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La Crue
Lassée de son mari, Rachel Clayborne, trente-deux ans, fuit l’Illinois en pleine nuit avec son bébé, pour rejoindre le seul endroit qu’elle considère comme un refuge possible : la ferme de sa grand-mère, Maddy, dans le Wisconsin. Mais cette dernière, mourante, veut léguer la maison à son auxiliaire de vie, Diane Bishop, membre de la tribu amérindienne des Ojibwés, expropriée de sa terre par un barrage dont la construction a été imposée par… la famille Clayborne.
Bouleversée par la beauté saisissante du lieu et ses retrouvailles avec son premier amour, Rachel est emportée dans un tourbillon existentiel : doit-elle se battre pour garder la maison de son enfance ? Ou la restituer aux Bishop par souci de justice, comme l’y incitent ses valeurs et sa morale ?
Saga familiale et drame intimiste tissés de magnifiques portraits de femmes, La Crue met en lumière, grâce à une écriture sensible et lyrique, ce que le barrage, symbole de la folie démirugique de l’Homme, a détruit : une nature somptueuse et le mode de vie ojibwé. Parmi le chaos des sentiments et des vies décrites, le roman donne ainsi à entendre la voix d’une rivière qui retrouve son cours. Et c’est peut-être là que réside le vrai sujet : inviter le lecteur à se demander ce que c’est d’être rivière dans la sinuosité de son cours comme dans la violence de ses débordements. Une rivière que Rachel a peut-être suivi et entendu grossir jusqu’à, elle aussi, sortir du cours habituel de sa vie.
Bouleversée par la beauté saisissante du lieu et ses retrouvailles avec son premier amour, Rachel est emportée dans un tourbillon existentiel : doit-elle se battre pour garder la maison de son enfance ? Ou la restituer aux Bishop par souci de justice, comme l’y incitent ses valeurs et sa morale ?
Saga familiale et drame intimiste tissés de magnifiques portraits de femmes, La Crue met en lumière, grâce à une écriture sensible et lyrique, ce que le barrage, symbole de la folie démirugique de l’Homme, a détruit : une nature somptueuse et le mode de vie ojibwé. Parmi le chaos des sentiments et des vies décrites, le roman donne ainsi à entendre la voix d’une rivière qui retrouve son cours. Et c’est peut-être là que réside le vrai sujet : inviter le lecteur à se demander ce que c’est d’être rivière dans la sinuosité de son cours comme dans la violence de ses débordements. Une rivière que Rachel a peut-être suivi et entendu grossir jusqu’à, elle aussi, sortir du cours habituel de sa vie.
448 pages, Paperback
Published April 25, 2019
2 people are currently reading
527 people want to read
About the author
Amy Hassinger
5 books46 followersAmy Hassinger grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, and graduated from Barnard College and the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where she received her MFA in fiction writing. She is the author of three novels: NINA: ADOLESCENCE, THE PRIEST'S MADONNA, and AFTER THE DAM, forthcoming in September 2016. Her writing has been translated into five languages and has won awards from Creative Nonfiction, Publisher’s Weekly, and the Illinois Arts Council. Her work has appeared in numerous venues, including The New York Times, Creative Nonfiction, The Writers’ Chronicle, and The Los Angeles Review of Books. She is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and teaches in the University of Nebraska’s MFA in Writing Program.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
August 9, 2019
La crue est une saga familiale qui casse un peu les codes du genre en mêlant aux secrets de famille une dimension écologique et culturelle.
L’auteure donne plus de poids à son récit en mettant en avant, comme héroïne, une jeune mère en dépression post-partum qui tente de retrouver un sens à sa vie. Ce côté de l’histoire m’a plu malgré de petites longueurs...
L’auteure donne plus de poids à son récit en mettant en avant, comme héroïne, une jeune mère en dépression post-partum qui tente de retrouver un sens à sa vie. Ce côté de l’histoire m’a plu malgré de petites longueurs...
May 16, 2024
I wanted to like this book because I heard the author do a reading of portions of it. I did enjoy the portions she read. But I found the main character, Rachel, to be insufferable in her self-absorption, sarcasm and whininess. I did not find it believable that so many people seemed so attracted to her. The book seemed well researched, and I enjoyed learning about environmental issues, the problems with dams, etc. The end of the book became a page turner. But the characters in the book were not likeable to me, especially Rachel.
