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    The Underground River: A Novel
    The Underground River: A Novel
    The Underground River: A Novel
    Audiobook12 hours

    The Underground River: A Novel

    Written by Martha Conway

    Narrated by Hillary Huber

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    It's 1838, and May Bedloe works as a seamstress for her cousin, the famous actress Comfort Vertue-until their steamboat sinks on the Ohio River. Though they both survive, both must find new employment. Comfort is hired to give lectures by noted abolitionist Flora Howard, and May finds work on a small flatboat, Hugo and Helena's Floating Theatre, as it cruises the border between the northern states and the southern slave-holding states.

    May becomes indispensable to Hugo and his troupe, and all goes well until she sees her cousin again. Comfort and Mrs. Howard are also traveling down the Ohio River, speaking out against slavery at the many riverside towns. May owes Mrs. Howard a debt she cannot repay, and Mrs. Howard uses the opportunity to enlist May in her network of shadowy characters who ferry babies given up by their slave mothers across the river to freedom. Lying has never come easy to May, but now she is compelled to break the law, deceive all her new-found friends, and deflect the rising suspicions of Dr. Early, who captures runaways and sells them back to their southern masters.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJun 20, 2017
    ISBN9781541475700

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    Reviews for The Underground River

    4/5

    39 ratings11 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This is a 5 star Historical Fiction novel set in a Mark Twain style story. I loved this book and didn't want it to end! The Underground River has a very unique storyline about a young costume seamstress aboard a riverboat theater in 1863 that travels up and down the Ohio river. This is a tale of making friends in unlikey places, a story of betrayal and blackmail, and involves abolitionists and the Underground Railroad. As a character driven read, I doubt I will ever forget this cast of unlikey misfits for a very long time. Standing ovation, clap clap clap!
    • 4/5
      May Bedloe is the seamstress for her famous actress cousin, Comfort Vertue. May has been with Comfort since her parents passed away and feels secure in her routine and Comfort's knowledge of May's irregularities. May has always been very direct in her speech and has a hard time with anything that isn't exactly the truth. May's life changes when the steamboat she and Comfort are travelling on explodes on the Ohio River in 1838. May and Comfort lose everything. Comfort is soon snapped up by benefactress and abolitionist Flora Howard who will have Comfort speak for her cause. May is not included in this plan; so she decides that she will find employment on her own. May is hired on Hugo and Helena's Floating Theatre; but she needed to use the money Flora gave her to go home in order to get established. May soon finds herself an integral part of the Floating Theatre and comes into her own. When The Floating Theatre and Comfort's speaking tour cross paths, Flora uses May's place on a boat traveling from south to north for her own deed of transporting people to freedom, jeopardizing May's place in the Theatre.The Underground River is a different look at how the Underground Railroad functioned and some of it's players. Interesting characters and the unique setting pulled me in. May's character has several quirks and might be on the autism spectrum if she lived in the present. Her directfulness and untouched insight gave a very honest look at the people around her; abolitionist Flora Howard is a bully using others to further her own cause, even Comfort kept May hidden and kept putting her down in order to raise herself up. The true heroes, Leo, Donaldson and Hugo shine through May's eyes. Though the book is about the Underground Railroad, the process and danger of the transport is really only half the story. Most of the story revolves around life on the river and the theatre. Through May's perspective, we get a good look at how the towns along the river in the North and South are all pretty similar except for the presence or absence of slavery and peoples attitudes about it. There is also an intimate look into theatre life and the distinctiveness of a riverboat theatre. The teamwork, diligence and creativeness of the entire crew is apparent. I do wish May had been a willing player in the transport instead of being blackmailed, she had the compassion for the job and believed in the cause, but the fact that she is being forced marred my view a bit. Overall, an exciting and insightful historical fiction read about the Underground Railroad and Theatre life.This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
    • 5/5
      Underground River has a quality of powerful quietude centered around the main character inside of whom you stand observing the chaos all around. Conway has written this character so precisely and intimately that I felt a raw connection and investment in her welfare and celebration in her growth beyond the small world and pettiness in which she was trapped. It was a profoundly satisfying read. I've read all of Conway's previous books and they just get better and better.
    • 4/5
