As The River Rises
Fiona McArthur
Penguin Books AUS
2024, 352p
Gifted via Secret Santa in my online book club
Blurb {from the publisher/Goodreads.com}: Dr Hannah Rogan, a GP from outback Queensland, is in hiding from an emotionally abusive ex-boyfriend. When a visit to her friend Gracie in Featherwood sparks the idea to move there and open a medical practice for the town, Hannah finds the fresh start she needs. The town has rebuilt after devastating fires and its growing population is desperate for her calm presence and expertise.
Her first patient is the son of the tight-lipped, attractive Jude, from the mysterious closed community upriver. Jude has a troubled past he doesn’t talk about, but now he’s helping others to turn their lives around. The last thing Jude needs is to fall for the new doctor in town but his son’s illness means they’ll be spending a lot of time together.
The rain starts, and doesn’t stop. The creeks fill, the river bursts and soon the residents of Featherwood are at risk of losing everything they’ve rebuilt. As the floodwaters rise, so do emotions and everyone must pull together to save lives and salvage whatever they can.
From the bestselling author of The Opal Miner’s Daughter comes this suspenseful tale of love, redemption and finding your path when you feel surrounded.
Fiona McArthur is one of my favourite authors and a new book from her is such a treat. I have to admit, I am a bit behind with this one – it was actually gifted to me by my Secret Santa in a Christmas gift exchange and I put it on my 24 in 2024 as a ‘cheat’ book: one that I knew I would absolutely read! Fiona McArthur is going to be at the retreat I am going to this month so I figured it was time to read this one, especially as she has a new book coming out soon as well.
If you’ve read The Farmer’s Friend then the setting of this one will be very familiar. We are returning to Featherwood in rural northern New South Wales with a familiar cast of supporting characters and two new main characters. Hannah is Gracie’s friend and a chance visit leads her to move to Featherwood to open a GP office. The town desperately needs one and Hannah has a steady stream of patients from the very beginning. One of her first patients is the young son of a mysterious man named Jude who lives on a property out of town. No one seems to know much about him but that doesn’t stop the rumours flying. Hannah is fleeing an abusive relationship and the last thing she needs is the be drawn in by the mysterious man but…..she can’t help it. There’s something there. She just has to hope that her instincts aren’t leading her wrong.
It was such a delight to be back here, reconnecting with characters like Gracie and Jed, Nell, Mavis and her grandson Archie. In the previous book, the community was facing the threat and aftermath of bushfires and now it’s the complete opposite, with pouring rain that is in danger of bringing terrible floods instead. Parts of the country have been really hammered by natural weather phenomenon lately and it honestly doesn’t feel uncommon to go from one extreme to the other.
The way Fiona McArthur writes the weather is so……incredibly evocative, there are some truly terrifying moments in this book. I’ve never lived through a flood although the area I grew up has flooded once or twice since I left. I’ve lived through bushfires and evacuation and being sent home early but I’ve never lived anywhere when there was genuine threat of a terrifying flood. However I’ve watched so many documentaries and news reports especially on places like Lismore, that flooded multiple times in recent years. I felt like reading this book really captured the experience of not just the awful, devastating weather event, where people who lost their homes in a fire face losing them again in a flood, but also the ways in which communities come together to help in the face of such adversity. Everyone in this book pitches in in some way or another, be it housing those that have been forced to flee, search and rescue, providing food and meals and comfort, helping to provide medical care, helping move stock and belongings to higher ground. You see examples of this in real life scenarios all the time and this book encapsulates that human spirit and connection so well.
I really enjoyed the romance. Jude was my sort of hero and I found his backstory really interesting. I liked the contrast between him and Hannah and I also loved his relationship with his son. Also what Jude was doing on his farm would make a great book all on its own. I understood Hannah’s conflicted feelings though as Jude is a bit reticent and standoffish and given her history with her previous boyfriend, you can see why she’d want to know more about him, to be wary of falling for the aloof one on the gated property. Small towns are always rife with rumours, especially about people who don’t seem to conform to the norm and there’s definitely been a few thoughts about what Jude might be up to. Leo, his son, is a great kid and he and Archie make a great little dynamic duo.
This book gave me all the emotions! It’s so heartwarming, I love the community but it also really made me fear for certain people and not going to lie, I definitely teared up twice.
A must read.
9/10
Book #108 2024
As The River Rises is one of my 24 in 2024 books. It’s the 7th book read so far for this challenge.
All The Books I Can Read 
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