March 6, 2018
Read for school
August 2, 2017
Rachel Clayborne becomes disillusioned by her life as a wife and mother. With her dear grandmother dying, the fate of Rachel’s beloved childhood summer home known as the Farm remains uncertain. Rachel, unsure of her stress-ridden domestic situation, flees to the Farm, and her time there with her grandmother and her first love leads Rachel down the path towards finding herself. This review contains spoilers, so if you have not read After the Dam, I recommend stopping here.
I wanted to love this book. After seeing such high ratings and rave reviews from top publications, I began this novel with high expectations. Unfortunately, like the main character, I became very disillusioned with each turning page.
Admittedly, there were some aspects and portions of the book that were well done. The novel was extremely well-written with beautiful diction. Hassinger masterfully provides a strong sense of place for her readers. The portion of the book detailing Rachel’s past before her marriage was interesting for seeing her character develop along with providing some necessary exposition.
Despite some strong points, I couldn’t help but dislike After the Dam. My primary disappointment? Rachel Clayborne. I found myself hating her. She is one of the whiniest protagonists I have ever encountered. I understand that motherhood is difficult, and I sympathized when I started reading. However, as the book progressed her struggles became repetitious complaints.
Rachel complains that her husband, Michael, is condescending and judgmental, which also becomes tedious as the novel continues. At first, this reviewer shared the view that Michael is condescending, but I came to realize that Rachel’s husband is actually an extremely loving, caring individual who is forced to put up with Rachel’s nonsense. The greatest annoyance with this realization: Rachel knows Michael cares but does not communicate her feelings towards him until the very end of the novel! I am left thinking of Rachel as an immature, judgmental person.
Beyond the protagonist, this book moved very slowly and ended with a decision that seemed as if it could have been easily reached sooner. The main conflict in this novel occurs between Rachel and Diane over whether the Farm should stay with the Clayborne family or be turned over to the Native American tribe that Diane belongs to (due to the property originally belonging to Diane’s family). Rather than sit down and discuss it like the adults they are supposed to be, the two dance around the topic and passive aggressively snap at each other, which then caused the book to drag on and on. Then, all of a sudden, everything is patched up with a very simple solution in which the land legally becomes part of the tribe with Rachel as the Farm’s caretaker. I felt that this sort of solution could have been met much earlier in the book without the unnecessary drama. However, if that was the case, then perhaps there would not be a book at all, and such a reliance on unnecessary drama shows narrative weakness.
I also felt that the environmentalist messages in the novel were overpowering. Because the Farm is located near a dam that Rachel’s family built and Rachel’s environmentalist history, much of the novel is spent telling the reader that dams negatively impact river ecosystems. I understand this message and don’t disagree whatsoever. But by the end of the novel, I felt beaten over the head with it. It came to the point of being a distraction for this reader.
Ultimately, I understand why this book is a success. Deep themes regarding motherhood, marriage, love (both romantic and familial), and morality are present. There are parts of this book that I did enjoy, but I could not ignore its deep flaws. I will most likely not read this book again, nor will I recommend it. I can only say that I am glad to be done with this dam book.
I wanted to love this book. After seeing such high ratings and rave reviews from top publications, I began this novel with high expectations. Unfortunately, like the main character, I became very disillusioned with each turning page.
Admittedly, there were some aspects and portions of the book that were well done. The novel was extremely well-written with beautiful diction. Hassinger masterfully provides a strong sense of place for her readers. The portion of the book detailing Rachel’s past before her marriage was interesting for seeing her character develop along with providing some necessary exposition.
Despite some strong points, I couldn’t help but dislike After the Dam. My primary disappointment? Rachel Clayborne. I found myself hating her. She is one of the whiniest protagonists I have ever encountered. I understand that motherhood is difficult, and I sympathized when I started reading. However, as the book progressed her struggles became repetitious complaints.
Rachel complains that her husband, Michael, is condescending and judgmental, which also becomes tedious as the novel continues. At first, this reviewer shared the view that Michael is condescending, but I came to realize that Rachel’s husband is actually an extremely loving, caring individual who is forced to put up with Rachel’s nonsense. The greatest annoyance with this realization: Rachel knows Michael cares but does not communicate her feelings towards him until the very end of the novel! I am left thinking of Rachel as an immature, judgmental person.
