Go as a River

Go as a River by Shelley Read

Victoria Nash lives in the rural mountainous Iola, Colorado where her family has managed to produce peaches in the inhospitable climate. Her family is not without challenges. Her mother was killed in an accident. Her brother is an alcoholic with a temper. She lives a fairly isolated life on the farm. Then one day she meets a strange Native American who asks for directions. They sense an attraction, but don't act on it. Her brother (drunk) sees them and tries to "protect" his sister. The stranger ends up protecting her instead, this sewing the seeds of love. She ends up getting pregnant and the brother is involved in the death of her boyfriend. She is distraught and flees to the wilderness. She barely manages to live off the land and eventually gives birth on her own. She is on the brink of starvation. One day, she notices a young couple with picnicking with an infant. She secretly places her baby in the car. The couple end up adopting this baby as their own.

The novel then covers the travails as she returns to life. Her brother has been "cast out" of town due to her involvement with the murder. Her father is near the end of his life. She ends up with the orchard. The government plans on building a dam that will inundate Iola in the Blue Mesa reservoir. Victoria sells out (to the chagrin of her neighbors.) She also contacts a university to help relocating the peach trees. She eventually moves on to a new town with the trees and makes a friend. She has been reluctant to share her story with anyone. However, she does go to the place where she abandoned her child to place a rock there every year. One year she sees a "peach rock", and holds out hope of reuniting. Many years later, she sees a note there with a history of her son.

After much prodding and sharing by her friend, Victoria reaches out to the "adoptive" mother. They each had sad stories to share.  (There seem to be an abundance of anger-impulsive male characters in this female-driven story.) We learn the other side of the story, and have a number of tear-jerkers before a reunion is arranged, the results of which are up to our imagination. Victoria is perhaps too strong-willed. She is ready to take everything upon herself without sharing with others. However, by finally opening up, she can achieve more than she otherwise could on her own.