What do you think?
Rate this book
Between the Rivers
Between the Rivers is historical fiction, set in coastal North Carolina between the Cape Fear, the Black and the Northeast Cape Fear Rivers in the early twentieth century. It is a place where the hardships of rural life challenge daily existence, where women like Maggie Lorena Ryan struggle to find a more satisfying life than that of bearing multiple children to work the land.
The story opens in 1926 on the scene of a house fire in Bladen County. Tate and Maggie Lorena Ryan watch helplessly with their two sons as everything they own goes up in smoke~everything except Maggie's trunk. A story of madness and melancholy develops as we travel through flashback to an earlier time when Maggie goes off to the new Baptist college (Meredith) in Raleigh. Characters and campus scenes based on the early history of the school, as well as manners and attitudes of the era portray a realistic picture of life in Raleigh at the turn of the last century.
Maggie's dream of college is put on hold following a tragic event. She goes to Onslow County to teach school in a one-room schoolhouse. Scenes in Onslow and Bladen counties depict the hardships of day to day living in rural life, the lack of medical treatment and the slow progress of the States consolidation of the public school system.
"The fertile landscape is a living part of this story and the historical details are rendered with remarkable credibility." Georgann Eubanks, Carboro, North Carolina
"... a strong plot propels Between the Rivers upstream. Although the novel is not explicitly religious, I suspect that readers who liked Katherine Marshall's Christy will find it appealing." Ben Steelman, THE WILMINGTON STAR
"Far from being a 'bodice-ripper' or a dry history text, Booth tells a solid tale of a young woman's hopes and dreams, lost loves and changing times." Jefferson Weaver, THE BLADEN JOURNAL
The story opens in 1926 on the scene of a house fire in Bladen County. Tate and Maggie Lorena Ryan watch helplessly with their two sons as everything they own goes up in smoke~everything except Maggie's trunk. A story of madness and melancholy develops as we travel through flashback to an earlier time when Maggie goes off to the new Baptist college (Meredith) in Raleigh. Characters and campus scenes based on the early history of the school, as well as manners and attitudes of the era portray a realistic picture of life in Raleigh at the turn of the last century.
Maggie's dream of college is put on hold following a tragic event. She goes to Onslow County to teach school in a one-room schoolhouse. Scenes in Onslow and Bladen counties depict the hardships of day to day living in rural life, the lack of medical treatment and the slow progress of the States consolidation of the public school system.
"The fertile landscape is a living part of this story and the historical details are rendered with remarkable credibility." Georgann Eubanks, Carboro, North Carolina
"... a strong plot propels Between the Rivers upstream. Although the novel is not explicitly religious, I suspect that readers who liked Katherine Marshall's Christy will find it appealing." Ben Steelman, THE WILMINGTON STAR
"Far from being a 'bodice-ripper' or a dry history text, Booth tells a solid tale of a young woman's hopes and dreams, lost loves and changing times." Jefferson Weaver, THE BLADEN JOURNAL
430 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2001
10 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 22, 2017
The story of a young girl in the early 1900's living in Eastern NC with her family, learns about life after travelling to the big city of Raleigh. The spoiled girl learns of love and friendship and death. When her family does their best to put her back on the right path, she again falls for the wrong man who is not available to her, so she marries the only other, convenient, option and makes his life miserable with her spoiled ways. When at the end of the story, her novel is published, she abandons him and her two surviving sons to go chase her dream in Boston.
February 3, 2023
This book is well written and very easy to read. Please note some of the language is historically accurate but difficult to "hear". The main character of the novel is not likeable and doesn't deserve the ending given. There were many interesting supporting characters and information about North Carolina throughout. I definitely recommend but caution regarding the historical terms and language.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews