All Rivers Run Free by Natasha Carthew

I have to admit to being intrigued when All Rivers Run Free by Natasha Carthew (riverrun) arrived I was not sure what to think. It is the story of a damaged sole in Ia Pendilly who is living in a caravan on the Cornish coast with her husband is nothing short of brutal. This is a story that that has a unique and raw. There is a heartbreaking storyline and Carthew has a unique writing style.

A futuristic world ravaged by floods and armed gangs roam and storm after storm is battering the country. People are trying to survive day by day and the rule of law has broken down. Ia is frightened to leave as she no longer knows the country that was her home and she is scared of her brute of a husband Bran. The Cornish coast is their home.
Ia walks the coastline collecting shells and then one day she finds a young girl washed up on the shoreline and the little girl is rescued. What Ia does not realise is that this little girl will waken Ia and rescue her in return. She recalls her younger sister Evie and now wants to find Evie, she is out there somewhere in a world that has changed because of floods and armed gangs. But Ia has woken and her journey is about to begin. Memories of a family and her sister will take her in danger and she will face her past, present and future.
Natasha Carthew’s writing is nothing short of lyrical and also unusual but a story that deserves to be read. The tone may be tender and heartbreaking but compelling. There is so much written into the storyline that I believe it would be the perfect book group discussion novel. A story of a young woman locked into a world she does not want to be part of with memories of a past and communities living through their own rules to survive. A story with very few characters but this is a story that does not need a long cast. A bleak, rugged and atmospheric novel. Beautifully written.

288 Pages.

Thank you Ana McLaughlin at Quercus Books for the review copy of All Rivers Run Free by Ana McLaughlin

All Rivers Run Free is published by Riverrun and was published on 19^th April 2018 and is available through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop.