The Floating Theater

by Martha Conway

Set aboard a nineteenth century riverboat theater, this is the moving, page-turning story of a charmingly frank and naive seamstress who is blackmailed into saving Ranaways on the Underground Railroad, jeopardizing her freedom, her livelihood, and a new love.
It s 1838, and May Bedloe works as a seamstress for her cousin, the famous actress Comfort Vertue until their steamboat sinks on the Ohio River. Though they both survive, both must find new employment. Comfort is hired to give lectures by noted abolitionist, Flora Howard, and May finds work on a small flatboat, Hugo and Helena s Floating Theatre, as it cruises the border between the northern states and the southern slave-holding states.
May becomes indispensable to Hugo and his troupe, and all goes well until she sees her cousin again. Comfort and Mrs. Howard are also traveling down the Ohio River, speaking out against slavery at the many riverside towns. May owes Mrs. Howard a debt she cannot repay, and Mrs. Howard uses the opportunity to enlist May in her network of shadowy characters who ferry babies given up by their slave mothers across the river to freedom. Lying has never come easy to May, but now she is compelled to break the law, deceive all her new-found friends, and deflect the rising suspicions of Dr. Early who captures Ranaways and sells them back to their southern masters.
As May s secrets become more tangled and harder to keep, the Floating Theatre readies for its biggest performance yet. May s predicament could mean doom for all her friends on board, including her beloved Hugo, unless she can figure out a way to trap those who know her best."

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Audiobook, Book Club, Adult Fiction, Adult

368 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 2017

About the author

Martha Conway's latest novel is THE PHYSICIAN'S DAUGHTER. Her other novels include The Underground River (Simon & Schuster), which was a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice, and Thieving Forest, which won the North American Book Award for Best Historical Fiction. Her short fiction has been published in the Iowa Review, the Carolina Quarterly, The Quarterly, Folio, Massachusetts Review, and other journals. She teaches creative writing at Stanford University's Continuing Studies Program.

Martha is one of seven sisters and now lives in San Francisco with her family.

Reviews

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the steamboat Moselle sinks, May and her cousin Comfort, survive when many others did not. Together for many years, Comfort on the stage, May as her seamstress, making and maintaining her costumes, their lives now take different paths. Comfort becomes the spokesman for a a woman fighting against the horrible institution of slavery. May now alone, eventually gets a job on a travelling show run on a steamboat that travels up and down the Ohio River.

In 1838, the Ohio River separated the slave states from the free states. The Underground Railroad used this river to ferry slaves over from the Kentucky side, something May will become very familiar with, albeit at the beginning very much against her will. Very interesting story as we see May grow and become attuned to the evils that slavery is as she comes to learn and fit in with the actors on the steamboat. May is a wonderful character as are many others including the captain of the steamboat.

The writing is wonderfully smooth, evenly paced. The atmosphere of the times, the divisions and differing opinions of slavery are realistically portrayed. A story that is both entertaining and informative. The sinking of the Moselle was a real life event that the author used in which to base her story. Well done!

[Fran · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Ohio River was a boundary separating free and slave states in pre-Civil War Ohio. In 1838, May Bedloe, seamstress and dresser, boarded the steamboat Moselle with cousin Comfort Vertue. Comfort was traveling with May to St. Louis seeking new acting opportunities. Unfortunately, the Moselle was doomed when four boilers exploded. Chaos ensued and May, swimming to shore, was unable to locate Comfort. Days later, May discovered that Comfort was being housed by Mrs. Howard, a wealthy abolitionist. Mrs. Howard thought Comfort was ideally suited to speak at abolitionist rallies. After all, a trained actress could sway a crowd. Mrs. Howard convinces Comfort that May needs to be independent and would love living on her own. Nothing could be further from the truth.

May Bedloe, 22 years old, is socially backward, literal and has a straight forward nature. May derives comfort from sewing a perfectly straight hemline. She believes that a good costume helps an actor feel his or her part. Sewing makes her forget the unfamiliar, strange world she has entered. Mrs. Howard pushes May to leave for home by giving her twenty dollars for the fare. May takes the money but has nowhere to go. Looking for work along the Ohio River, she notices The Floating Theatre, a two -story flatbed boat. Thaddeus Mason, actor, opportunist and fellow Moselle survivor, convinces Floating Theatre owner, Captain Hugo Cushing to hire him as an actor and May as seamstress since May has twenty dollars to lend financially strapped Hugo for a much needed boat pump.

