Once Upon a River: A Novel

This is a fantastic book and I can't wait to get more of her work to read.

This book is so well written; 5 stars for that. But the story is so bleak and desperate in content I can't rate it more highly. I find I'm interested in Margo's very lonely difficult way of life and how she is abandoned by everyone she loves and who should love her and used by most of the men in her life. This was definitely a difficult emotional read.

Note: I just realized that the author wrote a book in 2003 called Q Road. Q Road takes place after this book. So it flows really well if you read Once Upon a River and then read Q Road.Fond memories of Kingsolver, Katniss, Winter's Bone, Huck Finn, My Side of the Mountain and Anne Rice's Belinda were all stirred up as I read Once Upon A River. I am not saying this book is rehash. It is just that I think if you like any of those things you will like this book too. I just finished the book on my kindle last night and I loved it. I think I am going to reread it. I can't even tell you the last time I reread a book right away.The setting is the river. The river is in Michigan. The main character, Margo, is a teenager for the entire book. Most of the other characters that she interacts with in the book are adults. This is not to say that they are grown-ups, because that would be false.A strong theme in the book and something that has been on my mind lately is teenagers and senior citizens interacting. I've been watching the young aids at my grandmother's nursing home and even the seniors and teenagers working together at my local McDonalds. This is a fascinating dynamic that this author explores here.Guns and Annie Oakley play a huge part but don't be put off by that if you're not into guns.Margo sort of is the river. Or the river is so much a part of her that they blend together. She ebbs and flows through events rather than being completely present sometimes. The character is completely believable but it still frustrated me at times. I wanted her to make better choices but I understood why she did what she did. Just because the character's motivation is believable doesn't make it acceptable. I mean I got left off at a very troubling dock at the end of this book. The next few months and years for Margo are probably going to be really ugly. That is partly why the ending of the book is going to go either way for readers. Am I supposed to jump into that filthy water and try to help her? It's not like she listens to sense. Is it possible going with the flow for her could result in a happy ending years down the road? I want answers!I love a strong woman character and I love books where characters have to use survival skills and I love books with steamy sex scenes and I like to spend time in places I'll probably never get to in real life. But you could argue that Margo is often not working from a position of strength, sex in this book is often if not always, inappropriate or down right rape/wrong and this river for all the passion that Margo feels for it, is a polluted poison ivy filled depressing place. But yet I am looking forward to diving back in there. Why?Spoiler alert from here on.Things I `d love to talk about at book club: Was Michael a Unitarian? I'm guessing yes. One of my favorite scenes is when she has no desire to eat any more stolen vegetables after eating the entire jar of jam. Perfect! The scene with Smoke in the river, again, perfect. Huck Finn, and the role of the Indian and the role of the black man. What would happen when what's his face gets out of jail? And guessing the next few months and years. And what was she thinking when she hid and watched her mother?

This was kind of a strange book about a girl who grows up on the river and how her sheltered and rural lifestyle leaves her socially dysfunctional. Not what I expected in a storyline. I guess I was hoping for something a little more in tune to the great books, Where the Crawdads Sing, or The Great Alone where the author takes you to a wonderful setting with characters that come to life in your head.

Loved this book

Please help will not show up in my kindle app

This book may very well stay in my mind for a long time. There seem to be so many issues and subtexts addressed that I have been thinking about it since I finished it two days ago.This book is the story of Margo Crane, a young woman who lives near a river in a rural area of Michigan in the 1970's. But Margo, who is about 15 when the story begins, is no ordinary teenager. She can shoot, hunt, skin an animal, and does not appear to be afraid of much. Margo will need these skills when she finds herself forced to assert her independence earlier than most teenagers do.Be aware that this is not really a plot-driven book. This is a painting with moving characters. The backdrop of the river provides a rich canvas on which the author can place Margo and the various people she meets. As she searches for something that she has lost, she experiences fear and violence; and like many young women of her age, she often mistakes sex for love.There were times when I struggled with this book. It is a heavy story and doesn't start to show some rays of sunshine until the very end. However, the deeper themes explored in this book are worth sticking with it. It is truly a unique story of growing up, and it raises the very legitimate question of whether we all need to have the suburban house and picket fence to be happy. The book also explores how judgmental we can be about the way that others choose to live, simply because they are different from us. The characters in this book find contentment all around them just by paying attention to life. And these are just some of the issues explored; in reality there is a kaleidoscope of concepts from which to choose for further examination after closing the book.This is a strong recommend, but with the caveat that this is not a "beach read". This is an intense book that will keep you thinking. I know that Margo will be on my mind for quite awhile.

This book is so strange. It's very dark, and has a lot of weird family incest. I did not make it even quarter of the way through.

Stumbled across this by accident and am so glad I did. Soulful, evocative, fierce. Every woman should read this book.

途中まで作者はなにを訴えようとしているのかわからなかった。１９７０年代ミシガン州を流れる川沿いで育ったマーゴ・クレーンは祖父に可愛がられて銃に親しみ小動物を狩って野生児のまま１５歳になった。母が家出し、祖父と父が相次いで他界したあと独りで手漕ぎボートに乗り、遠くに居ると伝わる母を訪ねようと川を遡った。話はその数年間の少女の心の動きを丹念に追う。自然の営みに縺れる若い女性の一人暮らしは「ザリガニの鳴くところ（ハヤカワ文庫）」ほどの息苦しさはなく、マーゴ以外の登場人物はすべて大人の男女で、皆彼女の純真さに惹かれなにかと気遣ってくれる。そしてマーゴはなんの感慨もなく男たちとセックスをするので読みながらはらはらしてくる。最後はほんのりと希望の光がさして読み手も安心な気分になるという不思議な一編だった。

Michigan, on the banks of the Stark River that leads into the Kalamazoo. Tomboyish teen Margo is at one with nature, less so with people. Outwardly she may seem slow at understanding and a bit weird, but woe betide any who tries to bully or exploit! (She has devastating ways of getting even.) When a family feud leads to tragedy, she simply rows away in the boat her adored grandfather bequeathed. Adept at trapping and skinning and an excellent shot (Annie Oakley her inspiration), she will now find her own way. Her resilience is beyond doubt, but will Margo ever discover a place where she truly belongs...?An involving, at times unsettling read - rich in atmosphere and colourful characters (some of them best avoided). Over the months Margot is destined to make unusual friendships amongst riverside residents - not least prematurely old and chronically ill "Smoke", he virtually a fixture in the wheelchair on his porch. Fiercely independent, he will remain where he loves to be. Always there is something to learn about attitudes, perhaps a need to reconsider priorities - simple pleasures with more to offer than does so-called civilization.Episodes deeply disturb, particularly when rape is involved. Much, though, uplifts. Welcome here a spirited young heroine, devoid of self-pity, she forever adapting to new circumstances. After all Margo has gone through, she deserves to succeed. Many readers will hope that she does, this a work poetical and life-affirming.

I adored this book. Everything had to stop so that I could just sit and finish it. Margo's story made me wince sometimes but, in the end, it was one of the most beautiful accounts of someone seeking their own way to live that I have ever read.