Ellis River

by Nicki Ehrlich

Overview

The Civil War scattered her family and now, along with her beloved horse, a young woman must travel across a war-torn country to collect what's left of her life.

For fifteen-year-old Ellis Cady, life has gone quiet on her western Tennessee homestead. Her father and older brother left to sell horses to the army two years earlier and never returned. She watched her mother's health decline, finally succumbing to a broken heart. Her twin brother left in search of their father, and while he was gone neighbors moved out of their Quaker community, searching for peace ahead of the final sweep of war.

Ellis is left with nothing but the company of the remaining horses and the letters and journals she continues to write, trying to make sense of a desolate world. A small band of soldiers rides through to claim the last of the herd, and hope for the return of life as she knew it, evaporates like the mist on the river.

When the head-strong mare, Billie, returns, having escaped from the soldiers, Ellis takes it as a sign to leave. Disguised as a boy, for safety and comfort, she rides off to find her twin. Though war refuses to fade, Ellis stumbles upon an unlikely group of rescuers who teach her family is more than blood, and love has no limits.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798985997408
Publisher:	Bay Feather Books
Publication date:	09/15/2022
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	543,655
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.58(d)

About the Author

Nicki Ehrlich grew up in Southern Illinois before attending college at the University of Denver and later, Idaho State University, where she graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy/English. After living ten "horse-rich" years in Idaho, she moved on to Oregon, and later Washington, where she realized she had unwittingly traveled the Oregon Trail. While living in the Pacific Northwest, Nicki continued to write fiction, non-fiction and poetry. She has won awards for her poetry and creative writing, including the Writer's Digest Annual Poetry Awards and the Ray Fabrizio Memorial Award. Her writing has been published in Scheherazade, the literary magazine of MPC, among other magazines and newspapers. Nicki holds a Certificate in Creative Writing from Monterey Peninsula College and is a member of the Central Coast branch of the California Writers Club. She also holds a Coast Guard Captain's License and currently lives on California's inspiring central coast where she is at work on the sequel to Ellis River.

Editorial Reviews

09/26/2022

As Ehrlich’s vivid historical coming-of-age novel opens, the American Civil War is winding down, but trouble still stalks the family of fifteen-year-old Ellis River Cady. Two years earlier, her father and oldest brother left their small Quaker community in western Tennessee to sell horses to the army, but they never returned. Ellis’s twin brother, Earl, sets off to look for them, and soon afterwards their mother falls ill and dies. Dressed in men’s clothing, Ellis strikes out on her beloved mare to find Earl. The war ends while she’s on the road, but she quickly learns that “doesn’t mean the fighting’s stopped.” As Ellis learns to defend herself, she takes up with a group of freed Blacks who become a surrogate family as she searches for her kin.

Ellis River teems with well-drawn characters and vibrant wilderness settings. A memorable proto-feminist protagonist, Ellis strives not just to reunite her family but to carve out a meaningful life. She dresses as a man for convenience and safety, finding riding easier, understanding that men enjoy greater freedom, and recognizing that, this way, “another life might be rolled out for her.” Touchingly, she notes “I feel more comfortable, more…natural.” Other characters play strong secondary roles, especially Libby, the Black Native American woman who becomes a role model, and Billie, Ellis’s feisty horse. While the search and these issues of identity resonate, the plot is quiet and unhurried.

Ever since her mother gave her a leather-bound notebook, Ellis has kept a diary, and she relates some of the story through her journal entries and letters to her father. This leads to some unneeded exposition and repetition, as when Ellis summarizes in epistolary form what readers have already witnessed, but also lays bare the character’s heart and showcases Ehrlich’s sure-handed period language as she brings life to perspectives too often unexplored in narratives of the era, with empathy, insight, a touch of romance, and a suggestion of a sexual awakening near the end.

Takeaway:As the Civil War ends, a young woman and her horse leave home in search of missing family.

Great for fans of: Robin Oliveira, Charles Frazier.

Production grades Cover: A Design and typography: A Illustrations: N/A Editing: A- Marketing copy: A

BookLife Reviews

2022-09-19
A young woman leaves home in search of her family during the Civil War in Ehrlich’s debut historical novel.

In 1865, 15-year-old Ellis Cady lives alone in her Western Tennessee home. Her father and Walter, one of her brothers, left two years prior to sell some horses but haven’t returned. Her twin brother, Earl, left shortly afterward to look for them, and then Ellis’ mother died. One day, Ellis makes the decision to leave home with a few belongings and her beloved horse, Billie. She first stops at her friend’s house, only to find it abandoned, before making her way down a trail where she discovers her brother Earl, who has sad news but doesn’t know where their father is. The two get caught up in a Civil War battle, during which Ellis is grazed by a bullet. She awakens in the care of Libby, a Cherokee woman who’s riding with a diverse group of men. Later, after stopping in Jamestown, Missouri, she finds her uncle’s ranch, where she learns more about her family and becomes more determined to locate her father, certain that he’s still alive. Ehrlich’s prose is accessible and spare and particularly skillful at describing the harsh reality of war and its battlegrounds: “Fragments of bone and skull escaped earth’s hollow grasp….A large ribcage, still covered by thin hide. Another and another.” The story simultaneously highlights the loneliness and camaraderie that can be found during wartime. Additionally, Ellis’ coming-of-age adds a personal layer to the battle-laden background, as when she spies Libby making love with her husband and encounters previously unknown feelings. Although the story is earnest and often compelling, there are a lot of scenes of Ellis simply wandering and riding from place to place, which may not interest readers who prefer more action. Still, Ehrlich’s story of a girl surrounded by loss and death as she searches for her family is engaging and makes for a quick, heartfelt read.

An earnest and poignant bildungsroman.

Kirkus Reviews