The Floating Theatre is a small acting troupe consisting of five actors and three actresses. They usually give one performance in each town large enough to draw a crowd, working both sides of the Ohio River, performing in free and slave states. May starts to blossom within this family of sorts. Instead of eating meals alone, she now eats family style with the cast. She has become indispensable to Hugo. Besides sewing costumes and making clothing repairs, she can fill in for the piano player, design admission tickets, put posters up in town and supply complimentary tickets to important townspeople. The goal is to pack the house for each performance. Gently and patiently, Hugo has mentored May on the fine points of acting success. He tells her to never underestimate the power of children because they will beg their parents to see the show. Never promise something you won't deliver. If you promise magic tricks, deliver the magic. Additionally, do not get involved in the fight for emancipation.

All is going well for May until she is visited by her cousin Comfort and Mrs. Howard. Mrs. Howard wants her twenty dollars back since May did not use the money for a ticket home. Mrs. Howard tells May that she can work off her debt by delivering a few packages as The Floating Theatre travels downstream. She will have to break the law to comply. The deliveries place her acting family in harms way. What would Hugo think of her deliveries after all the kindness, consideration and budding feelings developing between them?

"The Floating Theatre" by Martha Conway is a historical novel showcasing the tight knit and family bonding of a group of traveling actors as they provided yearly, much anticipated, entertainment to farmers, merchants and their families. May became an unlikely conductor of the Underground Railroad by delivering small packages after troupe performances and in the dark of night. The character development of each member of the troupe was excellent. Each actor had his own story to tell. Kudos to Martha Conway.

Thank you Bonnier Zaffre and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "The Floating Theatre".

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Touchstone for a digital copy of this book.

Martha Conway takes readers back to 1830's when tensions between North and South were beginning to fester, as abolitionists rise to criticize the actions of the slave trade. Atmosphere, historical research, interesting location, and yet this book failed to make me attach to the storyline and the characters. A really important topic, but I was bored out of my mind. Lots of readers appear to have enjoyed it, but I am going to have to be satisfied to be in the minority.

[Deanne Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me start off by saying even though this is a new to me author this won't be the last book I read by, Martha Conway. The book is unlike any I have read in a long while. This book is absolutely amazing and held my attention gripped in it's claws right from the start. Taking place for the majority on a nineteenth century riverboat theater a small flatboat ,Hugo and Helena’s Floating Theatre. It lazily cruises the river between the northern states and the slave owning southern states.
May is hired as a seamstress,office manager,and when she goes to town she is to pass out hand bills advertising the shows. Now these floating theater shows do sound very interesting. I would have enjoyed seeing one myself. Unknown to May , and here's the interesting part,she get's blackmailed into working with a network of shady characters who ferry babies given up by their slaves mother's,so the babies can have a better life and a chance at freedom. She does this in the early morning hours when she should be sleeping to get her rest for her "real" job. This becomes very tiresome for her. Will she be able to keep up this pace without slipping up and making a mistake or saying something during the day, especially when others start to become suspicious of her behavior? When a 14 year old slave mother refuses to leave her baby but isn't taken with him what is to happen next? Read how it all goes down. The dynamics of this book are just incredible!
Pub Date 20 Jun 2017
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's strange to think of a book that deals with slavery and the underground railroad as being charming, but this book really was and it was also serious and suspenseful and a very enjoyable read. A major portion of this book is about the life of a small theater company that lives and performs on a barge-like ship that travels up and down the Ohio River before the Civil War. The north was on one side of the river and the slave-owning south on the other. May Bedloe joined the company as a seamstress and general assistant after she lost all her cash and possessions when the steamboat on which she and her actress cousin Comfort were traveling was destroyed when its boilers exploded. Comfort was taken under the wing of a Cincinnati abolitionist, Mrs. Howard, and her mute, black assistant (a man with unsuspected depths). Mrs. Howard later coerced May into helping slaves escape to the northern states by ferrying them across the river.

