The River Between Us - Historical Fiction

The River Between Us by Richard Peck is primarily set in the first year of the Civil War in a southwestern Illinois town, Grand Tower. Grand Tower is a very small town along the Mississippi, about 60 miles from the strategically important, Cairo, Illinois where the Mississippi meets the Ohio. As with all towns close to the secessionist confederate states, the residents of Grand Tower were mixed in their alliances but had more Union than Confederate supporters due to pride in native son, Abraham Lincoln.

This historical novel revolves around events in the lives of the Pruitt family: Ma, Cass, Noah and his twin, Tilly. Tilly, who is fifteen when the events happen, tells the story. Included in the tale are events surrounding the Pruitt family when they take in two young women from New Orleans who come north for safety, Noah’s enlistment in the Union army and the horrifying conditions in the army camp/hospital in Cairo. These events change the family forever.

The story is told in flashback; the first and last chapters are told by Tilly’s grandson Howard Hutchinson, who travels from St. Louis to Grand Tower with his father and brothers in 1916, on the eve of the United States’ involvement in the First World War. He learns of his family’s history through Tilly during their visit.

The book’s title, The River Between Us, refers to more than just the Mississippi River, it signifies feelings and events that divide people as well as those that bring us closer together. Peck explores the historical relationship between blacks and whites, Northerners and Southerners, the personal relationships between Tilly and her mother and Howard and his father.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I felt the details of the hospital and the descriptions of New Orleans’ society and attitudes toward people of color would be very enlightening for young adults. I would recommend this book to middle school and high school students, especially those who find learning history “boring”. Historical fiction is a great way to learn of historical events; stories help to make the subject real. The River Between Us was recognized was a National Book Award finalist, won the Scott O’Dell Award for historical fiction, and the Parents’ Choice award, among others.

I thought Peck’s description of the Hutchinson’s preparations for the 120 mile journey in their Model T to be very enlightening and would make a good hook. He writes:

Our preparations had taken days. We’d been through the toolbox time and time again. We’d filled as many cans of gasoline as we could strap to the running boards. Dad had personally filed down the points on the spark plugs. I hadn’t slept a wink in two nights, and now the moment of leaving was upon us.

Mother wasn’t going and didn’t want us to go. And I didn’t know why. I remember her up on the porch and the Ford there in the middle of Maryland Avenue. Dad and I wore dusters and caps with goggles. One of the extra features of our Ford was a windshield. But it was always laid across the hood for city driving. The Ford was a touring car, which meant it had a canvas pull-up roof in case of rain, or for when you spent a night on the road.

You had to crank the car a good ten minutes to get it going, and Dad left that part to me. The knack for starting a Ford was to jack up a rear wheel. He got the little boys settled on the rear seat, but they kept running back into the house for something they’d forgotten. I wondered if we’d ever get away.

But at last the engine caught and turned over. The Ford coughed twice and came to life. Dad broke a fresh egg on the radiator so that it would hard-boil and seal the leaks. The boys were more or less settled. Dad let out the brake and fiddled with the gas lever. We’d already aroused the neighborhood. Now we were off in a volley of sharp reports from the tailpipe. And Mother was turning back to the house…..

Dad’s plan was to keep the Mississippi River on our right side and try to be in the vicinity of Chester, Illinois, by nightfall. We made good time on dry roads south from Dupo and didn’t have our first flat until very near Waterloo. In all we did pretty well with only four flats that day, one in each tire. But it seemed like the Ford was on a jack more than it was on the road.