This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Janet Richards is an artist, wife, nurse and volunteer. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from the University of Colorado and lives in Moscow, Idaho with her husband Tom.
Reviewed by Scott Albert for Readers' Favorite
Crossing the River Sorrow: One Nurse’s Story is written by debut author, Janet Richards, a mother, wife, and nurse turned writer/mixed media artist. This emotionally realistic story, by Westbow Press, is an autobiographical 222 pages, broken into 28 chapters or vignettes that explores Personal Growth & Inspiration. Adding quotes from authors like Blake and Shakespeare, Richards writes in first person. She uses a conversational tone and minimalist detail to keep readers engaged and turning the page. Starting in 1961, Long Island, she describes the love, loss, and lessons learned in her life, including becoming a nurse. She uses the metaphor of River Sorrow to move her narrative along setting a somber tone through 28 chapters. This unique perspective faces some of life’s more troubling questions and how she found answers in her faith in God.
Richards is a talented writer, making creative analogies like “Not everyone who swims the River Sorrow will see all the good that the Bible promises...” And after watching patients sitting in a nursing home says she’s been shown “the all-encompassing power of God that is perfected in their weakness and vulnerability…” She compares her journey down this River Sorrow as a parable paralleling the Bible’s descriptions, so there’s a message within the narrative along with some social commentary that sets the tone of her experiences. Some of this reads like a diary - creatively non-fiction. Issues like her decision to leave nursing on little more than a whim, “slipping out without much forethought” and a conclusion that describes her faith in the Bible and Jesus, made this deeply emotional, even cathartic, at times. Looking for an autobiography of a retired nurse who has inspirational and religious insights to share? You’ve found a real gift.