Beyond the protagonist, this book moved very slowly and ended with a decision that seemed as if it could have been easily reached sooner. The main conflict in this novel occurs between Rachel and Diane over whether the Farm should stay with the Clayborne family or be turned over to the Native American tribe that Diane belongs to (due to the property originally belonging to Diane’s family). Rather than sit down and discuss it like the adults they are supposed to be, the two dance around the topic and passive aggressively snap at each other, which then caused the book to drag on and on. Then, all of a sudden, everything is patched up with a very simple solution in which the land legally becomes part of the tribe with Rachel as the Farm’s caretaker. I felt that this sort of solution could have been met much earlier in the book without the unnecessary drama. However, if that was the case, then perhaps there would not be a book at all, and such a reliance on unnecessary drama shows narrative weakness.
I also felt that the environmentalist messages in the novel were overpowering. Because the Farm is located near a dam that Rachel’s family built and Rachel’s environmentalist history, much of the novel is spent telling the reader that dams negatively impact river ecosystems. I understand this message and don’t disagree whatsoever. But by the end of the novel, I felt beaten over the head with it. It came to the point of being a distraction for this reader.
Ultimately, I understand why this book is a success. Deep themes regarding motherhood, marriage, love (both romantic and familial), and morality are present. There are parts of this book that I did enjoy, but I could not ignore its deep flaws. I will most likely not read this book again, nor will I recommend it. I can only say that I am glad to be done with this dam book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 2, 2017
The well-done, character-driven book that doesn't deal in pulse-pounding events but gets to the heart of relationships can deliver quiet, thought-provoking satisfaction. "After the Dam," a story about family and marital relations, past lovers, Native American legacies and the outdoors, is a winner. It's a little outside my reading wheelhouse, but I'm glad I read it; I could easily give it four stars as well as three.
Rachel Clayborne, a new mother, has reached a crisis point in her marriage without realizing it. The news that her grandmother (her Grand) is dying at the Wisconsin wilds — the "Farm" at which Rachel spent many happy days as a girl — leads her to impulsively steal away with her little girl in the middle of the night, without so much as a note to her husband.
Rachel had an environmental activist past and is conflicted about Grand's place, which had a dam built upon it after the area was bought (perhaps underhandedly) from Native Americans. Grand's caretaker is part Native and has bitter feelings about her family's loss of the property. Rachel has learned that Grand is planning on leaving the property to her caretaker, so off she goes.
Thrown into this stew is Rachel's ex-boyfriend, who monitors and cares for the dam. Their relationship ended when he went to fight in the first Iraq war against her wishes.
Rachel is confused and a little selfish but finds herself falling in love with the place again, despite her reservations about how her family acquired it. Her initially skittish reunion with her old flame, facially damaged now, deepens as heavy rains threaten the dam.
Hassinger has plotted this baby wonderfully. Not that it's always riveting reading — it isn't —but she has constructed it in a way that moves these relationships along and reveals them as nuanced and believable. She also writes sharply.
Stick with a slightly wobbly first third of the book and you'll be rewarded. Hassinger brings it home like a champ. Readers who like relationship novels about strong women will enjoy this. It's a good "small" novel to insert between heftier reads.
Rachel Clayborne, a new mother, has reached a crisis point in her marriage without realizing it. The news that her grandmother (her Grand) is dying at the Wisconsin wilds — the "Farm" at which Rachel spent many happy days as a girl — leads her to impulsively steal away with her little girl in the middle of the night, without so much as a note to her husband.
Rachel had an environmental activist past and is conflicted about Grand's place, which had a dam built upon it after the area was bought (perhaps underhandedly) from Native Americans. Grand's caretaker is part Native and has bitter feelings about her family's loss of the property. Rachel has learned that Grand is planning on leaving the property to her caretaker, so off she goes.
Thrown into this stew is Rachel's ex-boyfriend, who monitors and cares for the dam. Their relationship ended when he went to fight in the first Iraq war against her wishes.
Rachel is confused and a little selfish but finds herself falling in love with the place again, despite her reservations about how her family acquired it. Her initially skittish reunion with her old flame, facially damaged now, deepens as heavy rains threaten the dam.
Hassinger has plotted this baby wonderfully. Not that it's always riveting reading — it isn't —but she has constructed it in a way that moves these relationships along and reveals them as nuanced and believable. She also writes sharply.
Stick with a slightly wobbly first third of the book and you'll be rewarded. Hassinger brings it home like a champ. Readers who like relationship novels about strong women will enjoy this. It's a good "small" novel to insert between heftier reads.
