Peace Like a River: A Novel

This is a beautifully written, heartfelt novel that blends adventure, faith, and family into an unforgettable story. At its heart, "Peace Like a River" is about the power of family and faith. It explores how these forces can guide us through the darkest times and bring hope and healing. The Land family’s love for each other and their unwavering belief in miracles provide a touching and uplifting message. The characters are richly developed and relatable, each with their own quirks and strengths.Leif Enger’s storytelling is powerful. I recommend this book to anyone who appreciates a touching and inspiring story.

There are at least two groups of people I suspect would not enjoy Leif Enger's "Peace Like a River"; the non-religious and the cessationist Christians (those who believe in the cessation of the extra-ordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit at the end of the apostolic age including the miraculous gifts). But I personally love it with a reservation. Enger brilliantly describes the manifold of harsh realities of life, all too familiar to many of us. The book is some sort of a life journal through the eyes of an ashmatic Reuben Land since his miraculous survival at birth until his father died, though he talks a little bit about what happened afterwards in the end. The story is centered around the search for Reuben's fugitive brother, Davy, charged with the murder of two bad characters from his high-school when they broke into his house. The two were also guilty in two previous encounters involving the Land family; an attempted rape of Davy's girlfriend and the kidnapping of Davy's little sister Swede. Though the shooting dead of Israel Finch can be justified as an act of self-defense, the murder of Tommy Basca can not. I hope Enger does not intend to convey the message that Davy did the right thing when he killed a defenseless Tommy execution style. Thus, in my view, Davy is still guilty of murder. His lack of remorse; even after his imprisonment and escape from jail, and Enger appearing to portrait him as a hero bothers me as well.On the other hand, I was thoroughly blessed by the multiple accounts of the faithful providence of God, specifically through miraculous events in the life of the Land family. It is agonizing to read about an unemployed hard-working single father Jeremiah Land, left by his materialistic wife, struggling with his own illness, unfairly fired by a wicked superintendent at his children's school where he worked as a janitor, and having to care for his three young children. It is painful to go through the account of an 11-year-old Reuben Land having to work construction to provide the family with something to eat everyday while his dad was recovering. It is heart-wrenching to be informed about two little children Reuben and Swede having to endure freezing cold weather as they traveled with their dad like vagabonds looking for their brother. Yet it is a joy to read about a godly prayerful father Jeremiah Land, faithful to God even when living in the depth of poverty, who clearly brought his children up in "nurture and admonition of the Lord." It is a pleasure to learn about the miraculous interventions of God to care for his children in addition to his more usual ways of working through means, yet regardless, fulfilling his promise that He would never leave them nor forsake them. Ruben might be right when he said there were no miracles since his family met Roxanna, but he forgot the fact their path crossing Roxanna's itself was a gracious act of God. It ought to excite a praiseful gratitude considering the kind of blessings he, Swede and their dad received through her. It is a pleasant experience to be acquainted with Swede, Reuben's little sister; a smart funny little girl, highly talented in western literature and poetry, betraying a hidden longing for a warm loving care of a mother, serving as a de-facto mother of the family, though it all changed after meeting and living with Roxanna, who eventually became her stepmother.I have to give credit to Pastor John Piper who recommends this book. I have to agree with him. It was and has been a happy reading; a novel whose story I sense would linger with me for a long time.

Not only is this the height of prose (and poetry), but there's a beauty to this story somehow amidst the suspense and tragedy. A leisurely, laid-back read. Grateful it was recommended to me.

