A mother can never be free until she finds her children...
A soaring novel inspired by true events. The Good Morning America Book Club Pick February 2023.
Mary Grace, Micah, Thomas Augustus, Cherry Jane and Mercy.
These are the names of her children. The five who survived, only to be sold to other plantations. The faces Rachel cannot forget.
It's 1834, and the law says her people are now free. But for Rachel freedom means finding her children, even if the truth is more than she can bear.
With fear snapping at her heels, Rachel keeps moving. From sunrise to sunset, through the cane fields of Barbados to the forests of British Guiana and on to Trinidad, to the dangerous river and the open sea.
Only once she knows their stories can she rest. Only then can she finally find home.
About the Author
Eleanor Shearer is a mixed-race writer and the granddaughter of Windrush generation immigrants. She splits her time between London and Ramsgate so that she never has to go too long without seeing the sea. For her Master's degree in Politics at the University of Oxford, Eleanor studied the legacy of slavery and the case for reparations. Her fieldwork was in St. Lucia and Barbados. The inspiration for River Sing Me Home came to Eleanor after she discovered a tiny footnote in an exhibition she was attending about the Windrush. Mothers in slavery in the British colonies lived in constant fear of their children being sold. When the Slavery Abolition Act came in in the 1830s, it didn't mean freedom, so many mothers went in search of their lost children.
Industry Reviews
'A strong and beautiful novel that stares into the face of brutality and the heart of love' - Jeanette Winterson
'An intense, absorbing debut, concerned with the power and persistence of maternal love' - The Sunday Times
'Eleanor Shearer is a remarkable writer' - Natasha Lester
'Magnificent and epic. A story about love and the power it brings us' - Frank Cottrell-Boyce
'Like the River of its title, this novel sings. I was riveted by Rachel's story and I felt every fraught element of her journey. A beautiful debut' - Cherie Jones
'A powerful story, beautifully told' - Moor
'A stunning debut with poetic language and real characters that lock themselves in your heart' - Sadeqa Johnson
'Immersive. A tender exploration of one woman's courage in the face of unbelievable cruelty. The heart of the novel lies in its celebration of motherhood and female resilience' - Observer
'The compelling premise of a mother in search of her children powers a moving and dynamic novel' - Guardian
'Action-packed, the novel paints an extraordinary portrait of motherly love and hope' - Daily Mail
'A powerful, gripping novel about the strength of a mother's love' Red - The best books of January 2023
'Full of love and compassion, this will be everywhere next year' - Stylist - Pick of the big fiction books for 2023
'Powerful, moving and lyrical' - Woman & Home
'It slices you open, lays out your parts, reassembles them and knits you back up again. A powerful account of love, loss, defiance... Breathtaking' - Chikodili Emelumadu
