Go As A River by Shelley Read is a coming-of-age story. Torie Nash is a young girl who inexplicably falls in love with a young man, who helped her home, when she hurt her ankle.
That's it.
A chance encounter and she interiorly commits herself to this idea of love with Wilson Moon. Also, inexplicably, he must have had the same feelings because he doesn't leave town, although everyone there hates him--worse, they're out to get him.
I was surprised by the prejudice against Indians. Will is Indian and that's why everyone hates him. Everyone except Torie. I always thought it was a point of pride to be Indian or have some Indian in your family. I guess not always. At least, not in Colorado.
Will hides out in Torie's neighbor's house, where they meet and she gets pregnant. Torie's family thinks like the town's people, and she knows her family would reject her, never mind Will and their baby. In fact, Torie's brother, Seth, brutally kills Will.
Torie takes off and and has her baby in a deserted cabin, in the woods. Again, inexplicably, on her way home, she leaves her baby with a couple are picnicking.
The rest of the book is about the baby growing up and Torie's carrying on in the family's peach farming business.
I found the plot improbable but the writing was so beautiful that I carried on reading the book, just like a river goes on and on, just like the title, Go As A River.
