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Texas novelist Jim Ainsworth has hit a literary home run with his evocative second novel, Rivers Crossing. His stirring descriptions of the hardscrabble life of the Rivers family in the 1950's present a time and place that seem to be populated with living, breathing folks. Ainsworth's characters are complex, colorful and unforgettable. Let’s hear more from Jake Rivers.
-- Alice Reese, entertainment writer for Greenville Herald Banner
This book kept me interested from the first page. I never wanted to put it down...
even at the end.--Texas Literature teacher Ellen Oats
Characters are beautifully evoked through action, dialogue and sentence structure/rhythm. Everything is believable and compelling. The style is distinctive--a freshness and skill prevail throughout.
--Finalist Manuscript Contest--Writers League of Texas
Terrific manuscript. Your writing is at par with my favorite authors.
--Alabama Insurance Executive Kendall Wright
Please don’t let the Rivers’ saga end. I love these characters and I must visit them again.--Texas writer Charlotte Hilliard
Ainsworth rewards his readers with suspense to keep hearts racing and pages turning, but also with serenity, hope and inspiration as we see the Rivers family struggle with problems many of us have faced. I cared about the Rivers family...and I will never forget them or the other characters in this book.--Cooper Review
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Jake Rivers is one of the most lovable characters I've encountered in fiction. I could not put the book down…devoured it hungrily…and regretted it coming to an end.
RIVERS EBB has a sense of immediacy from beginning to end… it's a great story, well written and well paced… All the characters were vividly drawn. Straight-to-the-point dialogue, scraped clean as a West Texas prairie…the Follow The Rivers trilogy is one of the most endearing stories that ever swept across the Texas literary landscape, and yet its implications are universal.
Anyone, anywhere should find real pleasure reading Jim Ainsworth’s work, and come away a little richer than before. I know I certainly have. --Suzanne Morris, author of Galveston (Doubleday 1976-won the Evelyn Oppenheimer First Novel Award), also wrote Keeping Secrets, Skychild, Wives and Mistresses. Look Back with Longing and Elizabeth’s Legacy are the first two books in her Clearharbour Trilogy. The third is due in late 2007.
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TWO FIVE STAR REVIEWS from Amazon.com :
In The River's Flow, March 26, 2004
Reviewer: Rosalie T. Turner (Birmingham, AL United States)
I loved this book! The characters were drawn very well, & pulled me into the story from the very beginning. The description of time and place was excellent. I am not familiar with east Texas - or the times of drought - & yet I felt that I was transported there. I could feel the dust in my face. Also, I am not a sports person, but the scenes of the Little League games completely caught me up in the tension, excitement, disappointment, etc. I loved the theology of the book and the way it was expressed. I hope there will be a sequel, because I miss being with the Rivers family now that I've finished the book.
Calling All Texans! February 14, 2004
Reviewer: Paula Yost (Yantis, TX USA)
Anyone who grew up in Texas or anywhere else in the rural South will feel right at home from the first page of Ainsworth's magical novel. He transports us back to the way things really were in hard times and good times. As we witnesses the evolution of Jake, the main character, from an insecure boy to a confident young man, we are reminded of what's important in life and what isn't. Within these pages, the author defines the power to survive and succeed within each of us through masterful character studies and vivid details of the era and space. An inspiring read!
Reviews for Rivers Crossing\
Ainsworth’s second novel grabbed me just like the first. This writer is gifted with wonderful descriptive powers. I can’t wait until the third novel in his Follow the Rivers series.--Rosalie Oliver, Roaring Red River Chapter of the Pulpwood Queens
Ainsworth is a truly gifted writer.--Loretta Kibler, Retired School Superintendent
After finishing all of Jim Ainsworth’s books, I demand that he write the next Rivers saga, and I can’t wait long.--June Dunn
Ainsworth is the real McCoy. A genuine, talented storyteller. Ainsworth’s writing, with its regional richness and flowing charm, bears a striking resemblance to the work of Maria Sandoz.--Dr. David Morris
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from the Wood County Democrat, Quitman, Texas
Terry Matthews, editor
Rivers Crossing: 2nd in a very good series
This book is well worth your time. It's the second in a series of stories about a couple of young men growing up in north east Texas during the drought of the 1950's.
Forget the other 'coming of age' stories you've known. The Rivers boys take their own paths. Gray Boy, the rebel, finds himself in a sticky situation, not of his own making. Jake, the youngster, watches Gray Boy's troubles and tries to find answers to questions that bother him so.
Read the first book . . . and then pick up RIVERS CROSSING. You won't regret the time you spend with the Rivers family.
Enjoy.
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from the Wood County Democrat, Quitman, Texas
Terry Matthews, editor
In the Rivers’ Flow: what a great debut
I finished IN THE RIVERS' FLOW at 3:30 in the morning. What a great debut and fresh voice in fiction! This book will resonate with baby boomers, people who grew up on family farms, people who loved or played little league baseball and anyone who loves a good story, well told.
IN THE RIVERS' FLOW tells the story of the Rivers family, poor dairy farmers in north Texas. Rance and Mattie are the parents of four kids, Trish, Gray, Jake and Tuck. The family is scratching out a hard-scrabble living by milking, planting cotton and baling hay. There's been no significant rainfall in years and the family is in danger of losing everything.
The author uses Jake for his point of view. Jake is awkward and feels inadequate around his older brother Gray, but finds success on the baseball diamond in the summertime.
The book has nothing to do with water and everything to do with the lack of it, both literally and figuratively.
Although the book seemed to start a little slow for me, once I got into the RIVERS' FLOW, I couldn't put it down. It was such a satisfying read, I'm recommending it to my practically per-fect spouse, who hardly reads fiction, and I'll be reading it again soon. It's that well done.
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