I thought the book did a very good job of portraying the conflicted feelings of May, who was a very blunt, honest and law-abiding person who abhorred slavery but was also reluctant to break the law and to put herself and the other members of the Floating Theatre at risk. May is never sure who she can trust with her secrets, and sometimes she guesses wrong. The book also gave an original and interesting glimpse of a theater company of that period. I see that the US edition of this book is called "Underground River" rather than "Floating Theatre". Since the theater portion of the book is at least as significant as the abolition portion, I assume that the change in title is due to the fact that the Underground Railroad is very trendy at the moment, at least in the US. I prefer the other title, but then I'm not a marketer, so what do I know? This book felt very realistic, never melodramatic, and I liked it a lot, despite the occasional awkward transition. I would be happy to read more by this author.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

[Rebecca Rosenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Underground River showed a fascinating little-known aspect of American History that I found riveting. I've read books on slavery, my favorite is Cane River by Lalita Tademy, and of course I have heard of the Underground Railroad, but Martha Conway brings to life The Underground River-- hiding and transporting slaves on riverboats, to the safety of the north. And not only a riverboat, but a Show Boat, complete with flamboyant actors and sensitive musicians who traveled up and down the river, advertising nightly shows to towns. The characters are vivid, nuanced and flawed, not a one is flat or contrived. I loved Conway's descriptions which made me feel the mossy, dark river, the queasiness of the listing boat, the underlying terror of slavery, and what it would have been like to help slaves children escape, even if they never saw their parents again. I need to read again, I think!

[Katie Lumsden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this - a really interesting premise, and very well executed, always engaging and thoroughly reading. I love books that look at the theatre, and the combination of this with explorations of the 19th century American underground railroad was just fantastic. I'd highly recommend.

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many thanks to Martha Conway, Touchstone, and Netgalley for the free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
May and her cousin, Comfort, trawl the smalltime theatres of the Pre Civil War period to make a living. Comfort acts, May sews the costumes. When a steamboat on which they are traveling catches fire they are separated each to find her own way in life.
May learns about business and family on a steamboat that hosts plays and other vaudeville type entertainment along the Ohio river. Comfort becomes involved in the Abolitionist movement. Eventually their paths cross again, and May has to decide if her steadfast principles are worth changing to save lives.
This was a factionalized account of the growth of towns and populations along the Ohio River in the mid nineteenth century. What the author proposes in these pages are certain possibilities. The river was a natural division line between the North and the South. Docking this "floating theatre" on one side of the shore was completely different from the other side even though they were only a few miles apart. The Fugitive Slave Act had not been passed as the book's events unfolded, but the river was an assumed route of escape. The author does a good job of putting a conscience to these characters. The reader can actually empathize with May and cheer for her to do what he or she would do.
This was an original idea. I've never read about the steamboats that traveled to entertain in the mid 1800s. I had no idea what that life was like. Thank you, Conway, for a new perspective.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this: gorgeous cover, theatre, history, anti-slavery... but I found this far too easy a treatment of complex issues. Our heroine seems to be somewhere on the spectrum and her forthright logic is set in opposition to the rhetoric of other characters, both the slave-owners and abolitionists. The setting is interesting, a theatrical company operating from a river boat (think Showboat), and there are plenty of Characters with a capital C, written with a kind of sub-Dickens gusto.

For all that, I found the book strangely unatmospheric and unengaging. I particularly had an issue with the extremely lightweight treatment of the slavery issue: yes, slaves might be separated from their children, hunted down if they managed to escape, but the realities were far, far more horrific than this - read The Underground Railroad for a harder-hitting and utterly gripping slavery tale.

Overall, this is a book that I found merely pleasant: it's well-meaning but really falls short of the moral vision and ethical maturity that a topic like slavery requires.

[Dale Harcombe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I initially picked up this book because I liked the cover and the premise sound interesting. May Bedloe and her cousin Comfort Vertue are on board the Moselle when it sinks. Many lives are lost. May manages to rescue another young girl from the boat but initially cannot find Comfort. When she does, May learns their paths are about to diverge in different directions. Comfort has attracted the attention of a benefactor, Mrs Howard. Under her guidance and leaving aside her acting, Comfort takes on a role as spokeswoman against slavery. May, who has always made Comfort’s costumes finds work as a seamstress on a steamboat that travel the Ohio River. May settles into this new life with Hugo Cushing, the boat owner and his small troupe of actors. Hugo’s sister had died when the Moselle sank. Over time May becomes more aware of the problems and evils of slavery and in time has a chance to do help slaves herself.
I really liked May. She is a person who says what she thinks, not always wisely or tactfully. But she is a refreshing character, Honest to a fault. Until she learns the importance of either keeping her mouth shut or deviating from the blunt truth in order to help others. Hugo was also another great character. Each of the characters came across as well developed, with their own personalities. I liked all the little details of theatre life and making costumes. It certainly kept me interested until the tenor of the book changed. Tension in the second half of the book certainly intensifies as May is called upon to risk her own life to save others. This was an interesting read and I really enjoyed it. A historical novel with a bit of a difference is perhaps how I would sum it up.

[Annette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mary tells her own story beginning in 1838. She is a seamstress to her cousin Comfort – actress – who trails her along wherever opportunity strikes in getting a role.

As Mary reveals her story, she mentions her mom who was an excellent dressmaker, detailed oriented German, who passed her skills very well onto her.

Mary seems to be skillful and smart in her profession, for example, coming up with an idea of sewing little tea sachets and selling at theater. At the same time, knowing how other people perceive her as a bit naïve. A bit confusing character, but brilliantly presented in action than words.

She doesn’t know how to lie, but once she gets involved in the underground slavery movement she is forced to learn how to deceive people.

There are moments brilliantly written in this story, but most of the story is rather disengaging. The painful subject of slavery is set against some very trivial dialogue.

@FB: Best Historical Fiction

[Quill&Queer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got bored. Bit white-savior-y.

[Mindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the storytelling of this book. Because life is really kicking my ass, I haven't had much time to read. Every time I picked this up I fell into the story and forgot about my own life. The characters were so fleshed out, I absolutely felt like I knew each and every one of them. Definitely a 5 star read for me and I can't wait to check out more by this author.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martha Conway’s fourth novel opens with a bang – literally. April 1838: twenty-two-year-old seamstress May Bedloe and her cousin, the actress Comfort Vertue, are on the St. Louis-bound steamboat Moselle when its boilers explode (a real-life disaster) and they must evacuate posthaste. Afterwards Comfort accepts a new role giving abolitionist speeches; May takes her sewing skills on board Captain Hugo Cushing’s Floating Theatre, where she will be a Jill of all trades: repairing costumes, printing tickets, publicizing the show in towns along the Ohio River where they moor for performances, and so on.

Conway gives a vivid sense of nineteenth-century theater life, both off-stage and on-, including just the right amount of historical detail so you can picture everything that’s going on. May is a delightfully no-nonsense narrator – she’d probably be diagnosed with Asperger’s nowadays for her literal approach and her initial inability to lie – and she’s supported by a wonderfully Dickensian cast of actors and crew members. The gripping plot takes on a serious dimension as May, too, gets drawn into the abolition movement: soon she’s helping to deliver runaway slaves from one side of the river to freedom on the other.

In America this was published as The Underground River, more clearly advertising its Underground Railroad theme. As it happens, I prefer this to Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad, a novel to which it will inevitably be compared. (For one thing, Conway has a much more nuanced slave catcher character.) This is terrific historical fiction I can heartily recommend.

Originally published, with an exclusive excerpt from the novel, on my blog, Bookish Beck.

[Dawnny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing Read! May is a seamstress for her cousin Comfort. When their steamboat sinks on the Ohio river they search for new employment. Comfort is hired to give speeches and May finds work on the Hugo and Helends Floating Theater. Now she is forced to repay a debt and gets caught up in the Underground Railroad transferring slaves. A vivid rich in history plot that compelled to read this straight through. I highly recommend this is you love historical fiction. Amazing story.

Dawn Ruby-BookGypsy
Novels N Latte Book Blog
Novels & Latte Book Club

[Anne Parrish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twenty-two year old May Bedloe is making her way in the world serving as a seamstress for her cousin, Comfort, an actress, when the steamboat they’re sailing down the Ohio River on explodes and sinks. It’s 1841, and the river divides the North from the South, free states from slaveholders. May doesn’t think much about slavery at this point in her life, though after the accident, when she finds employment with a floating theater that stops on both sides of the river, the thought of being someone else’s property begins to deeply disturb her. To repay a debt, she agrees to be enlisted in an abolitionist cause of secreting newborn slaves across the river to the waiting hands of those who will ensure that their lives are spent in freedom. It’s risky business to operate outside the law, especially when the reward for the return of runaway slaves is so high. May learns much about herself then, how strong and capable she is, how she can dissemble when necessary, how much courage is required to save just one life from the hell of captivity. She also learns about the love, the beginning of romantic attachment, the thrill of becoming close to one particular person. Seeing this young woman evolve and develop her sensibilities is absolutely marvelous, and very inspiring. The Underground River, rich in period details, is a fantastic journey back in time to a dark chapter in this country’s history. Highly recommended.

