The River's Daughter

I received this book as part of LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program. Bridget Crocker’s The River’s Daughter is a very powerful memoir about finding one’s self in the wild and on the water. Crocker grew up between California and Wyoming in a home marked by divorce, abuse, and instability and her experiences as one of the few women in whitewater rafting led her to both adventures and her reckonings with generational trauma, sexual assault, and parental dysfunction. Crocker learns how to trust herself and heal old wounds and this makes this book as much about resilience as it is about whitewater.

Okay so I'm not going to lie I was glad Bridget's memoir came with a warning. My childhood was a lot like hers. Just getting through the first 100 pages was triggering. Still, I gave it 5 stars because her journey was amazing just like the rapids of all the rivers she rode, and where she ended up is inspiring.

ARC review: this is a well-written and entertaining book. The author’s story is tough, sad, and inspiring. Her life, at least as written here, has been a successful struggle to overcome family, nature, and societal challenges. I enjoyed both the overall story of her as well as the rafting parts.

This was a tough book. The author had a very tough childhood and 20's and I was just grateful to read the epilogue. This was worth a read and if you enjoy the outdoors and rivers and white water rafting (or even just floating rivers) the stories of her various travails as she trains as a guide are exciting.

This is definitely a book for adults or at least high school and above as it covers some very deep subjects and hurts.

If you like memoirs and also exciting outdoor adventures then I recommend this book.