      A young theatre seamstress, May, joins a floating theatre after the one she and her cousin were travelling on, catches fire and burns. May becomes involved through a friend of her cousins in shifting slave babies and a woman slave from the South, the Kentucky side of the Ohio River to the free North with the willing or unwilling support of some of the theatre troop. An interesting read loosely based on fact. Intertwined in the story is a slave catcher, free black Negroes and their thoughts and the way they won't step on land on the South, and those able and willing to get involved in the cause. May really doesn't have any conviction or passion into saving/ freeing the slaves until perhaps the end. While the story is predictable I would read another by this author and others along this theme.
    • 3/5
      When May's cousin Comfort abandons her to work as a face for the abolitionists, May finds work as a seamstress upon a riverboat theater. Where she once relied upon Comfort to interact with other people, she is forced to develop her own voice and viewpoints and learn to become part of a group. The people who live and work on the riverboat are a mottled assortment, full of personality and life. As May is finally learning to trust herself and others, her cousin's benefactress approaches her, asking her to ferry the newborn children of slaves across the river to freedom. This was a fun, lively story. Although a bit predictable, the characters were interesting and dynamic. May was a bit naive and slow to grow, but overall she was a likeable character. I think this book would be a big hit under I would definitely pick up another book by this author.
    • 4/5
      This is not going to be a book for everyone but I truly did enjoy it. It is the story of May, a young woman who ends up living with her cousin, Comfort Vertue – an actress of questionable talents. May is an excellent seamstress so she is brought along when Comfort needs to find a way to support herself upon the death of her husband. Life changes dramatically for both of them when the steamship they are taking explodes. Both survive but the trajectory of both of their lives changes as they are separated in the confusion.They ultimately reunite but Comfort’s current benefactor does not want May around so pays her to go away. She does and finds work on a floating theatre as a seamstress. She finally comes into her own and feels as if she is among friends. Until she is forced into doing something she does not want to do – ferry the babies of runaway slaves across the river. May initially has no feelings about the issue other than how it will impact her life. Ultimately she realizes it’s a bigger issue than just herself.I was engrossed in the story as I found the descriptions of life on the floating theatre fascinating. The author brought the period alive for me. Slavery was not the main issue in this story – May’s feelings and thoughts drove the tale. The focus was how things impacted her, not how vile slavery was. It’s definitely one woman’s story.As I noted above, not everyone is going to like this book because it doesn’t take a firm stand one way or the other. May does not go into her “mission” full of righteous anger with thoughts of saving babies lives. This takes place pre-Civil War so the issues of slavery and the freedom of the slaves had not become so present in people’s minds. May is a young girl concerned only with her survival. It’s a bold way to tell a story about such a sensitive issue. It was a very different viewpoint to tell this type of tale.
    • 1/5
      I so wanted to really love if not like this book. Sadly, it did not touch me at all. Not for a lack of effort. In the beginning, I actually was into the story, the time period, and location. Yet, as the story progressed; I found none of the characters really struck a cord with me both emotionally or vocally. However, I kept reading, hoping that what spark I did find and enjoyed in the beginning would come back again for me. After getting almost half way into the story, I put it down and walked away for a period of time. When the extended period was over, I picked up the book again and proceeded to start reading. I read several more chapters but again, none of the characters drew me into the story. Sadly, I put the book down for a second and final time.
    • 4/5
      When the steamboat Moselle sinks, May and her cousin Comfort, survive when many others did not. Together for many years, Comfort on the stage, May as her seamstress, making and maintaining her costumes, their lives now take different paths. Comfort becomes the spokesman for a a woman fighting against the horrible institution of slavery. May now alone, eventually gets a job on a travelling show run on a steamboat that travels up and down the Ohio River.In 1838, the Ohio River separated the slave states from the free states. The Underground Railroad used this river to ferry slaves over from the Kentucky side, something May will become very familiar with, albeit at the beginning very much against her will. Very interesting story as we see May grow and become attuned to the evils that slavery is as she comes to learn and fit in with the actors on the steamboat. May is a wonderful character as are many others including the captain of the steamboat. The writing is wonderfully smooth, evenly paced. The atmosphere of the times, the divisions and differing opinions of slavery are realistically portrayed. A story that is both entertaining and informative. The sinking of the Moselle was a real life event that the author used in which to base her story. Well done!