[Cheryl · Rating 1 out of 5]

I so wanted to really love if not like this book. Sadly, it did not touch me at all. Not for a lack of effort. In the beginning, I actually was into the story, the time period, and location. Yet, as the story progressed; I found none of the characters really struck a cord with me both emotionally or vocally. However, I kept reading, hoping that what spark I did find and enjoyed in the beginning would come back again for me. After getting almost half way into the story, I put it down and walked away for a period of time. When the extended period was over, I picked up the book again and proceeded to start reading. I read several more chapters but again, none of the characters drew me into the story. Sadly, I put the book down for a second and final time.

[Touchstone Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

We've all fallen in love with Martha Conway's unfailingly honest, somewhat naiive, charming narrator May. She is an absolute gem.

[Damaris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my stars! I have a lot of feelings for this book, so buckle up if you want to hear them.

This is one of the best fictional books I've ever read. Legit, I'm not even joking. I've never read Conway's works before, but I love 1) theatre and 2) learning about the Underground Railroad, so this was a win-win for me.

First of all, The Underground River's characters are really superb. May Bedloe is unlike any other character I've ever read - high praise, especially for a historical fiction book. Her relationship with Comfort, Hugo, and the other actors on The Floating Theatre are really wonderful to watch and be a part of. Secondly, Conway's commanding of the text and its themes are really breathtaking. I enjoyed her correlations between conversations characters were having and their actions at the same time: for example, Leo and May's conversation about slavery while Leo is fishing for catfish: "I looked at him then but he was staring down at the glassy water as if hoping to spy the whiskers of the fish he was chasing. I couldn’t think what to say. Like the child-sized manacles in the empty slave hold, it’s worse when you let yourself imagine it. The bottom of the Ohio was muddy and dark, the way catfish liked it. It must be cool down there. The fish stayed well hidden." This lovely moment was further solidified when May found out who perished on The Floating Theatre, saying later: "Leo never caught his catfish. He only wanted to do his job and then sit fishing on the pier on the northern side of the river and be safe. But I had ruined all that. Tears streamed down my face. It felt like stone after heavy stone was being piled on my heart." Just as Leo had never become truly free, he had never caught his catfish. I really enjoyed these moments and Conway's delicate crafting of the text. It made the story rich and multi-faceted, which I really enjoyed!

Thirdly, as an actress myself, I really enjoyed the parts of the story where May learned, through Hugo, the magic of theatre. One quote in particular really stuck with me:

"Think back on when you’re sitting in an audience. At first you’re aware that you’re on a plush seat, or a hard bench, or maybe you’re standing in the pit, but in any case there are people around you who, just like you, paid to be in this place, and you spend some time looking at them, what they’re wearing, who they’re talking to, and so forth, maybe even listening to what they’re saying.” He went to the next curtain and began rolling it up. “You might know some of them, but even if you don’t, you know that you are all from the same place and speak the same language and so on. Then the bell rings and the actors come out on the stage and the scene begins—let’s say it’s a country scene and maybe it’s in Italy or somewhere else far off—and for a moment, even as the players start their speeches, you are still you and the town you live in is still just outside the closed theater doors. But then, rather quickly if the actors are any good, something happens and somehow you drop into the fiction of the Italian countryside, and there you are. You forget all about the people around you because the only people that exist are the actors onstage, and the only world is the world they are playing out for you. You’ve lost yourself in the fiction. Afterwards, do you feel cheated? No. You might have liked the performance, you might have hated it, but it doesn’t strike you as a lie . . . it’s more like a window. And you’re complicit. You wanted to look in that window and you did."

This quote really rang true in my heart and brought a smile to my face. Martha brings the magic of theatre to life in those simple words!

There are multiple other things that constituted this book to getting its five stars: humour, ("We landed in Carney, Kentucky, a town that was either dying or already dead, depending on your level of optimism.") romance, (Hugo's support of May and his eventual revelation to her) and simple one-liners about life, loss and love. The Underground River is truly a treat for anyone who loves historical fiction, or who loves a well-researched and well-written account of theatre and the Underground Railroad.

My only complaint about this book which I feel compelled to mention is one or two period-appropriate cuss words. I personally was not riled by these words, as they were always period-appropriate and never detracted from the scenes, but added to the authenticity of them. However, other readers may want to know about them before they read them. Only one or two!

