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Title: When You Live by a River

Author: Mermer Blakeslee

Narrator: Amy Rubinate

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-27-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

When You Live By a River is the fictional story of a Catskill Mountains valley community soon to be flooded to create a reservoir for New York City. The drama centers on a farmer whose wife dies in childbirth and on the farmer's 15-year-old niece who comes to take care of the baby in exchange for the promise of college tuition. Set in 1931, and based in part on actual circumstances involving water rights and eminent domain, this historical novel of rural lives in upstate New York unfolds a natural love story set against a background of moral conflicts and the eroding force of modernity. Mermer Blakeslee's love of place and of her characters brings listeners an eloquent testament to the persistence and courage of the heart.

Members Reviews:

it is the best book i've read in a long time

it is the best book i've read in a long time. it touched me deeply, and made me feel like i was really there 100ish years ago. the people, place, feel, love, hurt, judgement - all real and powerful. i loved your descriptions - like i knew about but had never quite appreciated a stocked root celar before. or the appreciation of running water, or windshield wipers, or electricity. even more, the clear and powerful way she'd say something: "okâbut don't touch me." or "a littleâbut don't stop." and then you'd just leave me there to think and feel. the people, places, real life of it all. on and on.

i'm not a good enough writer to communicate how touched i am. finishing the book in tears. feeling it all. really - for me - way beyond words.

so appreciative. thank you - thank you - thank you. dan

Whether or not you live by a river.

Blakeslee's character Leenie is real in a way hard for me to describe as I never lived any part of the life she knew. The farm, the horses in heat, the bodily presence of the sisters to each other, the lye soap, the poverty (though they didn't call it that)--all seemed extraordinarily vivid as if Blakeslee were writing autobiography. I kept wondering, "how is she doing this? how does she know these intimate details of life from a time before she was born"? She also gives us characters with uniquely individual ways of speaking. Lots of interest in words, poetry, curious recitations that drive the narrative. I read it in two nights--amazed. Whether or not you live near the Catskills or a river, the characters will delight & appall & stay with you. It's gritty, sensual, lovely, poignant, funny--a good story very well-written.

Pitch Perfect

Mermer Blakeslee's prose strikes a fine balance between lyric beauty and pragmatic economy, which means the storytelling becomes a metaphor for the way of life it describes. This is a coming of age story, and more than that. Leenie faces a crossroads that many women will recognize. And whether or not the decision Leenie makes is the best one or the right one, or even the one I would have chosen, what matters so very much is that she reached out with both hands and seized it for herself.

Read the book, don't get the audio version

I got the Whispersync version to work with Audible. I don't particularly care for the narrator but the story is excellent. Since I live near where the story takes place, it is even more engaging.