March 14, 2017
Last night, I finished reading Amy Hassinger’s novel, After the Dam. It was delightful. Everyone who can read should read it.
It is the story of Rachel Clayborne, who in the first chapter loads herself and her baby in the car and drives all night to her grandmother’s farm—without mentioning it to her husband.
It is also the story of a dam—a dam that, when built, submerged an entire town and that generations later is under pressure and in danger of failing. This dam is a symbol of and a parallel to the novel’s protagonist, whose current life as a wife and mother has submerged a previous life, and who is under similar pressure and in similar danger.
Amy Hassinger is a friend and one of my former teachers. I worked with her during my final semester in the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s low residency MFA program. She was an instrumental hand in the late stages of what would become my first novel.
Amy is an attentive teacher and, as After the Dam demonstrates, an attentive writer. The novel’s structure makes it near-impossible to put down. In somewhat-Morrison-style, Hassinger employs shifts in time and perspective (at all the right moments) to apply tension yet delay its release. Also in Morrison-style, the novel is built of memories—the memories of several characters—memories held up like a dam against the oncoming flood.
It is the story of Rachel Clayborne, who in the first chapter loads herself and her baby in the car and drives all night to her grandmother’s farm—without mentioning it to her husband.
It is also the story of a dam—a dam that, when built, submerged an entire town and that generations later is under pressure and in danger of failing. This dam is a symbol of and a parallel to the novel’s protagonist, whose current life as a wife and mother has submerged a previous life, and who is under similar pressure and in similar danger.
Amy Hassinger is a friend and one of my former teachers. I worked with her during my final semester in the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s low residency MFA program. She was an instrumental hand in the late stages of what would become my first novel.
Amy is an attentive teacher and, as After the Dam demonstrates, an attentive writer. The novel’s structure makes it near-impossible to put down. In somewhat-Morrison-style, Hassinger employs shifts in time and perspective (at all the right moments) to apply tension yet delay its release. Also in Morrison-style, the novel is built of memories—the memories of several characters—memories held up like a dam against the oncoming flood.
November 13, 2016
Rachel is the kind of person who leaves her dying grandmother in the bathroom covered in shit because Rachel needs to finish baking her rhubarb pie. She's baking the pie to compensate for taking her infant and leaving her husband in the middle of the night, which... doesn't make it better. To be fair, there are hormones whirling about, caused by having recently pushed a human out of her body (which is just plain barbaric), but she was a melodramatic narcissist before that. I know, because there are some very detailed flashbacks of young Rachel endlessly agonizing over fooling around with a married man for a couple of minutes as if it were some huge transgression (she later berates the guy in front if his wife because DRAMA). And so on and so forth. She creates drama wherever she goes, yet people adore her and her leaky boobs and passionate albeit whimsical ways.
I really did try to conjure up empathy for her, but the pie scene put an end to that (it takes five fucking minutes to toss a rhubarb pie in the oven which makes it a crappy symbol of your quest for perfection Rachel!). The writing was fine and the other characters' perspectives were a welcome reprieve, but it is hard indeed to enjoy a story when you find the main character so utterly exhausting.
I really did try to conjure up empathy for her, but the pie scene put an end to that (it takes five fucking minutes to toss a rhubarb pie in the oven which makes it a crappy symbol of your quest for perfection Rachel!). The writing was fine and the other characters' perspectives were a welcome reprieve, but it is hard indeed to enjoy a story when you find the main character so utterly exhausting.
January 6, 2021
J'ai beaucoup aimé ce roman, même si ça a été un peu dur de se plonger dedans. Comme si l'écriture d'Amy Hassinger me résistait un peu. Il y a cinq parties dans le livre. Et une fois que j'ai passé la partie sur le passé de Rachel, une fois revenue au présent de la fiction j'ai trouvé que tout était plus simple, plus fluide. J'ai adoré les personnages. Précisément parce qu'ils ont tous des côtés très agaçant, voire méchant. Ils essaient de défendre leurs intérêts, ce qu'ils croient être "La vie". Mais ils sont aussi très sensibles et au plus profond d'eux ils n'ont pas vraiment de certitudes. C'est leur point commun. Ils ne savent pas où ils en sont dans leur vies, ils se questionnent sur ce que c'est que "faire ça vie". Qu'est ce que ça veut dire ? Est ce qu'on peut réussir ou échouer à ça? Chaque personnage est en lutte contre lui, et du coup avec les autres. Ils luttent car ils ne savent pas quoi défendre : leurs propres intérêts ou ce qu'ils croient être juste pour les autres? J'ai trouvé ça simplement beau. Et décrit avec subtilité et finesse.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 7, 2017
What an interesting book. Beautifully crafted. I don't understand why this book hasn't made the rounds - I actually got my copy at a talk given by the author.