In short, The Underground River is really a fabulous read. It earned five stars, and, a place on my 'favourites' bookshelf - a coveted place few books have earned! If you're thinking about this book, just do yourself a favour and read it.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my fair and honest review.

[Caroline-Marnix Degeest-Vandenbroeke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prachtig verhaal ... als je graag een mooie verhaal leest met een historische noot, is dit je boek

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I was drawn to this book by the description and, I have to admit, the gorgeous cover but for me the content did not live up to my expectation. What I did enjoy was the story of May and the colourful characters who make up the members of the floating theatre as they travel down the Ohio River stopping at small towns to give performances to the local people. However, I found the aspect of the book detailing May’s involvement with the ‘underground railway’ unconvincing and a rather lightweight treatment of the issues.

The author has chosen to make her protagonist, May, rather naive, uncomfortable in social situations and someone who takes everything very literally. I was unsure if this was to help explain why May responds as she does to certain events in the narrative or to introduce into the novel a character on the autistic spectrum. However, I did like when May finally learned to suspend her disbelief and become immersed in what she was seeing on the stage in the way Hugo, the theatre owner, hoped she would.

‘But then, rather quickly if the actors are any good, something happens and somehow you drop into the fiction of the Italian countryside, and there you are. You forget all about the people around you because the only people that exist are the actors on stage, and the only world is the world they are playing out for you. You’ve lost yourself in the fiction.’

Clearly, the same thing should happen with a book but I’m afraid, for me, it did not on this occasion because I was frequently coming across things I found implausible or issues I felt were treated too lightly. If you want an entertaining story set on a floating theatre in 19th century America then this is a book to enjoy. The story is well told and there is a lot to like about it. However, if you want to understand the realities of slavery, the abolition movement and the underground railway, then I think you need to look elsewhere. To be fair to the author, maybe this was not the intention of this book.

I received an advance reader copy courtesy of NetGalley and publishers, Bonnier Zaffre, in return for an honest review. [The book is published under the title The Underground River in the US.]

[☕️Kimberly (Caffeinated Reviewer) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conway shares life along the Ohio River in 1838 long before the Civil War would abolish slavery. The Ohio River was a natural boundary between free and slave states. Life along the river was busy from merchants to Steamboats and flatboats transporting goods and people back and forth between the northern and southern states.  Here networks worked to help slaves find freedom, bounty hunters searched for runaways, and slave trade took place. 

Our protagonist May Bedloe a seamstress for her performing cousin, soon finds herself displaced when the steamboat they were aboard sinks. This tragedy has her cousin Comfort working with an abolitionist named Flora Howard. Howard hands May some funds and sends May on her way. May finds work on Hugo and Helena's Floating Theatre. The tale that unfolds pushes May and alters her completely.

The story is rich in detail and meanders along the river at a leisurely pace sharing May's story, the demands of Mrs. Howard and the transformation in May. I loved the inner workings of the theater and the quirky characters on board. May soon finds herself pushed into situations she isn't comfortable.  Her dealings with a horrible woman on board the ship and crossing the river at night to rescue babies drive May out of her comfort zone and mold her into a brave, independent young woman. 

Conway's characters are colorful from Mrs. Howard who seems to point her nose down at you, to a young black woman of fourteen who has seen the darkest side of humanity. The tale unfolds calmly with a few bends in the river, and for some, it may seem to move slowly. However, I found the characters and story to be rich in detail, and the pacing allowed me to savor it.

Hillary Huber narrated the tale and did justice to the story. She captured May's personality and different accents of the period. Her timing and pacing allowed me to slip into the story easily and I will gladly listen to her again.

Audiobook provided by publisher This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[Thebooktrail · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a nation divided by prejudice, everyone must take a side.

Travel to the locations in the novel: Booktrail it to Ohio



This is a very unique premise and setting for a story. The daily life on a showboat floating on the Ohio river, gives a real insight into the coastal small villages and the people who worked on the border of such a political divide. I’ve read other titles about what went on during the times of the underground railway and found this to be a unique angle with the boat moving up and down the river so you could see changes in nearby villages as well as (political ) currents.

The book does focus more on the theatre than on the serious issues of the time though and so it reads quite charmingly and I was enthralled by life on the steamer, the daily rehearsals and shows. The insight into each new town they stopped at and the small insular world on board which mirrored life outside.

