 1937, with flood waters approaching, Adah Branch accidentally kills her abusive husband, Lester, and surrenders his body to the raging river, only to be swept away herself.

So begins her story of survival, return to civilization, defense against accusations of murder, and the fight to save herself and her stepdaughter, Daisy, from the clutches of her husband’s notoriously cruel family, who have their sights set on revenge for Lester’s death. Essentially trapped, Adah must plan an escape.

But when she develops feelings for the one person essential to her plan’s success, she faces a painful choice: Will she choose to risk everything saving Daisy or take the new life offered by a loving man?

©2018 Ann Howard Creel. (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Dark

I’ve enjoyed other Ann Howard Creel books and find her an author capable of leaving her reader on cliffs edge with each page of her book. The River widow, although, perhaps, relatable to someone leading a similar life, was very dark to me. Rather than awesome intrigue, as I’ve felt with her other books, I felt a heavy dread throughout. More than once I thought about deleting the book from my library. Only hope for the main character kept me moving forward. I have mixed feelings about recommending this to other readers.

Very intense listen

Story was very heavy and I should have picked a better time to listen to it. There was no levity at all. No emotional relief. Performance was very good.

hoped for a different ending

it was an amazing intensely emotional book as most of Ann Howard Creel's books are, and I realize the point of the book was to show the sacrifice apparent even a stepparent will make for a child. point taken but I really wish she could have maneuvered it better into a happy ending where the man was not left brokenhearted but they all could have live together. that part was very sad. and of course life is very unfair so in that way the book was realistic. but if it's a nonfiction book I prefer a happy ending.

Well written, well performed.

The author got me heavily invested right away. She painted vivid pictures of the time period, the people, and the surroundings. An easy, engaging listen.

Kept me engaged and guessing the entire book.

This is a beautifully written story of tragedy, desire, and love. Creel's suspenseful and masterfully crafted book kept me fully engaged and guessing to the very end.