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Dark River
Doggerland, 6200 BC. As rivers rise, young mother Shaye follows her family to a sacred oak grove, hoping that an ancient ritual will save their way of life.
London, AD 2156. In a city ravaged by the rising Thames, Shante hopes for a visa that will allow her to flee with her four-year-old son to the more prosperous north.
Two mothers, more than 8,000 years apart, struggle to save their children from a bleak future as the odds stack against them.
At the sacred oak grove, Shaye faces a revelation that cuts to the core of who she is; in the wilderness of the edgelands, Shante finds herself unprepared for the challenges and dangers that surround them at every turn.
As Shaye and Shante desperately try to hold their families together in the face of disaster, these two young mothers uncover a terrifying truth: that it is impossible to protect the ones they love.
London, AD 2156. In a city ravaged by the rising Thames, Shante hopes for a visa that will allow her to flee with her four-year-old son to the more prosperous north.
Two mothers, more than 8,000 years apart, struggle to save their children from a bleak future as the odds stack against them.
At the sacred oak grove, Shaye faces a revelation that cuts to the core of who she is; in the wilderness of the edgelands, Shante finds herself unprepared for the challenges and dangers that surround them at every turn.
As Shaye and Shante desperately try to hold their families together in the face of disaster, these two young mothers uncover a terrifying truth: that it is impossible to protect the ones they love.
331 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2019
About the author
Rym Kechacha
6 books21 followersRym Kechacha is a writer and teacher from London. She is the author of Dark River (2020, shortlisted for two British Fantasy Awards) and To Catch a Moon (2022) An omnivorous reader, she writes speculative fiction and is inspired by mythology, nature and art.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 4, 2020
3.5 stars
I'm not sure if I should round up or down.
The structure of the story reminded my a lot of Maja Lunde's Klimakvartetten series: two similiar fates told in two different timelines against the backdrop of climate change. Here it was one mother in the Neolithic age, and one in a future England. Other than with Lunde the two stories stay separated till the end. And I think it is that missing link that prevented me from fully enjoying the book.
The similarities of the two plotlines are quite obvious on the surface. Both mothers have similar sounding names, both flee a dooming rise/polution of their rivers with their sisters (with similar names) and their young sons (with similar names) while leaving an elder relative behind. Both are looking for their husbands at the end of their journey.
Both plots deal with a deep connection with nature. In the Neolithic Age the people are used to live with the land, in the future timeline the city dwellers have to rediscover this alien-to-them environment.
The stories are told in a straight A to B way in a sure prose that makes you care for the characters. The appeal of the book lies more in the possibility of immersion into the psyches of the two mothers and their struggle against the odds than in a suspensefully told plot. Some of the proceedings felt a bit simplistic, but the overall impression is a positive one.
Rym Kechacha delivered a solid debut novel and I will certainly pick up the next book by her to see how she develops as a writer.
I nearly forgot, cause at the end I got used to it: There are no quotation marks, which was annoying. This decision didn't add anything to the story, yet made it in the beginning unnecessarily confusing to read it. And now I remember that I told myself that I will subtract one star for this.
So it ends up with 3 stars, but with very good 3 stars and a new author whom I will look out for.
I'm not sure if I should round up or down.
The structure of the story reminded my a lot of Maja Lunde's Klimakvartetten series: two similiar fates told in two different timelines against the backdrop of climate change. Here it was one mother in the Neolithic age, and one in a future England. Other than with Lunde the two stories stay separated till the end. And I think it is that missing link that prevented me from fully enjoying the book.
The similarities of the two plotlines are quite obvious on the surface. Both mothers have similar sounding names, both flee a dooming rise/polution of their rivers with their sisters (with similar names) and their young sons (with similar names) while leaving an elder relative behind. Both are looking for their husbands at the end of their journey.
Both plots deal with a deep connection with nature. In the Neolithic Age the people are used to live with the land, in the future timeline the city dwellers have to rediscover this alien-to-them environment.
The stories are told in a straight A to B way in a sure prose that makes you care for the characters. The appeal of the book lies more in the possibility of immersion into the psyches of the two mothers and their struggle against the odds than in a suspensefully told plot. Some of the proceedings felt a bit simplistic, but the overall impression is a positive one.
Rym Kechacha delivered a solid debut novel and I will certainly pick up the next book by her to see how she develops as a writer.
I nearly forgot, cause at the end I got used to it: There are no quotation marks, which was annoying. This decision didn't add anything to the story, yet made it in the beginning unnecessarily confusing to read it. And now I remember that I told myself that I will subtract one star for this.
So it ends up with 3 stars, but with very good 3 stars and a new author whom I will look out for.
