River Rising
by Athol Dickson
Bloomington: Bethany House, 2005, 303 pp., tradepaper.

River Rising is Athol Dickson's Christy Award-winning novel set in 1927 Louisiana. Reverend Hale Poser comes seeking his roots in bayou country and discovers an isolated river town where black and white folks work and play together like equals, although they keep their churches separate.

He finds work at the local Negro infirmary (graciously financed by the most powerful white man in town) and works a miracle for a pregnant mother. However, things soon go terribly wrong for Hale and the townspeople, with the rising river mirroring the increase in tension as disaster threatens.

Dickson creates flawed protagonists who keep your attention as you wonder how their struggles will play out. Hale Poser is no exception. I enjoyed River Rising and see why it won a fiction award. If you're looking for a good read, anything by Athol Dickson should fill the bill.

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