Rating: 
Summary: Exciting turn-of-century-western novel; fine sense of place!
Review: River of Our Return, by Gladys Smith, is an obviously well-researched novel of pioneer days in Idaho's Salmon River country. It will be savored by readers of any age or gender for it's fine descriptive passages depicting everyday life in a time and place where mere survival was a constant battle. I found the language and lyrical imagery to be most successful in carrying the reader along with the characters (in an at-times desperate fight against nature and fellow men). The author shows subtle skill in describing the landscape, the river, the animals, and above all the simple home surroundings and implements used by her characters in their daily lives. Seasonal changes and natural phenomena were depicted in a way that really drew the reader into the story. I was entranced by the author's skillful portrayal of the drama and challenge of pioneer times. Finally, I was delighted to enjoy a story that successfully ignores the overworked stereotypes of youth and beauty in its protagonists! Here are real people of character, strength and determination . . . and the reader avidly follows their story with the hope that their bonding together and exposure to great personal danger will lead to the triumph and resolution of loneliness as well as to the healing of the boy Toby's painful early childhood history.
Rating: 
Summary: good book, but dissapointing
Review: The book is reasonably good. but a bit decptive in the title. Only about 1/3 of the book is actualy about rafting on the river. The river is known as the Salmon, nicknamed the river of no return because of the rapids and waterfalls that make it a one-way river.
Rating:
Summary: Warm and touching, made me cry...I loved it.
Review: Though this is an historical novel, its themes are timeless. The simple search for human connectedness is beautifully drawn here. Smith is a gifted writer with a real ear for language. I hope she writes many more wonderful stories! It was especially great to meet such a strong female character as Hattie. The wilderness settings really came alive for me too. I hated to see it end!
| 