If you like moral dilemmas, you've struck gold.
This book needs to get out there. Would be an amazing book club read, too. Discussion topics fly off the pages. It's hard when you understand each point of view - just what is right? What is wrong? What is forgivable? What is just plain selfish? Is their a greater good?
Again, if you want to curl up with a good book - search out this one, sit back in your fav reading spot, and take a snack. You won't really want to put it down for something trivial like a meal.
If you like moral dilemmas, you've struck gold.
This book needs to get out there. Would be an amazing book club read, too. Discussion topics fly off the pages. It's hard when you understand each point of view - just what is right? What is wrong? What is forgivable? What is just plain selfish? Is their a greater good?
Again, if you want to curl up with a good book - search out this one, sit back in your fav reading spot, and take a snack. You won't really want to put it down for something trivial like a meal.
January 7, 2022
This is a love story, but it is not focused on a romantic love, but on the rediscovering and reconnecting love of family, self, and community. The author sets all of this in northern Wisconsin where an unyielding rainfall threatens the nearby dam. As the characters work to save the dam and the people in the community, the main character continues to learn more about herself by learning about her community and her family. All of their choices -- past and present-- affect the outcome. This is a highly enjoyable and engaging book all the way through. In many ways it is a story with themes that have been told and retold, yet it is surprisingly revelatory, and a lot of that is due to the caliber of writing and the setting in which it is told. I highly recommend this book
December 25, 2025
A literary novel of environmentalism, indigenous rights, and family saga. Midway in the book is a section of flashback which, while necessary, nonetheless distracts from the flow of the book. Likewise the shifting focus is also not a technique that I care for since it interrupts the narrative flow. My biggest complain is many, many paragraphs of descriptions that I would simply skim. Still the characters are well developed. I wanted to know what happened to each of them. The ending was very believable.
June 30, 2017
“It seemed that they were running down the knife edge of time, both surrounded by and creating the pulsing, tremulous unfolding of it, striving to touch it, hold it, taste it even as it passed into memory.”
*
Amy's novel is about a young mother who suddenly runs away from her husband to visit her grandma at her childhood home. There, the mother reconnects with a long-ago ex, questions her marriage, and gets involved in an emotional dispute over family land….
*
Amy's novel is about a young mother who suddenly runs away from her husband to visit her grandma at her childhood home. There, the mother reconnects with a long-ago ex, questions her marriage, and gets involved in an emotional dispute over family land….
June 1, 2022
Amy Hassinger is a thoughtful and intense writer. The story is line is that a mother leaves her husband and travels with her baby to her grandmother's lake house. Things get complicated when she is trying to find some calm and restorative time in a place where her childhood memories were more simple. Hassinger write boldly about the essence of motherhood and choices women make along the way. The answers are not easy but feel real. (read in 2020).
April 6, 2023
Le temps que j’ai mis à lire ce roman en dit long…
Je n’ai pas du tout apprécié ce livre, il y a beaucoup trop de descriptions inutiles à mon sens. Peu d’actions. Les dialogues sont creux, et la fin décevante à mon goût car elle laisse le lecteur avec bcp trop de questions sans réponses…
Cependant je suis peut être passé à côté de cette lecture et je laisse donc chacun se faire son avis sur ce livre !
Je n’ai pas du tout apprécié ce livre, il y a beaucoup trop de descriptions inutiles à mon sens. Peu d’actions. Les dialogues sont creux, et la fin décevante à mon goût car elle laisse le lecteur avec bcp trop de questions sans réponses…
Cependant je suis peut être passé à côté de cette lecture et je laisse donc chacun se faire son avis sur ce livre !
January 16, 2020
A story about not being able to move into the future until you go back and deal with the past.
January 13, 2025
J'ai dû abandonner. Ça ne m'arrive pas souvent. La traduction en français n'est pas très bonne à mon avis. L'histoire ne m'a pas assez intéressé pour surmonter le problème.
March 9, 2017
Very well written. Different ending. Recommended reading.
