Customer Reviews

River Rising

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April Asbury leaves a big city hospital where she worked as an emergency room nurse to work in the small town of Fertile as Dr. Forbes office nurse. On the surface Fertile seems like a serene little town where neighbor helps neighbor survive the Great Depression. She meets Joe Jones when her car breaks down forcing her to walk until she finds herself in a field with a bull. Joe rescues her and takes her into town where she rents a room at Mrs. Poole's and starts work in Dr. Forbes office.

She begins to sense that the postcard prettiness of the town masks secrets that people want kept hidden. Dr Forbes is in love with a woman most people would consider black and is not allowed to legally marry her. Mrs. Poole's brother Fred spies on April when she is naked in her room and Mrs. Poole is going through with a diabolical plan that could destroy innocent lives. April is afraid to give her heart to Joe because she thinks he is a flirt while Joe thinks April would not want to get involved with a poor farmer. When the river threatens to flood the town many secrets and feelings finally see the light of day.

Dorothy Garlock is the queen of Americana tales and RIVER RISING is a perfect example of her superior writing talent. The romance of April and Joe plays out against the manipulations and actions of the secondary cast who are drawn very realistically. There are multiple sub-plots that all tie to the main storyline that enables readers to feel what it was like in small Missouri town during the Great Depression.

Harriet Klausner

My attention was captured by the rural farmhouse art on the novel's cover, Dorothy Garlock's name, and the word "Americana" in reviews.

Been analyzing various types of mysteries and needed a relief from the clue focus. Was definitely refreshed returning to my old haunt of Early-American, 1930's romance. In that genre I live with the characters and plot in warm, family settings, yet I'm removed enough from the heavy work loads and financial horrors families shouldered in the depression era.

The prologue was a chilling, mesmerizing lead-in to the plot's contrast of emotionally heated grit around a good cast of strong, feisty characters weaving wit into wherewithal.

Say what?

Okay. Re-wording:

The prologue gave an accurate profile of a rapist, and the psychological response to the discovery of that profile (after 5 years grieving her husband's death) by a wife who had no clue to his dark side. The easy, quipping banter among characters in the ongoing plot gave a good contrast to the pain in the prologue.

I enjoyed the easy reading rhythm of slipping through a plot without the necessity of applying memory retention techniques to hold onto an intriguing horde of details, clues, and diversions. My recent reading tastes have been craving cozy culinary mysteries, with other genres and mainstream novels temporarily shoved off the back burner onto the floor behind the stove, where greasy dust bunnies abide and multiply. Even within a craving frenzy, though, one needs a break. This was mine.

How refreshing to live through the pages of a book with no underlying game-board beyond the simple elements of a good story. Not that simple stories are empty; with a balance of plot, characters, and setting, enough is most often enough. And, there is clearly thematic and psychological depth here.

I cheered the cunning contrast between the enduring country values of the Jones, and the un-elegant, empty ethics of a few snobs in town. It was refreshing to see redemptive evolutions of youth (Sammy) and of more mature characters (Jack). Of course the conflicts, tensions, and resolutions were predictable, as they're expected (desired) to be in this genre. If these anticipations are altered too dramatically, the drama sometimes descends into a literary category, and (for me) can too easily go sour in that miasma.

I was refreshed by the formulas met, yet literarily satisfied with this warm story's easing gently and sagely into and through difficult issues.

Surprisingly, the exposure (and healing) of a mild sexual perversion was artfully and tastefully done within this plot, edging the work almost into a literary gestalt, without leaving the appealing warmth of healthy romance

Loved the scene of peeping Fred snapping his backbone to stand up against bitter Shirley. Once backbone is acknowledged, perversion has an option to dissipate. What I enjoyed most in that first scene of Fred's spirit surge was that he accomplished this initial shift in his sibling relationship simply and gently. This situation occurred earlier in the story, giving characters the opportunity to begin healing dark tendencies, and the reader the regenerative benefits of "taking cues" from realistic character growth.

Woven naturally into the action were Lots of interesting bits of info for dealing with various types of emergencies, including medical. The fitting manner in which these "how to's" were delivered increased my involvement in the reading.

River Rising is an excellent book with great subplots. I couldn't put it down. Dorothy Garlock's stories are always so real and emotional.

I love Dorothy Garlock. I think this was her last great series of books. Her writing is not as strong as it used to be and that is very sad. Read this whole series you will not be sorry!

What a well-written, engaging novel! Dorothy uses just enough description, but doesn't over-do it. She uses the river and it's potential flooding as the backdrop, building suspense behind all the sub-plots. Loved the characters she creates. My fave book of the year!

I wasn't even aware there was a fourth book in the Missouri series, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the next Garlock novel I chose happened to be it. While there are references to the previous three books in this novel, it is not necessary to read them as there was enough detail provided to read this one as a standalone.

April Ashbury has just moved to Fertile, Missouri to start her job as nurse and assistant to the local doctor. Unfortunately though, its raining hard and her car gets stuck in the mud. She sludges her way through the mud and ends up on the doorstep of Joe Jones, a handsome local farmer. Joe takes an instant liking to her and sets about pursuing her, but he has a lot of competition. Several of the men are charmed by this new nurse and make special trips to the doctors with "ailments" to be treated.

There are other worse things going on the town than friendly competition however. Malicious gossips, heated rivalries, and a flood threatens the normally peaceful town of Fertile. April and Joe are in the thick of it and it could cause them to question the feelings they have for each other. Not to mention April has a stalker to contend with as well, even if she doesn't know it.

The characters in this are mostly charming. There are of course some evil terrible people as well, but Garlock includes some "grey" characters as well which is nice compared to some of her earlier stories. April was likable and there was good chemistry with her and Joe. Some of the other characters could use some more detail, but it wasn't anything so glaring as to take away from the story.

Garlock's writing is always colorful and interesting. She doesn't leave any of the squeamish bits out. There is sex, violence, rape, etc. and caution should be used if you are offended by these things and read Garlock. Her dialogue is always witty and while I can never picture real people saying some of the things her character's say but its extremely entertaining.

It was a good book and a nice continuation of the story. There were some crazy hard to believe aspects of the plot, but overall it was a a great story. I'm definitely going to go check if there's a fifth book in the series.

River Rising
Copyright 2005
388 pages

Review by M. Reynard 2010

Garlock takes us on a trip back in time to the depression era where a doctor's visit was fifty cents and there was such a thing as a `doctor's house call'. Like so many small towns on rivers in the Midwest, the authors shows how bigotry against skin color, education, and which side of town you live on can be destructive for all involved.
Her romance plot seems incidental when she brings out the secrets so prevalent in the rural river town. Interesting psychological character development. A master at capturing the flavor of small towns with its small thinkers.