Eine Milchfarm in Kanada 1966. Die Familie Ward lebt dort sehr glücklich, trotz aller Widrigkeiten, die das Farmleben so mit sich bringt. Die Mutter Nettie hätte für ihre Söhne eigentlich andere Pläne, würde ihren begabten Sohn Boyer gern an der Uni sehen. Der Vater Gus ist Analphabet und Bildung für ihn wenig wichtig. Ingesamt aber ist die Familie glücklich und voller Liebe. Da trifft der junge River, ein amerikanischer Vietnam-Verweigerer auf der Farm als Hilfsarbeiter ein. Er bezaubert alle durch sein schlichtes, aufrichtiges, gutes Wesen. Doch leider nimmt damit auch eine unglückselige Verkettung ihren Lauf.
Das ist eigentlich eine schöne Geschichte und die vielen positiven Bewertungen bei Amazon zeigen, dass sie auch vielen gefällt. Mich haben die vielen Andeutungen darauf, das etwas Schlimmes geschehen würde, gestört. Ich hätte es beser gefunden, wenn die Geschichte einfach erzählt worden wäre, ohne sie künstlich zu dramatisieren. Das Ende fand ich dann viel zu dick aufgetragen. Erst sieht man sich 34 Jahre gar nicht, dann liegen sich alle, einschließlich neuer Familienmitglieder in den Armen.
Fazit: Ähnlich wie bei "Der Tag, als Marilyn starb" der gleichen Autorin, gelingt es ihr hier, gute Charaktere zu schaffen und eine gute Geschichte zu kreieren. Der Erzählstil war auch dort voller Andeutungen auf etwas Schlimmes, was in beiden Büchern unnötig ist und den Erzählfluss eher stört. Das hätte sie in beiden Büchern lassen können. Sie sollte einfach ihre Geschichten erzählen und auf all diese Rück- und Vorblenden verzichten. ( )

This is a book that held such promise - a small dairy farm in British Columbia near the US Border. It's 1966. A stranger comes to the farm to work, a young man against the Vietnam war, fleeing the draft. He's a charmer; everyone seems to fall in love with him, not just Natalie, the 15 year-old daughter, but EVeryone.

The story is told by an adult Natalie, thirty-some years later, trying to sort out how her family was so badly broken by the events of that summer of '66 and the two years following. There is a lot of stuff in here about very dysfunctional families, innocence lost, rape, acts of hate and intolerance, pregnancies out of wedlock, a myriad of misunderstandings. Geeze, what a tangled web we weave. And all these elements should have made for a really gripping story. But instead the narrative seems to lumber along in jerky starts, stops, and flashbacks. And as it nears its conclusion it just gets sappier and syrupy-er (is that a word?) and more and more unbelievable in its determination to make everyone live happily ever after (except for one particularly despicable villain). I can't believe I kept on reading to that highly unlikely and sappy end. But I did, and it left me feeling kinda suckered and dumb.

This is a book for women who like romances with clearly defined villains and persevering heroines. It's not that the writing is bad, it's just that the story becomes much too contrived and, well, sappy. Too Hallmark, if you will, or maybe Lifetime even. Nope. ( )

Review for the abridged audio CD.

Having read the many glowing reviews for this book, I am thinking that by 'reading' the abridged audio version I may have short-changed myself. I did enjoy it, but it wasn't really a five star listen; perhaps it lost something in the depth of its characterisations or description. It was beautifully read by Patricia Rodruiguez, I have no criticism of the narration, just of the abridgement.

July 1966: 16 year old Natalie Ward notices a young blond man coming up her drive, carrying a guitar case. River Jordan is a conscientious objector, a draft dodger, avoiding American conscription into the Vietnam War. He has strong beliefs regarding war and has come to earn a meagre wage on the Ward's farm rather than go off to kill men he doesn't know and has no quarrel with. His arrival shakes the farm and everyone falls in love with him in one way or another.

Time then jumps and Natalie is an adult, living far away from home - what has happened to cause this rift? Why is Natallie so hesitant to return to her home town and her beloved brother, Boyer?
As her mother nears death, Natalie must face her demons and return.
Gradually we learn about the events from 1966 to 1968 and why she is so haunted by that time.

I have another book by Donna Milner on my shelves - The Promise of Rain, this one I shall definitely read in unabridged hard copy. ( )

This is one of those books that stayed with me for days. The characters are so well-written and real that I felt if I could only find their phone numbers, I could give them a call and catch up with how they're doing now. The story begins in 1960s Canada, just a few miles from the U.S. border, with Natalie and her mother doing the wash on the porch of their farmhouse. Natalie's parents have a dairy farm and 400 acres of land at the base of the Cascade Mountains that sounds like heaven on earth. The farm is hard work, though, for the whole family, including Natalie's three brothers. The hired hand has just quit, and so Natalie's mother Nettie has decided to employ an American young man who has fled to Canada to avoid the Vietnam War. He is 20, beautiful to look at, a gentle soul, and his name is Richard, nickname River. He becomes a part of the family and also a part of the tragic events that change their lives. There is a slow build to Natalie's re-telling of what happened that tore her family apart, but when it happens, it is emotional and riveting. Excellent book. ( )

Loved this book set n the 60's. Sympathetic portrait of a draft dodger who arrives at a farm in BC and has a profound influence on the family. ( )