I received this book free from Goodreads First Reads.
I received this book free from Goodreads First Reads.
October 1, 2016
Hassinger writes a compelling story of a woman, Rachel, who is torn between her political beliefs and the world she confronts: motherhood, the death of a beloved grandmother, the loss of her family farm, an old love coming back from the war, and her endearing, very upstanding husband. Woven into these details are the current issues of native lands and ownership, environmental issues and her desire for roots in a landscape that is so rich, it almost has a beating heart. Rachel's tumultuous emotions rush to the surface when her politics or her loves are threatened. Finally, old historical wounds and current thinking converge to create an ending that is like unleashing a dam.
September 17, 2016
It made me angry at certain parts because of Rachel's blatant artogance and disregard for Joe's military service and his belief system. She reminded me a spoiled rich girl who couldn't understand a different perspective. The ending held something to be desired.
I do give this 4 stars, because it is beautifully written and the characters are developed well. I may not have enjoyed the characters, but writing was beautiful.
I do give this 4 stars, because it is beautifully written and the characters are developed well. I may not have enjoyed the characters, but writing was beautiful.
December 2, 2016
"After the Dam" begins when Rachel has gotten a call from her father asking her to go to her Grand's house and find out what she is going to do with it- he thinks she is going to give it to her friend/nurse Diane instead of keeping it in the family. Rachel is married with a newborn, and her husband, Michael, has said they should boycott her Grand's house because it is land that should have been given to or kept by the Native Americans. She tells him about her father's call, but he says she shouldn't go. Her Grand is dying rapidly, and late at night, when she is up with the baby Dierdre, she suddenly feels a call to go to the house she used to love and make sure her Grand meets her daughter before she dies. She drives up there alone and begins to reconnect with herself.
It's a slow moving and somewhat depressing book. Rachel has lost her connection to herself and slowly picks through her memories and feelings until she begins to put herself back together. It's a bit of a post mortem on her past relationships and an analysis of how her relationship with Michael began. We begin in the present and go to the past before going back to the present. Joe and Michael are the themes that color her experiences and shaped her sense of self; it is a slow discovery of their histories up to and including the present. It was a very thoughtful story and I think you need to be in the right frame of mind to really get into it.
As a heads up, the ending is pretty open (I won't say how to avoid spoilers), but for people who like things wrapped up clearly, this book would not be for you. Overall, it's a slow, pensive story about the discovery of how a woman lost and then found herself again. Please note that I received this book from a goodreads giveaway. All opinions are my own.
It's a slow moving and somewhat depressing book. Rachel has lost her connection to herself and slowly picks through her memories and feelings until she begins to put herself back together. It's a bit of a post mortem on her past relationships and an analysis of how her relationship with Michael began. We begin in the present and go to the past before going back to the present. Joe and Michael are the themes that color her experiences and shaped her sense of self; it is a slow discovery of their histories up to and including the present. It was a very thoughtful story and I think you need to be in the right frame of mind to really get into it.
As a heads up, the ending is pretty open (I won't say how to avoid spoilers), but for people who like things wrapped up clearly, this book would not be for you. Overall, it's a slow, pensive story about the discovery of how a woman lost and then found herself again. Please note that I received this book from a goodreads giveaway. All opinions are my own.
December 21, 2016
I love how this book moves. It's not as fast at first, spinning richness as threads begin wandering through everything. When a crack suddenly forms, it's huge and fast and everything is unleashed in a matter of moments. It carries the reader, and everything else. It's just so interesting how the events correlated to the reading experience, but it works wonderfully well. The result is a marvelous book.
October 1, 2016
I loved this book. I could not put it down (which says a lot for a new mom with not a lot of free time!). I just did not want it to end-- I wanted to keep living with these complex, well-developed characters and see where they would take me. The author really understands and describes the new life that begins after motherhood. My one criticism--I wish the book was about 100 pages longer- I was yearning for some scenes to be longer. My overall, lasting impression of the book are the beautiful, poetic descriptions--the metaphors and similes. I would go through and earmark those pages, because the descriptions were so beautiful and vivid. Such as, ". . . the thick woods shaded them, exhaling a dampness that cooled their skin as they walked." ; ". . . her white hair a cone of cotton candy spun wildly about her scalp." ; ". . . and their skin is a kind of color you have never seen before on land, a red-brown color that catches the sunlight, and reflects it back in this swirly way, like an oil slick without the pollution."