The title of Enger’s fictitious story of a family who follows the oldest brother, Davy Land, a wanted criminal, into the Badlands of North Dakota is just as much about how the reader will feel reading his beautiful and gentle prose as it is about the story itself. Peace Like a River is a soul-stirring novel of familial love and bold, determined faith. While other novels may provide warmth like an electric heater, Enger’s novel is more like sitting in front of a blazing fire and feeling the warmth all the way down to your bones – it gets inside you. Whether the warmth of the beloved Land family themselves or the warmth of the tenderness and love shared between them, Enger’s story is capable of warming a heart to believe.How rare it is to fall in love with characters from the very beginning of the book! The Land family are the kind of beloved characters that are so convincing I sometimes lose sight of the fact that I can’t drive up to North Dakota and see them again. I found myself praying for them, only to suddenly remember how illogical that was. I tell you, they are that precious! What I wouldn’t give to hear Swede tell me one of her western stories (I’ve always loved westerns myself), or to kick around with the noble Reuben Land, or to be inspired by the faith of Jeremiah. Despite the desperation of their circumstances and the tragedy woven throughout the story, the love and loyalty they show each other will certainly make them timeless characters in what is sure to become a classic novel along the same lines as To Kill a Mockingbird or Dostoevsky’s The Idiot.The power of Peace Like a River is in its witness to the presence of an almighty and loving God as well as the purpose and reward of faith in Him. There are miracles throughout the story and, “real miracles bother people, like strange and sudden pains unknown in medical literature. It’s true: They rebut every rule all we good citizens take comfort in.” God’s presence is not only evident in the overt miracles, but also in the way He directs their path, comforts their hearts, and provides for their needs. Reuben Land is a faithful witness to the hand of God in all of it, “we are all in the hand of God.” The prayer life of Jeremiah Land is also an excellent example of God’s presence. Jeremiah, like Jacob of old, ”wrestles” with God in prayer, and is physically and spiritually humbled to obedience.Reuben Land is a witness to the miracles that “flowed from my father’s fingertips,” but Reuben is also witness to the faithful devotion of his father to God, and the story is led on in the same direction of Jeremiah Land’s faith in God’s leading of him, “Faith brought this about. Faith, as Dad saw it had delivered unto us the Airstream trailer, and faith would direct our travels.” Jeremiah’s faith is slowly transferred to Reuben and culminates at the end of the story in a chapter similar to CS Lewis’s ending in The Last Battle. The redemptive beauty of Jeremiah’s faith and its final reward are the most powerful elements in the story.Whether you enjoy a story with a captivating plot, beautiful prose, or memorable characters, or one with theological depth and profound wisdom you will be thoroughly satisfied by Leif Enger’s Peace Like a River. You will read, be warmed, and be filled. The best stories inspire us to believe, and Enger’s story of faith and love attains to that lofty goal.

The narration is of an adult remembering the thoughts of extraordinary events in his childhood. All of the elements of the main story and the side thoughts and commentary blended together to make an ending that was compelling. The novel combines intense moments and humor and thoughtfulness about one's faith. This is a gem.

Too many rambling unbelievable side stories. The author is a good writer, but the story didn't flow. I skipped a lot of that and mainly read the relevant parts. I would not recommend.

I was hooked in the first few pages. It kept my interest through the whole book. I'll think on this one for a while.I do have to keep rinding myself that the protagonist is eleven years old.

It's hard to put into words what I experienced as I read this book. Seldom do I highlight anything in a work of fiction, but I did in this one. Some of the things written were things I would want to remember and find easily at the appropriate time. There are thoughts and insights expressed that a person could carry with them for a long, long timeThe prose is second to none. The characters are believable and loveable. The faith and struggle, genuine and compelling. It is honestly a journey you wish could go on forever. Whatever you do, don't miss this book!

Good. I get for my frind. He like the book so so much. This is best the book I have read.

Magnificent! But only 1 book since.

I really liked this book. I had low expectations, but the story is great.

This is probably my favourite fiction novel. Lief Enger is a truly remarkable writer. I enjoyed his ability to tell a story as much as the story itself. I laughed. I cried. By the end of the book I felt I knew the people in the story, and I didn't want the story to end. It's going to be difficult for me to find another book that I will enjoy this much. I highly recommend it.