Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell

Margo Crane is a character I will never forget. As the vivid voice at the center of this coming-of-age novel, she inserts you into life in a small town on a river near Kalamazoo. Margo’s mother abandons the family when she is sixteen and when her father dies soon thereafter, circumstances force Margo to flee her home with only her grandfather’s boat and a stolen rifle. Both are essential to a girl who is closely tuned to the natural life of the river and has a gift for sharpshooting. She survives, barely, on the wilderness skills she learned from her grandfather. She is taken in, and sometimes taken advantage of, by men she meets along the river. Although her circumstances can seem brutal, Margo’s resilience and courage kept me eagerly reading. Campbell’s collection of short stories, American Salvage, was nominated for a National Book Award, in large part I think because it contained this same combination of hard life and hope. River is memorable, meaty and perfect for book discussion groups.

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Recommended by Sarah Redman.