Peace Like a River

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Historical / Enger, Leif	4-week checkout	On Hold Shelf
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Historical / Enger, Leif	4-week checkout	Due 05-21-2024

Includes bonus first chapter of "Virgil Wander.
Eleven-year-old asthmatic Reuben Land chronicles the Land family's odyssey in search of Reuben's older brother, Davy, who has escaped from jail before he can stand trial for the killing of two marauders who came to their Minnesota farm to harm the family. A first novel. Reprint.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

Library Journal Review
Booklist Review
Publishers Weekly Review
Summary / Annotation
Fiction Profile
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

LOVED this book submitted by 21621031390949 on August 12, 2016, 10:10am This book was a total surprise to me. It's a big story that is adventurous, tragic, romantic and deeply spiritual. It is one of those books that you think about for days - weeks - afterwards. The writing is beautiful and begs to be read out loud. I recommend it very highly!!

Peace like a river submitted by avrogers1 on June 19, 2019, 1:45pm This was a fantastic read. It is well written and it captured my attention from the very first page. It delivered all the feels as I turned the pages onto the next part of the adventure. It held my attention until the very end.

Fantastic Read submitted by jamatz on August 1, 2022, 8:52am What a great story. At no point did I have a an accurate guess on where it would ultimately go. The author did a great job of painting a picture of 1960s America. Audiobook had really good narration. 10/10 would recommend.

Peace Like a River submitted by leighsprauer on April 21, 2023, 12:35pm Despite the tragedy and heartbreak that runs through it, this is a delightful book. The Land family - father Jeremiah, and children Davy, Reuben, and Swede - find themselves thrown into a series of unfortunate events and find themselves whisked along in the current of the consequences. After Davy shoots and kills two teenagers in their house, Jeremiah's faith, and the miracles that flow from it, guides them as they attempt keep their family intact.

Enger's prose is lovely. He has 11-year-old Reuben narrate, although 9-year-old Swede's poetry is a key element in the storytelling, with the result that it has the honesty of a young boy's observations and the beauty of a thoughtful writer. It was just very, very enjoyable to read.

But it was Jeremiah's faith, as described by Enger, that makes the story memorable. Never mocking, never belittling, Enger makes you believe, or maybe better, hope, that the miracles are true. Hope is what stuck with me after reading this: life is hard, people are cruel and violent and disappointing, but hope remains: a hope that is not just an empty feeling, but a living thing, which washes away the evil of this world and carries us to new life.