The River Wife by Jonis Agee

The River Wife
By Jonis Agee
Random House

 

This epic novel, by award-winning author Jonis Agee, chronicles the lives of four generations of women living on the banks of the Mississippi River in Missouri. They are all tied by marriage and blood to the French fur-trapper turned river pirate Jacques Ducharme. Covering the span of time from the 1812 New Madrid earthquake until the 1950s, the novel is wrapped by the story of Hedie Rails Ducharme beginning in 1930.

Hedie marries into the Ducharme family and is immediately taken with the house and farm built by the long-dead Jacques. She suspects her mysterious husband, Clement, of engaging in bootlegging and robbery, and when she discovers diaries written by the first wife of Jacques, Annie, Hedie is obsessed with her tragic life.

The novel alternates between Hedie’s story and the lives of Annie, the black slave Omah Ducharme, Jacques late-in-life wife Laura, and their daughter Little Maddie. All are touched by the dreadful deeds of Jacques and the fierce love he had for those close to him. There are many parallels in the lives of the women, especially the loyalty they develop for the men in their lives, often to their own ruination, and the love they have for the farm and house built by Jacques.

The attitude of the women is described succinctly by Hedie when she says, “It was love at second sight, the kind of love you feel coming down on you like a train, and you daren’t step out of the way, though you can feel it has your future happiness and unhappiness all on board.”

Agee’s depiction of the natural world along the frontier river is rich and varied. The naturalist Audobon even makes an appearance. Adding to the atmosphere is speculation about the hidden treasure of Jacques, civil war skirmishes, and visits by the ghostly figures of Jacques and Annie as they return to watch over the newer residents of the house on the banks of the Mississippi. The influence of Jacques’ life extends far beyond his grave.

In “The River Wife,” Jonis Agee has written a captivating and spellbinding novel that vividly portrays the dangers of blind love, a force that can ruin lives and reach beyond the grave.