'Shelley Read's lyrical voice is a force of nature. Tragic, uplifting and completely unforgettable' BONNIE GARMUS, author of LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY'A lush, beautiful, strong book. It took me on such a transformative life journey. I could not put it down' CLOVER STROUD____________________I've come to understand how the exceptional lurks beneath the ordinary like the deep and mysterious world beneath the seaOn a cool autumn morning, Torie Nash heads into her village pulling a rickety wagon filled with late-season peaches. As she nears an intersection, a mysterious drifter with grimy thumbs and smudged cheeks and eyes as dark as a raven's wing stops to ask her the way.She could turn left or cross over. But she does not. Her heart skips a beat as he whispers, 'Go as a river.'So begins a mezmerising story that unfolds over a tumultuous lifetime as Torie begins to absorb and follow his words.Soon, she will gather all the pieces of her small and extraordinary life, spin through the eddies of desire, heartbreak and betrayal, and arrive at a single rocky decision that will change her life for ever.Completely spellbinding, vivid, and luminous' JANE GREEN'Go As a River delivers so very much: the tenderness and curiosity of young love, the eternal pangs of loss, the brutality of racism, the sustaining power of nature and the miracle of a mother's love. Suffused with wisdom and compassion, this shattering testimony to life must be savored, treasured, shared' MEG WAITE CLAYTON, author of The Postmistress of Paris