February 20, 2020
A truly excellent story of two mothers, separated only by time, as they try to get their young sons away from encroaching environmental catastrophe. It is as devastating as that sounds, yet saves the reader from absolute despair by being utterly human and soul-searingly tender. A heady mixture of hope and fear courses through the whole novel, such that having finished it I definitely need a lie down- but the ride was well worth it.
February 23, 2020
Wow, this book.
Dark River tells the tales of two women, separated by millennia but whose struggles eerily echo one another's as they both embark on perilous migrations in the face of environmental disaster. Shaye is a Neolithic woman whose tribe is concerned at the way the waters of their plenty time place have begun to run from instead of to the ocean, fouling the water and driving away game. When an initiate of the sacred oak grove where they usually winter comes asking them to make the pilgrimage early, so they may try to appease the spirits with a grand ritual, Shaye willingly agrees, as it seems her best chance at being reunited with Marl, the man she loves and father of her son, Ludi.
In an England some decades from now, Shante is waiting for the visas that will allow her family to join her husband up in a northern city safer from the ravages of the rising seas. When the visas finally come through, she and her sister Grainne and her son Locke prepare to leave the world they've always known... only to find that greater danger awaits them on their path than in the crumbling city they'd left behind.
I finished reading Dark River while on a weekend trip at 4 a.m. and immediately wanted to call my husband to have him wake the kids so I could tell them I love them. Of course, since it was ridiculous o'clock and no one at home would have appreciated the gesture, I did not. Now, I am ordinarily quite susceptible to books making me want to be more loving towards my kids, but this book made my heart hurt in a new way. I imagine it's how people who enjoyed Cormac McCarthy's The Road felt. For the record, I thought The Road was self-congratulatory nonsense: Dark River, on the other hand, showcases the love of a person for her family, and especially her child, without turning it into an unsightly display of wallowing masochism, even in the face of terrible odds.
And that, I think, is why Dark River hurt me so much, because it drives home the fact that there are no guarantees. There are only so many things we can do to safeguard our families. So many things are out of our hands, making it even more important for us to tell the people we love that we love them while we can. And for all that, Dark River isn't a book without hope. It's still important to try, to use the lessons of the past in order to keep surviving.
My only quibble with the novel was with the end of Shante's story. I was surprised that her thoughts turned to her dad instead of her son, given the circumstances. Perhaps she wanted to take her mind off her grief, but it felt like an oddly abrupt change of subject given what we knew of her. I did however very much like how the narratives weren't entirely in lockstep, with the differences only making each character feel that much more realistic and relatable.
Dark River is Rym Kechacha's debut novel and is just an absolute masterpiece of speculative eco-fiction. To read more about this terrific novel, check out the other sites on the blog tour listed in the handy infographic at TheFrumiousConsortium.net.
Dark River tells the tales of two women, separated by millennia but whose struggles eerily echo one another's as they both embark on perilous migrations in the face of environmental disaster. Shaye is a Neolithic woman whose tribe is concerned at the way the waters of their plenty time place have begun to run from instead of to the ocean, fouling the water and driving away game. When an initiate of the sacred oak grove where they usually winter comes asking them to make the pilgrimage early, so they may try to appease the spirits with a grand ritual, Shaye willingly agrees, as it seems her best chance at being reunited with Marl, the man she loves and father of her son, Ludi.
In an England some decades from now, Shante is waiting for the visas that will allow her family to join her husband up in a northern city safer from the ravages of the rising seas. When the visas finally come through, she and her sister Grainne and her son Locke prepare to leave the world they've always known... only to find that greater danger awaits them on their path than in the crumbling city they'd left behind.
I finished reading Dark River while on a weekend trip at 4 a.m. and immediately wanted to call my husband to have him wake the kids so I could tell them I love them. Of course, since it was ridiculous o'clock and no one at home would have appreciated the gesture, I did not. Now, I am ordinarily quite susceptible to books making me want to be more loving towards my kids, but this book made my heart hurt in a new way. I imagine it's how people who enjoyed Cormac McCarthy's The Road felt. For the record, I thought The Road was self-congratulatory nonsense: Dark River, on the other hand, showcases the love of a person for her family, and especially her child, without turning it into an unsightly display of wallowing masochism, even in the face of terrible odds.
And that, I think, is why Dark River hurt me so much, because it drives home the fact that there are no guarantees. There are only so many things we can do to safeguard our families. So many things are out of our hands, making it even more important for us to tell the people we love that we love them while we can. And for all that, Dark River isn't a book without hope. It's still important to try, to use the lessons of the past in order to keep surviving.
My only quibble with the novel was with the end of Shante's story. I was surprised that her thoughts turned to her dad instead of her son, given the circumstances. Perhaps she wanted to take her mind off her grief, but it felt like an oddly abrupt change of subject given what we knew of her. I did however very much like how the narratives weren't entirely in lockstep, with the differences only making each character feel that much more realistic and relatable.
