Customer Reviews

The River Wife

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Received from Random House as part of the early readers program.

Agee deftly interweaves the stories of four women in this historical novel. The book is centered around the four most important women in the life of French fur-trapper Jacques Ducharme. Ducharme's legacy stretches from the grave across four generations to impact the lives of all who call Jacques' Landing their home.
Set in Mississippi during the nineteenth century, The River Wife, mixes history, life style, a bit of mysticism and some great story telling to bring to life the saga of the those who settle in Jacques Landing.
I read one other novel of Agee's, many years ago. After completing this book I will be hunting down some of her prior titles. Agee tells a great tale, she is able to thread the past and the present together in a seemless manner.
I was a book seller in a small independant bookstore that has been forced to close it's doors. I know how important recommendations are to those who are looking for something new to read. The River Wife would be one of those titles I would be highly recommending to customers. The book would make a great "book club" read.

On February 7, 1812 the New Madrid earthquake - the largest quake ever recorded in the United States - hit Annie Lark's Missouri house, trapping her beneath a roof beam. Unable to move the massive timber and terrified by the aftershocks, her family decides to leave the sixteen year old girl to her fate, but death is slow coming and she lingers until a French fur trapper named, Jacques Ducharme, rescues her days later. What follows is the story of Annie's life as Jacques' "river wife," which Jacques' descendant Hedie Ducharme discovers among the family papers along with the histories of three other Ducharme women. Together these stories take the reader from 1812 Missouri, through the Civil War and up to the bootlegging days of the 1930's. I was riveted by Annie's story. Her legs never fully recover from their earthquake trauma and her fearless determination to adapt to both this setback and the rough, sometimes violent, life she leads with Jacques is captivating. Agee's skill as a storyteller is evident throughout the novel, yet, try as I might, once the novel shifted away from Annie I wasn't able to maintain my initial interest. I enjoyed the tales of Omah, Laura and Maddie, but Hedie's story is lukewarm at best. While the other women are strong willed and clever in their own ways, Hedie is timid and willfully ignorant of her husband's true nature. There were more than a few moments when I couldn't help but think, "Come on Hedie, you haven't figured it all out yet? Gimme a break." Hedie's story is interspersed between chapters, so naturally her character influences the entire novel - especially the ending, which uses her life to conclude the Ducharme tale.

Agee's fascinating story bridges the lives of two women over a century apart, Annie Lark Ducharme and Hedie Rails Ducharme. Annie is trapped in the earthquake of 1811, her family's cabin near the mighty Mississippi collapsing in the earth's sudden violence. Immobilized by a roof beam, Annie is left to die by her family, clinging to life day by day while in agonizing pain. When French trapper and river pirate, Jacques Ducharme, rescues the helpless girl, it is inevitable that she fall in love with this rough but tender man who wants only to protect her and build a home that will stand as a testament to them, Jacques Landing, a place of refuge for weary river travelers and traders. Annie becomes his "river wife", living rough until they return to the banks of the river and begin building Jacques' dream, Annie pregnant with their child. The building progresses against all odds, although Jacques and his cohorts revert to their piracy to find the means.

Despite her older husband's flaws, Annie is happy, reluctant to defy this man of such great ambition. Then a truly monstrous event destroys any forgiveness that exists between them, neither able to recapture their prior hopefulness. Though other Ducharme women people Jacques' life, including his second wife, Laura Burke Shut Ducharme, who gives an ageing man a new lease on life, none can replace his passion for Annie. In 1930, Hedie Rails Ducharme arrives, the naïve young bride of the older Clement Ducharme, returning with him to Jacques Landing where they act out the fate of a family blighted by tragedy and ill-starred relationships. Like Annie, Hedie is hopelessly in love; like Jacques, Clement lives outside the law, leaving his pregnant wife alone at night with the unfamiliar groaning of the house while he pursues whatever criminal enterprise draws him away night after night.

Hedie's only solace is in Annie's diaries, which she pours over through the long, dark hours waiting for Clement to return, aware only that she is connected to Annie and the other river wives who have been a part of the Ducharme legacy. Detailing the private hopes and sorrows of these women, from Annie, Laura, the enigmatic Omah, who learns the ways of piracy from Jacques himself, to Hedie, who will add her story to Annie's, this novel is rich in regional history. Agee's images rise from the past, the waiting, patient river, the aggressive, dangerous men, the Landing that draws all manner of traveler and the women who bring heart to a tale of tragedy and violence begun with Jacques and ending with Clement. The river runs in the blood of these men and the women seduced by their natural charm, even when that love is defeated by greed, ambition and disillusion. A powerful tale, here is the essence of the river, the country and the women blinded by their passions. Luan Gaines/ 2008.

