The River Between Us

I recently read The River Between Us by Richard Peck. This novel was a great example of historical fiction. It is set in the small town of Grand Tower, Illinois during 1861. The town is right off the Mississippi River, which is usually packed with boats traveling from the South to the North and back South again.

One day, two young women, Delphine and Calinda, arrive in Grand Tower on one of these boats. They are two mysterious young ladies from New Orleans, who have left to avoid any fighting that may come to the city because of the Civil War. Delphine is wealthy and glamorous, while it appears Calinda is her servant, maybe even her slave. These two young women rent out a room from the Pruitt family. The narrator in the story is Tilly Pruit. She lives with her mama, her twin brother, Noah, and her younger sister, Cass. Delphine and Calinda soon transform the lives of the Pruitts, bringing a Southern flair to their small country home.

As the war gets closer and closer to Grand Tower, Illinois, the lives of our characters change more and more. The traffic on the river slows, the town folks begin to believe that Delphine and Calinda (and possibly the Pruitts) are Southern spies, Noah leaves and joins the Union army, and finally Tilly and Delphine leave to aid him and the other Union solders.

This is a great book filled with mystery, love, and life from the Civil War.