Dark River is Rym Kechacha's debut novel and is just an absolute masterpiece of speculative eco-fiction. To read more about this terrific novel, check out the other sites on the blog tour listed in the handy infographic at TheFrumiousConsortium.net.
June 22, 2020
A fascinating account of two mothers separated by 8000 years of time but united by the experience of climate change induced sea level rise. Shaye and Shante set out on parallel journeys in pursuit of the promise of a better future (or just a future). Kechacha describes the distant past and the near future with convincing attention to detail, evoking the priorities of the young mothers, the bewilderment and despair within their disrupted communities and the indifferent juggernaut of nature.
I wrote a fuller review on the Fantasy Hive website which you can find here
I wrote a fuller review on the Fantasy Hive website which you can find here
November 19, 2023
*Shaye sneaks a glance at where it lies, hidden behind the trees. Don't come to meet us, Shaye asks the river spirit. We'll come to you*
In roughly around 6200BC Shaye and her family are experiencing something her or her kin has never had to deal with before and although life is simple and usually very easy until a darkess settled over them, they are forced to seek answers from a special place to find out why things are changing and whether the spirits will do something to help.
*For the rest of the day, there is a feeling in the air around them that Charlie is with them, it's as if she's conjured his quiet presence by telling stories like a magic spell*
Shante had finally got her visas to join her husband in the city where it is safe from the dying world that is all around her now. Once she is on the train travelling inch by inch to Zeb, it isn't until she is walking for her lifs that her reasons for living change and the material man made objects and distractions dissappear.
There two stories were amazing!
In roughly around 6200BC Shaye and her family are experiencing something her or her kin has never had to deal with before and although life is simple and usually very easy until a darkess settled over them, they are forced to seek answers from a special place to find out why things are changing and whether the spirits will do something to help.
*For the rest of the day, there is a feeling in the air around them that Charlie is with them, it's as if she's conjured his quiet presence by telling stories like a magic spell*
Shante had finally got her visas to join her husband in the city where it is safe from the dying world that is all around her now. Once she is on the train travelling inch by inch to Zeb, it isn't until she is walking for her lifs that her reasons for living change and the material man made objects and distractions dissappear.
There two stories were amazing!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 28, 2023
It was a beautiful twist in stories, with people completely with their flaws and insecurities and misjudgments. As the story unfolds they start to grow on you, and you start to join in on their sentiments and their hopes and dreams.
Though I did feel it was a women’s book (about childbearing and love for your children, but also with lots of emotions), it was not a overly sweet book, and it had some rather ugly twists in the end. It held me gripped till the ens!
Though I did feel it was a women’s book (about childbearing and love for your children, but also with lots of emotions), it was not a overly sweet book, and it had some rather ugly twists in the end. It held me gripped till the ens!
February 27, 2020
A wonderful read vividly brought to life through eloquent descriptions. Full of pace and suspense because you genuinely care about what happens to the characters, two mothers seperated by thousands of years but both fighting for survival as rising river floods change the shape of their worlds.
April 15, 2024
This is a beautifully written and very moving novel about community, motherhood, nature and the challenges of climate change. I particularly enjoyed how the people of Doggerland were imagined - this world drew me in and felt utterly convincing, which is no mean feat when there's so much we don't know about these early societies. A wonderful novel which I've been thinking about since finishing it and I suspect I will for some time to come.
April 12, 2025
A dark but compelling story. Would have given it 4.5🌟 but the absence of speech marks detracted rather than benefitted the reader
May 26, 2023
A beautifully written and imagined pair of tales, reflecting on each other and on central themes of calamity, motherhood, and inevitability. In one half we find ourselves in the not-distant-enough future where British society has collapsed into small city-states amid the climate breakdown, with the countryside abandoned. A mother takes her child northwards to escape the rising floodwaters and collapsing infrastructure of the capital. In the other half we find ourselves some 6000 years in the past on Doggerland. As the seawater rises to consume the landbridge, a mother follows her tribe to a sacred meeting place where the gathered people debate what to do about the oncoming waters. Both stories are written with deep humanity and empathy, and show a lovely throughline of family in the face of apocalypse. It is a timely reminded that we are not the only ones whose world has ended. Melancholic but affirming and somewhat hypnotising. I love the depictions of hunter-gather life and the clear reverence for nature.
Loses the fifth star mainly for not using speech marks; these exist for a reason and I don’t think I’ve ever been impressed by their absence, only annoyed.
Loses the fifth star mainly for not using speech marks; these exist for a reason and I don’t think I’ve ever been impressed by their absence, only annoyed.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews