COMING JUNE 2023 from She Writes Press * Distributed to the trade by Publishers Group West
2023 BRONZE MEDAL for Historical Fiction from Independent Publisher Book Awards
2023 FINALIST for Multicultural Fiction from Next Generation Indie Book Awards
“An engaging tale that powerfully evokes a time and place in American history.”
Kirkus Reviews Full Review
“Linda Ulleseit brings together her triple-stranded narrative incredibly well to create a novel about the American frontier that is unlike anything I have encountered.” ~ Reader’s Favorite 5-star review Full Review
“Linda Ulleseit creates a powerhouse of a story that utilizes these contrasts in women’s lives to build a tale of interlinked destinies and strengths that profiles the real-world unique confluence of cultures at Fort Snelling in the 1830s. The River Remembers is a powerful work of women’s literature that ideally should be included in book club discussion groups, women’s history holdings, and libraries interested in fiction. It brings the past’s underlying motivations and realities to vivid life.”
Midwest Book Review
Three women.
Three cultures converge.
Summary
Samantha Lockwood, Day Sets, and Harriet Robinson come to Wisconsin Territory with very different backgrounds. At Fort Snelling in 1835, however, the world is changing faster than they can keep up. Samantha struggles against her father’s choices for her husband. Day Sets demands that her white husband create a school to educate their daughter. Harriet learns what it means to be a slave in a free territory. They all must find a way to direct their own future and leave a legacy for their children.
Samantha Lockwood refuses another suitor her father has chosen for her, so he banishes her to live in the territory with her brother. She is determined to find her own husband, even when her choices go awry.
Day Sets demands that her white husband create a school to educate their daughter, supporting her father’s belief that his people must learn the ways of the white man in order to ensure the tribe’s future. Until events prove her father wrong.
Harriet Robinson’s life in the territory is more like that of a free person than anywhere she’s lived. She even falls in love with Dred Scott and dreams of a life with him. But they are both enslaved, and she keeps being reminded of how little control she has over her own fate.
As their cultures collide, each of these three women must find a way to direct her own future and leave a legacy for her children.
Serve Samantha’s HONEY COOKIES to your book club!
Speaking of Book Clubs, here are some Discussion Questions for the book.