This is a fascinating if dark time of history and the fact that the river was so symbolic in the fight and the story did make me want to go and read more. The story is seen and told through May’s eyes, the seamstress on the boat and so her naivety and coming of age story take centre stage so to speak.

And that cover – seemingly hand stitched – was gorgeous.

[Barbara (The Bibliophage) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excerpted from a longer review at TheBibliophage.com.

The main character, May Bedloe, finds herself at loose ends after the steamboat she and her actress cousin are traveling on sinks in the Ohio River. Since she has mad seamstress skills, May finds a job quickly with a troupe that travels and performs on a flatboat. More than two-thirds of the book is the story of May's adjustment to this new life without her overbearing cousin. She must find her niche within the troupe, and is expected to do many things that stretch her comfort zone.

I wish the Underground part of the book had happened sooner and been more absorbing. May is forced to use the boat's travel patterns and location to ferry "packages" across the Ohio. I'm not telling you anything that's not on the book jacket. Those secret journeys just weren't all that suspenseful or plentiful. I wish they'd happened sooner in the story as well.

This was a 2.5/5 star book for me. I'll round it up to 3 because nothing annoyed me, even though that seems awfully sad.

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was able to read a copy from Netgalley in exchange for a review, thank you!

I found this to be a solid 4 star read. I was initially attracted to the setting, a floating theater, how cool is that?! I enjoyed the story as well and felt the characters were wonderfully depicted. I had no idea where the story was going and it got more and more interesting as it neared the end. It also seems to be titled The Underground River.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the moment I read the book description, I wanted to read this book. Martha Conway created a cast of interesting characters and introduced me to the concept of a floating theatre that traveled along the Ohio River entertaining the folks of the small towns along the river. The UK version of this book is titled The Floating Theatre and I think it's a better title than The Underground River because the story revolves around the life of actors and theatre.

I must admit the first third of the story was slow for me. The author's way of introducing each character through flawed physical traits was annoying at times. My imagination was going nuts trying to picture each character and this distracted me. It was only once May, the main character finds work on the Floating Theatre that my interest perked up to the point where I was so invested in the story that I could not put the book down. For this reason, I'm so glad I persisted in reading!

Essentially, I found this to be a coming-of-age story about a young woman who needed to find her own way out of the shadow of her conniving cousin. May learned to make friends, to come out of her shell, and to be courageous in helping others. She finds herself in a difficult predicament and uses her wits. She needs to learn to trust others and she learns what it's like to fall in love for the first time.

How May becomes unwillingly involved in helping runaway slaves happens well into the novel, and I wished it had happened sooner. May grows as a character and I grew to admire her by the end of the novel. She is a survivor. A good-hearted young woman who speaks her mind and relies on her skills to help others. I also liked Hugo, the boat captain.

The Underground River is atmospheric, well-written and captivating once we get past the awkward first descriptions and character introductions. I did love Conway's descriptions of the Ohio River and boat life, however. The smells, sounds and feel of that life came alive beautifully under her penmanship, as did the life of actors in the 19th century.

If you like historical fiction and a cast of distinct characters, The Underground River will immerse you in the life of actors on a floating theatre performing at a time in history when doing what was right was unlawful and unjustified. A good clean read!

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great discovery by my wife. She had an hour to kill in the Port Authority, went to the bookstore there and liked the title of this. This book started slowly when it was my turn, seeming about a proud, introverted orphaned Jane Eyre type who's only interested in dressmaking. I nearly quit. The pace quickened after first quarter. Protagonist May was jolted into an extroverted active life when pressed into service on the Ohio River section of the underground railroad. It accelerated to a long suspenseful climax with resolution in a minor key. Good writing, good syntax, good characters, good atmosphere.

