Jonis Agee

Chronicles the life of Jacques Ducharme, a French fur trapper and river pirate, and the five women whose lives he touches, including Annie Lark, whom he rescues after an earthquake; his second wife Laura; Omah, a freed slave; and Maddie, his daughter.

A Novel

The River Wife

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This was an interesting story spanning several generations. At first, I thought it was the story of 2 women, Annie Lark Ducharme and Hedie Rails Ducharme. Annie lived during the Civil War era and Hedie was from the Prohibition era. When a 17 year old pregnant Hedie married the much older Clement Ducharme and came to live in the Ducharme house, she discovered Annie's journals and began reading them. At that point, the reader is introduced to Annie.

Annie's story begins with her as a teenager, left behind to die in her family's home after an earthquake leaves her legs trapped under a roof beam. Several days later, a French fur trapper named Jacques Ducharme finds her and rescues her. Jacques nurses Annie back to health, but she never regains full use of her legs and walks with a cane. Although never officially married, the two live as husband and wife. The pair works with hired help to coax farmland out of wilderness alongside the river. They build an inn, intending to make a living off of housing sailors and travelers. 

The inn's business is interrupted with the Civil War, but Jacques sees this as an opportunity to make money a different way: piracy. Somewhere along the way, Annie dies but the reader never finds out when or how. I would have liked a little more explanation about what happened to Annie, particularly after what happened to Jacques's second wife. Perhaps the author meant the reader to wonder. 

At this point, the reader is introduced to Omah, the daughter of slaves who were given their freedom by Jacques. After the deaths of her parents, Omah becomes Jacques's partner in crime and almost his equal in their piracy business.

Jacques marries again. His new wife is a much younger widow named Laura who is clearly most interested in Jacques's rumored fortune. Laura and Jacques have a daughter, Maddie. It is this child who continues Jacques's line to the present and provides the thread that ties Jacques to the present-day characters in the story.
 
Although the story does alternate between past and present, most of the story takes place in the past. What I thought was the story of only two women turned out to be the story of several generations of river wives and each one encounters hardship and tragedy. Although lacking a few explanatory details that would have been nice to tie up loose ends, the story is well-written and the characters are memorable.

The River Wife A Novel

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