Peace Like a River

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this book at the recommendation of my cousin, Martha. When I looked it up on Goodreads, I found that other of my friends had read it as well. I LOVED it!
The themes of this book were family loyalty, faith and love in conflict with choosing the right. There was a constant struggle inside Reuben and his father, especially. I came to love his father- and put him on my short list of literary heroes. I would love to read the same story from his perspective. This book kind of reminded me of To Kill a Mockingbird. Much like Scout, we see the story through the eyes of a child, in this case Reuben, and come to know the father through the child's eyes.
Actually, we see the entire story only through the eyes of our narrator, an eleven-year-old, severely asthmatic boy, Reuben. Through him, we come to love each of the members of his family: his eight-year old sister, Swede, his father who is so full of faith, his brother, Davy, and later Roxanna. When you finish reading you feel you know each of these characters intimately and would love them to grace your home. That was what I loved most about the book- the characterization.
This book is so well written. I loved the style of writing and use of comparisons and metaphors that caused "Ah ha!" moments. "I know just what he means!" It also has amazing cowboy poetry written by Swede.
It is refreshing to read a book so full of warmth, faith, and sacrifice within a family. Though the story is tragic, the overall feeling of the book is one of faith and love. I highly recommend this book.

View all my reviews