Book review: Three Rivers Rising by Jame Richards

Three Rivers Rising by Jame Richards (Published by Knopf, April 13, 2010)

It is the summer of 1888 when Celestia Whitcomb first meets Peter, who works at the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club in Pennsylvania. Celestia, her older sister Estrella, and their parents are spending their summer on vacation at the club along with many other wealthy members of society. Celestia and Peter become close friends, and their friendship turns to love. It is a romance that if discovered could lead to Celestia becoming an outcast from proper society. Events abruptly separate them, but they secretly keep their love alive and hope to reunited.

At the start of the following summer, Celestia and her father return to the club. Celestia's father wants her to marry a man she can never love, and she is desperate to escape. She decides to go to Johnstown, where Peter lives. At the same time, Kate, a young nursing school graduate, is traveling to her new job, while Maura, a young wife and mother whose husband is a railroad engineer, cares for her young children in their home nearby. None are aware of the disaster and tragedy they will soon witness when the poorly maintained dam at the club breaks, unleashing a flood upon Johnstown.

Three Rivers Rising is a very quick and enjoyable read that I could not put down. It is written in verse, and I haven’t read many novels written in this format, but it worked well for the story. I liked how the multiple narrators were included to show different perspectives on the events, although my favorite story was that of Celestia and Peter. Their love for each other was very sweet. And as a fan of historical fiction I loved the interesting historical setting of the story. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys young adult novels with a mix of romance, history, and adventure.

Waiting on Wednesday: Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill

Wicked Girls: A Novel of the Salem Witch Trials by Stephanie Hemphill (Published by HarperCollins, June 29, 2010)

Wicked Girls is a fictionalized account of the Salem witch trials based on the real historical characters, told from the perspective of three young women living in Salem in 1692—Mercy Lewis, Margaret Walcott, and Ann Putnam Jr.
When Ann’s father suggests that a spate of illnesses within the village is the result of witchcraft, Ann sees an opportunity and starts manifesting the symptoms of affliction. Ann looks up to Mercy, the beautiful servant in her parents' house. She shows Mercy the power that a young girl is capable of in a time when women were completely powerless. Mercy, who suffered abuse at the hands of past masters, seizes her only chance at safety. And Ann’s cousin Margaret, anxious to win the attention of a boy in her sights, follows suit. As the accusations mount against men and women in the community, the girls start to see the deadly ramifications of their actions. Should they finally tell the truth? Or is it too late to save this small New England town?


I love historical fiction, and the American Colonial era is one of my favorite settings. Plus I enjoyed some other books set during the Salem Witch Trials that I enjoyed - A Break With Charity by Ann Rinaldi, Time of the Witches by Anna Myers, and Dear America: I Walk in Dread. So I think I will enjoy this book as well.

In My Mailbox - 11/14/09

Credit goes to The Story Siren for thinking up the In My Mailbox feature.

Here are the new books I bought or received this week:

Three Rivers Rising by Jame Richards

Sixteen-year-old Celestia spends every summer with her family at the elite resort at Lake Conemaugh, a shimmering Allegheny Mountain reservoir held in place by an earthen dam. Tired of the society crowd, Celestia prefers to swim and fish with Peter, the hotel’s hired boy. It’s a friendship she must keep secret, and when companionship turns to romance, it’s a love that could get Celestia disowned. These affairs of the heart become all the more wrenching on a single, tragic day in May, 1889. After days of heavy rain, the dam fails, unleashing 20 million tons of water onto Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in the valley below. The town where Peter lives with his father. The town where Celestia has just arrived to join him. This searing novel in poems explores a cross-class romance—and a tragic event in U. S. history.


A Measure of Mercy by Lauraine Snelling

Eighteen-year-old Astrid Bjorklund has always dreamed of becoming a doctor. She had intended to study medicine in Chicago or Grand Forks, but when a disaster wiped out a major portion of her family's income, Astrid stayed home instead, receiving hands-on training from Dr. Elizabeth. Joshua Landsverk left Blessing two years ago, but he's never forgotten Astrid. Returning to town, he seeks to court her. Astrid is attracted to him, and when the opportunity unexpectedly opens for her to go to Chicago for medical training, she finds it difficult to leave. Love blossoms through their letters, but upon arriving back home, she makes a heartbreaking discovery. Will she have to give up love to pursue her dream?


Duplikate by Cherry Cheva

By the time Kate Larson accidentally fell asleep at three a.m., she'd already done more work in one night than the average high school senior does in a week. Getting into Yale has been her dream for years—and being generally overworked and totally under-rested is the price of admission. But when she opens her eyes the next day, she comes face-to-face with, well, her face—which is attached to her body, which is standing across the room. Wait, what?
Meet Kate's computer-generated twin. Kate doesn't know why she's here or how to put her back where she belongs, but she's real. And she's the last thing Kate has time to deal with right now. Unless . . .
Could having a double be the answer to Kate's prayers? After all, two Kates can do more work than one. Or will keeping her twin a secret turn her dream future into a living nightmare?

Waiting on Wednesday: Courting Morrow Little by Laura Frantz

Courting Morrow Little by Laura Frantz (Published by Revell, July 1, 2010)

Morrow Little is haunted by the memory of the day her family was torn apart by raiding Shawnee warriors. Now that she is nearly a grown woman and her father is ailing, she must make difficult choices about the future. Several men--ranging from the undesired to the unthinkable--vie for her attentions, but she finds herself inexplicably drawn to a forbidden love that both terrifies and intrigues her. Can she betray the memory of her lost loved ones--and garner suspicion from her friends--by pursuing a life with him? Or should she seal her own misery by marrying a man she doesn't love? This sweeping tale of romance and forgiveness will envelop readers as it takes them from a Kentucky fort through the vast wilderness to the west in search of true love.


I love historical romances set in the Colonial era so this sounds like it will be a fantastic book, looking forward to reading it! And I love the cover, it is so pretty and one of my favorite covers for an upcoming book.

In My Mailbox - 11/7/09

Credit goes to The Story Siren for thinking up the In My Mailbox feature.

Last week I got nothing and this week I only got one book which I won from a giveaway on LibraryThing. I guess it's kind of a not very active time of year for new books to be published? Cause lately I just haven't seen many new books I want to buy in bookstores.

Emmy's Equal by Marcia Gruver

Emmy Dane doesn’t want to give up her petticoats and frills for boots and spurs when her family decides to take up ranching in South Texas. Diego Marcelo’s mother tells him God will soon deliver him from his loneliness—but he assures her he has no need of deliverance . . .that is, until Emmy disrupts the entire way of life at the ranch. Can Diego put his jealousy aside before time runs out? And will Emmy admit she’s found her match in the stubborn foreman?

Waiting on Wednesday: No Moon by Irene N. Watts

No Moon by Irene N. Watts (Published by Tundra Books, April 13, 2010)

Louisa Gardener is the fourteen-year-old nursemaid to the young daughters of a wealthy, titled family living in London, England, in 1912.
Despite the bullying Nanny Mackintosh, for whom she is an extra pair of hands, she loves her work and her young charges. Then everything changes. The family decides to sail to New York aboard the Titanic. An accident to the children's nanny, only days prior to the sailing, means that Louisa must go in her stead. She cannot refuse, although she dreads even the mention of the ocean. Memories she has suppressed, except in nightmares, come crowding back.
When Louisa was five and her sister seven years old, their two-year-old brother died on an outing to the seaside. Since that time, Louisa has had a fear of the ocean. She blames herself for the accident, though she has been told it wasn't her fault.
If Louisa refuses to go on the voyage, she will be dismissed, and she will never get beyond the working-class life she has escaped from.
How Louisa learns self-reliance, overcomes her fears, and goes beyond what is expected of a girl makes No Moon an unforgettable story.


I enjoyed a couple other books I read by this author, and I usually like historical fiction about the Titanic, so I am looking forward to this book. It sounds a bit like the Dear America book about the Titanic which I read and enjoyed years ago, which was also about a working-class girl who travelled in first class on the Titanic as a servant to a wealthy family.

In My Empty Mailbox

For those wondering, there will be no IMM from me this week because I didn't get any books for review, nothing I ordered arrived in the mail (yay slow post office), and I didn't see anything to buy at the bookstore.

Oh well, better luck next week I suppose.