[LAPL Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

The year is 1838. The tensions between the Northern and Southern states over the issue of slavery, which will ultimately culminate in the Civil War in 1861, are roiling. May Bedloe is a young, single woman working as a seamstress. She creates and repairs the costumes worn by her cousin, Comfort Virtue, an actress performing in theatres throughout the Northeastern United States. May and Comfort are travelling on the Moselle, a riverboat making its way along the Ohio River, the natural division between the North and the South. Comfort is performing in one of the riverboat shows. Over dinner Comfort laughed at May, who is contemplating sewing a pigeon feather into the back of one of Comfort’s costumes as an irritant. Before she can do so, an accident causes the Moselle to catch fire and sink. May and Comfort are separated in the chaos, but survive the tragedy. Before May locates her cousin, Comfort is hired to give anti-slavery speeches by Mrs. Flora Howard, a well-known abolitionist. Mrs. Howard explains that Comfort no longer needs costumes, therefore May is no longer needed as a seamstress, and is provided with money to purchase a ticket “home.” May does not have a home, because after her mother died she has travelled with Comfort. When an actor from the Moselle introduces May to Captain Hugo Cushing, the owner and operator of Hugo and Helena’s Floating Theatre, she loans her ticket money to him so that he can make repairs to the floating theatre. In return Captain Cushing hires May to take over some of the duties performed by his sister Helena, who died on the Moselle. Soon May finds herself ensconced on the floating theatre, creating costumes for an entire troupe of actors, accompanying their performances on the piano, and promoting the show in the towns where they dock.

But Mrs. Howard has other plans for May. She twists recent events to her own benefit and coerces May into participating in the Underground Railroad, specifically ferrying newborn babies across the Ohio River from slave states to free states. May, who has never been good at keeping secrets or telling lies, must master both skills to protect herself, her new friends and co-workers, and the lives for which she finds herself responsible.

In The Underground River, Martha Conway takes readers back to a pre-Civil War Ohio River Valley, and places them solidly in the midst of the controversies about slavery. Conway paints a revealing portrait of how limited life for a single woman could be in the early 19th century. Her clear portrayal of daily life during that time period is a reminder of how present life has changed in nearly 150 years. The characters are nicely drawn, specifically May Bledsoe, Captain Hugo Cushing, and the ship’s deck hand Leo, a free black man. The novel starts off with a bang, chronicling the sinking of the Moselle. Afterwards, the book settles into a more gradual pace, allowing for a more leisurely development of the plot and characters. It is also interesting to have the story revolve around a character who is forced into actively participating in the struggle against slavery. While the stakes are high, and several characters will pay dearly for participating in the Underground Railroad’s activities, the end of the book is surprisingly hopeful.


Reviewed by Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch Library

[La Reina Lectora · Rating 3 out of 5]

En realidad, la puntuación sería un 3,5, porque en general la obra me ha gustado mucho. Tiene elementos preciosos, como la atmósfera, ambientación, los personajes, las rutinas de la vida de la gente que se incluyen entre las páginas, lo romántico de la idea de un barco-teatro y sobre todo, la fuerte crítica social sobre el tráfico de esclavos y la necesidad de luchar contra él. Sin embargo, a pesar de que había momentos en los que realmente lo pasabas mal por la situación en que se veía inmiscuida la protagonista, la tensión es un poco plana. El final flojo. Y la historia romántica tenemos que intuirla, sin darnos mucha carnaza.

Ha sido una obra suavecita, que podría haberse intesificado más y quizás por eso no ha llegado a apasionarme. Trata temas que podría haber explotado emocionalmente, pero también es cierto que queda muy bien la forma en que se ha escrito esta historia sin demasiado dramatismo.

Me gusta la idea, el atrezzo y el libro en general. Incluso volvería a releerle.

Valoración completa en: http://lareinalectora.blogspot.com.es...

[Hayley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to say I was drawn in by the gorgeous cover of this book. And when I first started to read it I wasn't sure if it was for me. How utterly wrong I was!

May Bedloe works as her cousins seamstress in the theatre. When the boat they're travelling on has an explosion and a catastrophic mortality rate, May and her cousin Comfort end up parting ways.

May finds work as a seamstress on a floating theatre that travels the Ohio river. Set before the American civil war, slavery is still very much in force, and the divide between the north and south is ever present.

May struggles to understand at first the insidious nature of slavery. Instead she is curious and questioning, not realising how controversial her questions are. However as she travels on and sees things first hand she truly unravels the barbaric trade.

Compelled by an outstanding debt, May becomes secretly entwined in transporting slave passengers to freedom in the North. She then truly realises the dangers of the abolitionists plight and to those who are enslaved.

This book is utterly wonderful. I was genuinely anxious when reading through the chapters where May is covertly ferrying passengers from south to north and couldn't read fast enough to find their fate.

Conway manages to balance the lightness of the theatre stories and weave the tense atmosphere of the slave trade.

A very thought provoking book.

I would like to thank Readers First for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.