Blog Tour; Along The Endless River by Rose Alexander ~ Review.

Hello, Sunshines, I have the huge pleasure to be apart of the blog tour for; Along the Endless River by Rose Alexander. I can’t wait to share my review of this beautiful book with you all, firstly, I want to say thank you to Kelly at Love Books Tours for the invite to this tour, now let’s have a look at this book!

About the Book

Along the Endless River by Rose Alexander.

A compelling and heartbreaking historical novel.

In the heart of the rainforest, Katharine will fight for her life and for love

1890: When Katharine and her husband, Anselmo, set sail to Brazil to reap the spoils of the rubber boom, it seems as if they cannot fail. But when Anselmo dies suddenly on the treacherous waters of the Amazon, a pregnant Katharine must decide whether or not to continue her husband’s dream, alone.

Meanwhile her sister Mabel is struggling to support their family back in London. Navigating new worlds in the upper class, she discovers that life as a housemaid has its own dangers, and Mabel soon learns that the whims of men can prove deadly…

Mabel and Katharine must both fight for their futures if they are ever to be reunited. Can they find love and happiness along the way?

A stunning saga of love, betrayal, secrets and family for fans of Dinah Jefferies, Erica Brown and Renita D’Silva.

Buy Link: Amazon

Review

Along the Endless River is a stunning, poignant, and powerful saga of love against the odds, family drama, secrets and lies all set during a period which casts a shadow across this country’s history, but intricately entwined is a stunning tale of love and family.

To be perfectly honest I didn’t know a lot about the Rubber Plant trade and the atrocities in the Amazon during the Victorian era, I knew that the English did – as this country has always done over the thousands of years of our history – enforced their will on and exploited the people from the area, but other than that this book is a real eye-opener, it really shows just what men (and women) will do for money. And that is all it was for, that’s the whole reason so many fled to seek out these Rubber plants from the Amazon was for; to line the pockets of the already rich and not care one jot for the people who crumble and whose lives are destroyed on their wake. To be honest, the world hasn’t changed that much has it?

I think I went on a mini-rant there, and slightly off-topic, but when hearing about what the powerful Victorian people did just to have a few more zero’s added to their bank balance really puts fire in the blood, doesn’t it? Again, not a lot has changed, has it?

Along the Endless River is a story of the strength of a woman’s fight for survival, for her family and the fight to do what is right and good, I may not agree with Katherine and her husband’s original dream to go to the Amazon with one purpose in mind; to jump on the band-wagon of the hugely lucrative Rubber trade, but I can’t help but admire her. After her husband dies, she is left completely alone, pregnant and in a country on the other side of the world with Anselmo’s debt hanging over her head. She must make the decision should she carry on or give up?

Katherine takes the chance and decides to carry on, she refuses offers from money-grabbing businessmen and she goes it alone, she has a real fight in her to make her husbands dream a reality, but to also do that as ethically as possible (something which I think was left on the British shores for most of those in hunt of fortune). Katherine knows nothing about the life she has found herself grabbing with both hands, as she was a humble shop girl, but she has got real courage, she knows that she has to make this work if she is ever to make it home and see not only her unborn child grow up but if she is ever to see her beloved sister again.

Along the Endless River has its heart set firmly in family love and loyalty, this is all about one woman’s fight for her family and every one of us can connect with Katherine in some way, we would all go to the ends of the earth for those we love, wouldn’t we? As well as getting to follow Katherine as she struggles to pave the path back home, we also have a glimpse into the family she is trying to get home to; her brother – who is nothing less than a wastrel, to be perfectly honest I didn’t like him too much, but her sister Mabel, like Katherine, has her struggles and she must face her own trials and tribulations, she is a really likeable woman too.

There is so much to love about this book, the vivid and atmospheric attention to detail, it transports you across the sea, and you experience the Amazon as though you were right there in the thick of it. I love that even though the world which Katherine has found herself is predominantly dominated by men, this is all about the women, it’s about Katherine and her sister.

The writing is stunning, Rose Alexander’s powerful tale which demands attention, it demands you to keep reading well into the night. I love that Alexander harnesses your imagination and educates you all at the same time as well as spinning a beautiful tale. It makes you think as much as it entertains, it’s a stunning piece of work one which many historical fiction readers are going to love.

About the Author

Rose Alexander has had more careers than she cares to mention and is currently a secondary school English teacher. She writes in the holidays, weekends and evenings, whenever she has a chance, although with three children, a husband, a lodger and a cat, this isn’t always as often as she’d like. She’s a keen sewist and is on a mission to make all her own clothes.