Reviewed by Karen Pirnot for Readers' Favorite

River Braids by Marcy Luikart is an intricately woven tale which spans a one-hundred-year time frame and several generations. Initially, the setting is 2004 when Sonny has returned to his home town to tend to his dying father. When meeting his friends at the local bar, he discovers that a picture of his grandfather, a man he always admired, has been altered. This then takes the reader back one hundred years to the time when Grandfather Barton was to row in the Olympics, only to be denied because of his Native American heritage. We are introduced to Grandfather Joe and his wife Annie via Annie's diary. We then learn of the unrest of Joe's son Nathan who also had yearnings for the Native American culture. Throughout the journey into the past, young Sonny begins to appreciate his heritage, as well as his upbringing along the unpredictable Mississippi River culture.

Luikart had a formidable challenge in writing across generations and cultures and families but she rose admirably to the task. At times, her words appear as prose to the reader who follows the characters on the Mississippi waters, through to a Native American Fair and back in time to a lost culture. The solutions to the mysteries are seemingly only an arm's length away and the reader dare not put down the book for fear of losing out on the journey. This is a book of unforgettable characters who will make you want to learn about your own history as you cheer on Sonny to make the best of his own journey through time.