A review by silverliningsandpages
All Rivers Run Free by Natasha Carthew

5.0

This was raw, brutal and stunning.

Ia scrapes by a savage, lonely existence in a caravan along the Cornish coast. Since being orphaned at the age of twelve, she has lived with her violent cousin who is also now her common law husband. She desperately longs for a baby, and when a little girl washes up half-dead on the shore, Ia risks everything by rescuing her. Nurturing the waif emboldens Ia and reignites buried, yet important memories. She finds the courage to escape and travels downriver in search of her sister, through flood-devastated valleys, and facing constant danger in a world of civil unrest, social collapse and internal warfare.

I absolutely LOVED this book and found the protagonist so relatable. She is fierce and resourceful, but her fragility and integrity seep through her tough outer skin. Despite lifelong adversity, she still manages to see the beauty in nature, collecting found objects and never gives up on finding “a better version of herself”. It’s a very mysterious dystopian setting, and much of what has preceded the story remains unexplained, but this adds to the haunting quality of the very poetic writing. An intense and breathtaking book that didn’t shy away from vitally important issues such as abusive relationships, mental illness, infertility and miscarriage, but that also has an optimistic message of transformation and redemption. The ending blew me away - to my children’s utter bemusement, this book made me properly, properly emotional 😭 (still haven’t recovered days later, TBH!). The only slight quibbles are that the style/looser punctuation took some getting used to (but worked), and one part of the story was a teeny bit contrived. But I don’t care - this is still getting all the stars, a 5/5🌟 from me!

Thank you @anabooks and @quercusbooks for this gifted review copy - my favourite of 2019 so far.