I read this as part of a Book Circle and not my normal read! I enjoyed the way this was written around a draft dodger called River from the States,I knew about draft dodgers escaping to Canada but have never given a lot of thought to them before. It was interesting how the story unfolded with the family that River came to live with. There were a lot of twists and turns in the story,some not quite expected! I couldn't put the book down towards the end as I knew there would be more surprises to come before it finished,I really enjoyed it and shed a few tears when it was ending! ( )

Stopped on p68. Great read with flashbacks from adult to childhood. Beautiful mother, hard-working father, and a hippie named River who comes help on the dairy farm. I smell trouble!

It's summer 1966 in British Columbia, a stone's throw from the U.S. border. Fifteen year old Natalie Ward, her parents -Nettie and Gus and her three brothers live on their dairy farm in a secluded valley. Natalie is happiest within the enclave of her family. Their lives seem idyllic, both to themselves and to their friends and neighbours. When the need for a new handyman arises, Nettie hires a young American draft dodger - River Jordan.

"She was expecting him. She wasn't expecting the heartache that would follow like a cold wind".
Milner's masterful use of foreshadowing throughout this novel is never overdone, rather it leaves the reader hungering to follow the story. We are tantalized by some future cataclysmic event, that will change the seemingly perfect lives of the Ward family. River Jordan's arrival seems to be the momentum that begins the change.....

After River tells it's story flipping between the past and the present. We relive the past through Natalie and Nettie's memories. In the present it is 2003 and Nettie is dying from cancer. She needs to see Natalie before she dies. Natalie has been estranged from her family for over 25 years.

"The unnamed resentment I carried with me out the door the day I left. I carried it every day, like some animal clinging to my back that wouldn't let go because I kept petting it, stroking it, enjoying the perverse pleasure of letting it hang on".
What could have happened to this family to create such a rift? I will not spoil the book for future readers by detailing the events that lead up to this rift. Rather, I encourage you to experience this hauntingly beautiful book for yourself. Everyone will be able to relate to and reflect on the complexity of family relationships detailed in this amazing first novel.

Milner's writing is quite simply, beautiful.

"My favourite memory is of my father and brothers working in the fields. I carry a mental picture of them drenched in the golden glow of the late summer sun. I keep this precious gem hidden deep in the dark closet of my mind, behind all of life's stored clutter. I take it out rarely, cautiously. Like a fragile object stored in opaque tissue, I unwrap it with slow trepidation. I turn it this way and that, trying to see more, to see beyond the faded edges of memory".

Milner was a real estate agent until her husband encouraged her to start writing. I'm very glad he did. Milner is an important new voice in Canadian literature. This would make a great book club selection. ( )

Fans of Mary Lawson's Crow Lake, especially those who liked the feel of the story, will most likely enjoy this book, too. I certainly did. Full review: http://www.canadianauthors.net/m/miln... ( )