I wont tell you what the book's about because both the editorial and private reviews have done that very well. I needed to write this review because this is the most powerful book I've read in over 15 years. I am listening to the audio version and am about halfway through it. This book touched me and for a while had me bawling my eyes out. For quite a while...and I don't cry easily. I can only guess that the bad reviews are by people who haven't experienced some of these things. I will definitely read the other books by this treasured author.

"The River Wife" by Jonis Agee is a multigenerational, epic novel covering the lives of five women related either by marriage, partnership, or birth to the 19th-century French fur-trapper and river pirate, Jacques Ducharme. These are the stories of Ducharme women--Annie Lark, Laura, Omah, Maddie, and Heide. Their stories cover the period from the great New Madrid earthquake of 1812, through the Civil War, and into the bootlegging era of the 1930s. These women inhabit a wild, harsh land in the boot heel of Tennessee, a difficult unforgiving place. Each Ducharme woman is unique, but they share the same traits of intelligence, beauty and headstrong passion for a better life. Some radiate warmth, gentleness, forgiveness, and loyalty. Others hide cunning and manipulation. In the end, each woman falls prey to, and must find some way to deal with, the charm and all-consuming possessive love of Jacques Ducharme--a man who is as charismatic as he is ruthless.

This is not a romance novel. The ecstasy of being in love, the slow process of learning to love, and the utter devastation of being the focus of narcissistic love are central to the text. But the major theme of this novel is more subtle. The five women at the heart of this novel feel chained, and each seeks her own unique path to freedom and self-fulfillment. Some succeed well, others succeed with significant compromise, and some fail. This is a redemptive tale about the life-changing choices that move us toward self-fulfillment. Don't expect these five Ducharme women to be bigger than life; this book is not epic in that definition of the word. These are everyday, fully realistic heroines--women who must survive whatever way they can.

Agee's prose is cinematic. The overall experience is like watching an addictive miniseries. There is a lot happening, with many parallels between the different women. There is danger, violence, suspense, ghostly apparitions, treachery, pirate's treasure, intrigue, and murder--enough to keep almost anyone's interest piqued. Even the famous naturalist John James Audubon makes a brief, stunning appearance and has an important impact on the plot. But don't expect a fast-paced novel; this is a subtle, slow, lyrical, sensual, and heart-felt novel about what it means to make life-changing choices.

Typically, I shy away from multigenerational novels. But, I had plenty of time, and a desire to find out what all the fuss was about this notable, prize-winning author. So, I let this book take possession of me and I was mesmerized. What I enjoyed best about this book are its many take-your-breath-away, astonishing, wide-screen images--like hidden treasure--so lyrical and lovely that they will probably stick with me for a lifetime. No wonder so many have made so much about this talented author.

The River Wife by Jonis Agee is the story of Jacques Ducharme and the women who fill his life, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say he fills their lives. The story begins with Hedie Rails who has just married Jacques' great- grandson and finds herself often alone in their Missouri home as he goes away on mysterious business. Hedie fills her time by reading the diary of Annie Lark Ducharme, a young girl who was imprisoned under a log beam in her home during the great earthquake in New Madrid and abandoned by her family. Jacques, a fur trader, comes along and rescues the poor girl before making her his wife. All is well between the couple until he decides to build an inn. Soon Jacque's acquisitive nature sours their marriage and tragedy strikes. Hedie goes on to read the stories of Omah, a freed female slave who becomes Jacques' partner as a river pirate and then Laura, Jacques' second wife and mother to Maddie who becomes mother to Clement, Hedie's husband. Each woman responds to Jacques' seductive nature in her own way, one is consumed, another fights fire with fire and loses, only the one who accepts him as he is remains. Clement and Hedie's troubles soon start to reflect some of Jacques' vices, and it's clear that sinning runs in the family. Agee brings depth and life to each of her characters, so much so that at times it's painful to keep reading. Annie has the strongest voice, and when she leaves, the rest of the book is haunted by her absence. Hedie also is a powerful character, and the reader can't help but want to slap her out of her intentional blindness to her husband's activities. The book is filled with amazing characters whose actions are both true to life and frustrating to watch. Jacques looms large in every story, even long after he is gone. The book will take you back nearly two hundred years with its historical accuracy and detail, and the characters will move you to rage and tears. My one complaint about the book is that the ending felt rushed and weak compared to the rest of the intense book. In a recent interview in BookPage magazine, Agee said that it was originally over 700 pages long. I for one would love to read that version. Maddie's story suffers most from the shortening.

