Historical Fiction Review – The River Between Us By Richard Peck

Bibliography
Peck, Richard. 2003. The River Between Us. New York, NY: Dial Books.
ISBN 0803727356

Plot Summary
The story opens with a young boy, Howard Hutchings, narrating a family trip to visit their Grandmother Tilly. The story shifts to a young Tilly, narrating life with her twin brother, younger sister and mother during the first year of the Civil War. The careworn family lives in constant fear of the day that Tilly’s twin brother Noah will be dragged off to war. The docking of a Rob Roy ship produces a glamorous and mysterious French-speaking newcomer, Delphine, accompanied by a darker woman, Calinda. Delphine and Calinda are invited to live with Tilly’s family. Delphine’s elaborate clothing and grandiose attitude create rumors that fly around the once quiet town. As Tilly and Delphine grow closer, the residents question just what this Southern stranger is doing in their town.

The family’s nightmares come true, and Noah is sent to war. Delphine and Tilly make the impossible journey to find Noah. During their search, Delphine’s true identity is revealed. She in fact has African blood in her, and Calinda, thought to be her slave, is exposed as the girl’s sister. With extreme perseverance and unyielding willpower, Delphine and Tilly discover Noah, and take him home. Howard Hutchings narrates the final chapter where his true lineage to Delphine is discovered. Pride fills Howard as his new heritage is appreciated.

Critical Analysis
Richard Peck brilliantly uses two narrators to tell this story. We first see a wide-eyed young boy visiting elderly relatives, “The paper was loose and peeling on the walls, I wondered how many layers you’d have to scrape away until you came to the time when these old people were young. If they ever were.” As the reader proceeds to the next chapter, we see a youthful Tilly running after her younger sister. The characters shed light on real situations that were prevalent during Civil War times. There was often a father away for months at a time, leaving behind a wife and young children. The fear of sons leaving to fight was a dreadful feeling that was always in the back of the minds of mothers and sisters. Delphine’s character is enhanced by her French tongue and outlandish demands. The small Illinois town, not used to exotic newcomers, was blown away with Delphine’s clothing and overt personality.

Peck does not sugar-coat the historical events that were true to this time. Mrs. Hanrahan’s character shows the authentic, though abominable behavior when she utters, “Ah declare, Doctor, just see what you have brought me. A colored gal.” The extreme hate for people ‘of-color’ during the Civil War is very evident throughout the story. Peck is also gruesomely realistic when it comes to describing the horrifying effects of war on young bodies, “They lay there where they’d been sick. They sprawled in their messes because they were too weak to get to the privies, if there were privies.”

At Delphine’s arrival, she is portrayed as affluent and superior to the locals. Throughout the story, we see her transition from an untouchable beauty, to her true character who is a strong woman who befriends Tilly and searches for her beloved Noah. Peck keeps the reader on their toes with several twists and surprises throughout the story such as, “Is Calinda your slave?...Ah ma chère, she is my sister.” Peck continues to show Delphine’s strength, even as she is outed, having her calmly state, “I am of the gens de couleur, madame...The free people of color, if you speak no French.” Peck delivers an incredible story, including another twist at the conclusion when the reader realizes that our young narrator, Howard Leland Hutchings, is actually the grandson of Delphine. The additional “A Note on the Story” is where Peck elaborates on the trials and outcomes of the Civil War. Additional reading is suggested to help children embrace and love more and more historical fiction.

Review Excerpts
School Library Journal
“In this thoroughly researched novel, Peck masterfully describes the female Civil War experience, the subtle and not-too-subtle ways the country was changing, and the split in loyalty that separated towns and even families.”
Booklist
“Peck's spare writing has never been more eloquent than in this powerful mystery in which personal secrets drive the plot and reveal the history. True to Tilly's first-person narrative, each sentence is a scrappy, melancholy, wry evocation of character, time, and place, and only the character of Delphine's companion, Calinda, comes close to stereotype.”

Connections
The Civil War was a time of great turmoil for our country. Students can act out the different roles found in the story, and then discuss why they think that people had to cover up their true identity during this time period. Additional historical fiction books dealing with the Civil War is a great way to educate children without having them simply read from a history textbook.
Additional recommended books:
*Soldier's Heart: Being the Story of the Enlistment and Due Service of the Boy Charley Goddard in the First Minnesota Volunteers by Gary Paulsen ISBN 0440228387
*A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck ISBN 0142300705