Overall--a real page-turner with complex, well-developed characters! A great read!
Overall--a real page-turner with complex, well-developed characters! A great read!
November 16, 2016
Hassinger's After the Dam is an engrossing story, the story of Rachel, new to motherhood, who returns to her grandmother's house in Wisconsin. She goes there ambivalent about her role as wife and mother and conflicted about the strong feelings she still has for an unfinished relationship in her past. But when she shows up, her grandmother is dying and not always coherent, her grandmother's nurse is plotting to take the land back from Rachel's family, and her ex-boyfriend is not the lover she left long ago. While dealing with these internal struggles, Rachel reconnects with her love of the land, a place unfairly acquired from native Indians by her ancestors in order to build a dam. This land and dam almost become characters themselves in the story. Deftly the author writes parallel narratives, one about the people inhabiting the land, another about the land itself. As the tension builds between present reality and the past Rachel remembers, so too does the tension mount between nature and the man-made dam as rain threatens to destroy it. A finely crafted novel, I found it hard to put down and even harder to say good-bye to when I finished.
October 24, 2016
Once I began this book, I could not stop reading.
Hassinger's descriptions are vivid, whether she's depicting the lake front property owned by the grandmother, a party in Maine, or the main character's anxiety about her identity as a new mother. The main character Rachel is authentic even about the conflicts in her life; her role as a mother and wife, choices she made, her work. But with a gentle hand, the author showed how Rachel and Diane (another main character) faced their realities and changed. To me, that is the mark of a great story.
I’d like to say this is a top choice to read on a rainy day. But given that the climax of the book takes place during a major thunderstorm and Hassinger’s descriptions are so intense and believable, pick a nice day to read this. I recommended this to our book club and am looking forward to the discussion.
Hassinger's descriptions are vivid, whether she's depicting the lake front property owned by the grandmother, a party in Maine, or the main character's anxiety about her identity as a new mother. The main character Rachel is authentic even about the conflicts in her life; her role as a mother and wife, choices she made, her work. But with a gentle hand, the author showed how Rachel and Diane (another main character) faced their realities and changed. To me, that is the mark of a great story.
I’d like to say this is a top choice to read on a rainy day. But given that the climax of the book takes place during a major thunderstorm and Hassinger’s descriptions are so intense and believable, pick a nice day to read this. I recommended this to our book club and am looking forward to the discussion.
October 9, 2016
This is a beautiful novel. I was immediately drawn into the story with its many layers, all spanning complicated relationships with spouses, motherhood, family, the past, and place that show how every choice has its consequences. Amy Hassinger creates characters that are real -- flawed and sympathetic, and a place that is vivid in its landscape, history, and importance to the story. With carefully crafted prose, the author weaves a quiet thread of suspense throughout the narrative, establishing nature as a powerful force in shaping our personal stories.
January 13, 2017
I loved this book cover to cover. It held my interest until the end. It is essentially about a women who goes thru a post baby depression and starts to wonder if her life would have been different if....Not wanting to give too much away, It starts in the present and then goes thru her life from child to adult setting up for the rest of the story. This is an author that I look forward to reading again and again. It's a story of family, loves lost and about going back and trying your life over. Believe me when I say bravo Amy Hassinger,BRAVO!
April 15, 2016
Rachel takes her infant daughter and goes to her grandmother's farm in Wisconsin. She is determined to find out who she is, not just a wife and mother. She finds her grandmother not well and the farm in peril from an old earthen dam that is in danger of collapse. This is a story of lost love, family secrets and personal growth. Well written, you are immediately drawn into Rachel's world and invested in her life. I'm not familiar with Amy Hassinger's books but I enjoyed this one.
July 24, 2016
The natural world is so much more than setting in Amy Hassinger’s new novel. River and forest, sturgeon and eagles, and three generations of conflicted and intertwined families join forces in this powerful story. Hassinger’s lush prose and nuanced themes of stewardship of our children, our selves, and the earth make this literary page-turner a must-read.
October 31, 2016
I loved this book! The story was woven together perfectly. The characters were so real and every one of them had a motivation I could understand. It was a very intelligent story, but accessible/easy to read as well. Will recommend this to everyone.
December 13, 2016
This is a masterfully written story about life. I won't say more because you need to read it but it is a page turner. Set aside time to dedicate to reading this book. It will be time well spent. The language use is beautiful and the story so well crafted.
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