This, grand, sweeping, epic novel makes for great summer reading. Full of cinematic scenes, this book is richly detailed and beautifully executed, beginning with a vivid evocation of the New Madrid earthquake, and including a violent attack by pirates of a merchant vessel on the Mississippi, a lushly romantic encounter between two women taking a cure at Hot Springs, ghostly visitations, and a harrowing barn fire. The many marriages of long-lived Jacques Ducharme and his descendants are an album of the types of love possible in relationships: passionate, devoted, protective, companionable, and enduring. Read this book!

I found this to be a wonderfully deep and enjoyable book. The characters were fascinating and well developed. The plots and themes twisted around seamlessly and I never felt lost between generations. I found the descriptions of the places and events to be accurate and of a place and time (early 19th century, Bootheel Missouri)that we don't often read about. I would recommend it highly to friends and to my book club. I would read it again and that doesn't happen very often.

The past continually haunts the present in Jonis Agee's historical novel THE RIVER WIFE, the story of four generations of women whose lives are intertwined with charismatic, larger-than-life Jacques Ducharme.

The first woman to be introduced (but last chronologically) is Hedie Ducharme, a teenaged, pregnant bride who, in 1930, comes with her new husband Clement to live at his family's house in Missouri's far southeastern bootheel region. The house is known as Jacques' Landing. Estranged from her family, often left alone by her husband for days at a time, Hedie turns to the journals she finds in the house's library. In their pages, she discovers clues not only to Jacques, the house's namesake, but also to the several women whose lives were intertwined with his.

The first woman --- who stands at the spiritual and emotional heart of the novel --- is Annie Lark, who has been trapped in the wreckage of the devastating 1812 New Madrid Earthquake. Abandoned by her family, nearly dead of starvation and thirst, Annie embraces her savior and gladly joins him in a new kind of life on the fringes of society. When Jacques decides to settle down and build a house and an inn on land near the Mississippi, she gladly joins in his dreams of prosperity and wealth.

Crippled for life by her injuries, soon beset by a devastating personal tragedy and with a series of betrayals, Annie gradually grows disillusioned with Jacques and with their marriage. After her death, her ghostly presence seems to haunt the women who follow her --- including a former slave, as well as Jacques' conniving second wife and their daughter Maddie.

As Hedie reads these journals, Annie's presence also haunts her life 100 years later. Hedie's life, from her pregnancy to her relationship with Clement, seems to have precedents in the lives of those women who came to Jacques' Landing before her. Surrounded by mystery and violence, these women find solace and safety in small magic, charms and talismans that often reappear over and over again. Hedie reflects on these protective objects: "We have so little that isn't too fragile to bear our living."

The novel's Ozark setting, particularly the threat of earthquakes and the simultaneously benevolent and menacing presence of the Mississippi River, informs much of the action. Living on the fringes of society, Jacques and his women are freed to live an almost lawless existence, isolated from both progress and propriety. Southern Gothic elements are also at work in the novel, from supernatural sightings to grotesque violence to an almost suffocating atmosphere. Agee, for the most part, ties together the women's stories effectively, only occasionally bogging down in explanations of the tangled family tree. As a whole, though, the story of Jacques' women sweeps along as relentlessly and compellingly as the Mississippi River itself.

--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

Thoughts: 1. too long in the middle; 2. too short ending; 3. would like a sequel to bring it up to date.; 4. Continuity problems-found the jumping from character to character, age to age difficult. I keep thumbing back to see if maybe I had missed something. Then several chapters/decades later it would be explained how someone died.

However, I did enjoy the book. Days later I was still thinking it over.

Finally I came to the conclusion it is not a saga of a family or of the river. Instead it is the history of one piece of property. How different individuals are changed by their desire to keep the propery. Each character's loss is tied to this desire.

There is a turning point in each of their lives when they could walk away. They each make the choice to stay and suffer the consequences.

Dealie is changed from a world wise, wealthy, fashionable woman to a hag. Hedie is changed from a naive girl to a murderer. Even Jacque a happy go lucky trapper becomes a mysoginistic, demented, scrooge.

River Wife is worth reading, very thought provoking.