    • 5/5
      In the wake of being aboard a steamboat that sinks, May searches for her cousin. She is astonished when her cousin declares May unnecessary. This young woman must make her own way in the world, and comes to know more about herself and the changing world around her.May is such an entertaining character. She is partially deaf, struggles with telling a falsehood, and is precise in what she says or does. Her dealings with new people are awkward and all the more enjoyable because of it. Watching her learn, make mistakes, and grow as an individual was the best part of the book.The cast and crew of the riverboat made excellent supporting cast. The plot moved along at a good pace, although the 'underground' detail didn't come into play until much later than I expected.All in all, this is a well told historical tale with a main character I could relate to. Its clean and interesting, exactly the kind of book I would happily recommend to other readers.I received an ARC through NetGalley for reviewing purposes.
    • 4/5
      This is really May Bedlow’s story; the author has us walking in her shoes, from the first page to the end. A young woman who cannot tell a lie, or when she does she is reciting the Greek alphabet, or will she learn with all that happens in her life.Can you imagine being on a steamboat and having it blow up around you, and then having to swim for your life, thank goodness she knew how, and then she helps others.It does take over half the book to set up the side story of helping rescue babies across the Ohio River and to freedom. What a concept, when you think about the sacrifices these mothers made for their infants, a heart breaking decision for sure.May has a gift with a sewing needle, and because of that she is at the right place at the right time, and it becomes her life to live on a show boat, making all the costumes and helping put on the performances.Watch what happens when evil rears it ugly head and greed tries to take over, will our girl survive, and will this be then end of these daring rescues?I received this book through Touchstone Publishing and was not required to give a positive review.
    • 5/5
      After the death of her parents, May Bedloe acts as companion, dresser and seamstress to her cousin Comfort Vertue, an actress. After a catastrophe from which both barely escape with their lives, Comfort is taken in by the wealthy Mrs Howard, whereas May is encouraged to return home. Instead she takes the money Mrs Howard offers her to secure her a position onboard the Floating Theatre, a barge that makes its way along the Ohio River where the actors perform to settlements on both banks of the river, one belonging to the free states of the North, the other to the slave states of the South. But May, Comfort and Mrs Howard will cross paths again, and May will be forced to help the abolitionist cause, putting her life and those close to her in danger.Set in 1838, this novel feels like a slice of the authentic old Midwest, but it won’t appeal to everyone. May, who is the narrator, is an intriguing character: she’s quiet yet outspoken, and just as her sewing and embroidery are careful and meticulous, so is her prose; I felt there weren’t any wasted words there. I repeatedly got the impression that she has a mild form of autism as she often struggles to read other people’s moods and takes their words literally. The plot moves forward in a slow and gentle way, with touches of quiet humour, meandering like the Ohio River itself, with occasional turbulences that the characters have to navigate. The small cast of characters she encounters appears to encompass the kaleidoscope of human behaviour, and each one is colourfully and carefully drawn.One reviewer commented that in her view the issue of slavery was treated in a lightweight manner and wasn’t hard-hitting enough; I can’t agree with that. Having lived her entire life in the North, May has never had cause to reflect on the matter, and when she first encounters casual racism, not just in the South but also in the so-called more liberal North, where profit comes before principles, she is forced to take sides, especially when she participates in the activities of the Underground Railroad, at first against her will. The fact that almost everyone she meets doesn’t want to get involved in other people’s affairs and is minding their own business, that slavery is an everyday occurrence and a fact of life in the settlements bordering the Ohio River and further south, makes the novel appear more realistic and authentic, as I can believe that this was truly the prevailing attitude until the American Civil War was fought over the issue. There are still enough sections where May’s unflinching prose brings home the stark reality of what it meant to be a slave – the image that remains most vivid in my mind is when May and Hugo come across a deserted barn in Kentucky where they see a slave hold with fetters fitted for both adults and small children, the cell too small for a person to lie down, the fetters too high to allow someone to sit, “too narrow for a horse and too tall for a pig”; May calls this her first real moment of understanding.While the plot could have been paced a little quicker here and there, the voice feels entirely authentic and proves to be thought-provoking reading, which shows that people choosing to look away from something bad happening are complicit in its perpetuation, something that was as valid then as it is now.