Peace Like a River

Enger, Leif

ISBN 10: 0694525839 ISBN 13: 9780694525836

Publisher: Harperaudio, 2001

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Review:

To the list of great American child narrators that includes Huck Finn and Scout Finch, let us now add Reuben "Rube" Land, the asthmatic 11-year-old boy at the centre of Leif Enger's remarkable first novel, Peace Like a River. Rube recalls the events of his childhood, small-town Minnesota circa 1962, in a voice that perfectly captures the poetic verbal stoicism of the Northern Great Plains. "Here's what I saw," Rube warns his readers. "Here's how it went. Make of it what you will." And Rube sees plenty.

In the winter of his 11th year, two schoolyard bullies break into the Land house, and Rube's big brother Davy guns them down with a Winchester. Shortly after his arrest Davy breaks out of jail and goes on the lam. Swede is Rube's younger sister, a precocious writer who crafts rhymed epics of romantic Western outlawry. Shortly after Davy's escape, Rube, Swede and their father, a widowed school custodian, hit the road too, swerving this way and that across Minnesota and North Dakota, determined to find their lost outlaw Davy. In the end it's not Rube who haunts the reader's imagination, it's his father, torn between love for his outlaw son and the duty to do the right, honest thing. Enger finds something quietly heroic in the bred-in-the-bone Minnesota decency of America's heartland. Peace Like A River opens up a new chapter in Midwestern literature. --Claire Dederer, Amazon.com

Review:

'Enger has given his narrator a voice that is perfect for this frozen fairytale.' -- The Times

'Poetic, magical and deeply moving...a remarkable book that can't come too highly recommended as an antidote for our uncertain times.' -- Birmingham Post

'Poignant and poetic, this story is crafted in the grand tradition of American coming-of-age literature.' -- Scotsman

'Resonant...a likeable, thought provoking read.' -- Literary Revew

About this edition

• Publisher: Harperaudio
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0694525839
• ISBN 13: 9780694525836
• Binding: Audio Cassette