Review of What the River Keeps

More About What the River Keeps

Hildy Nybo is a successful biologist, her study of the Pacific Northwest’s wild fish

both a passion and a career. But behind her professional brilliance, Hildy’s reclusive

private life reflects a childhood fraught with uncertainty. Haunted by the confusion of

her early years, she now records her life in detailed diaries and clings to memory-

prompting keepsakes.

Then her mother’s health fails, and Hildy accepts a job near her childhood home,

joining a team of scientists who will help restore her beloved Elwha River after two

century-old dams fall. There Hildy settles into a cabin on her family’s rustic resort—a

place she both loves and dreads, for reasons she can’t fully explain.

When a local artist rents an adjacent cabin for her pottery studio, Hildy resists the

intrusion—until intriguing Luke Rimmer arrives to help with the cabin’s renovation.

Now a few years beyond a tragedy that brought him to his knees, Luke recognizes a

kindred soul in Hildy. As he earns her trust, they uncover her mysterious history, and

Hildy dares to wonder if she can banish her shadows—and follow her river’s course to

freedom.

More About Cheryl Grey Bostrom

A keen student of the natural world and the workings of the human heart, Pacific Northwest author Cheryl Grey Bostrom captures the mystery and wonder of both in her lyrical, surprising fiction.

Her novels Sugar Birds (Christy finalist, Amazon bestseller, and Book of the Year) and Leaning on Air have won more than two dozen industry honors, among which are CT’s Fiction Award of Merit and American Fiction, Reader’s Favorite, ACFW Carol, Nautilus, Best Book, Foreword Indies, and International Book Awards. Cheryl's newest work of contemporary women’s fiction, What the River Keeps, was released August 12.

An avid birder and nature photographer, Cheryl lives in rural Washington State with her husband and a pack of half-trained Gordon setters.

You can follow the author at:

Website: https://CherylBostrom.com

Birds in the Hand (blog): https://cherylgreybostrom.substack.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cgbostrom/ and

https://www.facebook.com/cherylgreybostrom/

IG: @cherylgreybostrom https://www.instagram.com/cherylgreybostrom/

Thoughts About What the River Keeps

What impressed me most about the characters of What the River Keeps is that they all had problems lurking in their pasts but there were no quick fixes. No job, love interest or small success was going to magically transform them. They were real people who continued to fight against their best interests (as we so often do). Discoveries may have brought knowledge but not always peace. There was no straight path to a happy ending. That is what I loved best about this book - characters acting like real people.

But a close second was the amazing descriptions of the Pacific Northwest. If I was an artist, I would sit down and begin painting scenes from this book. Despite never being west of the Mississippi, Bostrom's language is so detailed I felt I could draw the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. It was more than describing what a character saw as they looked off toward the horizon. I could feel the wind, hear the water. I cannot stress how much I enjoyed these descriptions.

Follow Along the WOW Blog Tour

Read my interview with the author and learn more about her other stops on the tour HERE.