River Sing Me Home

How does Rachel’s approach to motherhood change throughout the novel? What moment or moments seem to inspire these shifts?

The natural world plays an important role in the novel. Why does Shearer emphasize nature in a text centered on familial fragmentation and reunion?

Chapter 19 is the only time the text’s point of view shifts. Why does Shearer change the point of view and diction of this chapter?

In what ways can River Sing Me Home be considered a coming-of-age novel although its protagonist is an older woman with children?

Rachel and Mary Grace do not need words to understand each other. How does the way these women communicate reinforce the novel’s theme regarding The Connection Between All Things?

As Rachel searches for her children, she sees reminders of those who helped her along the way such as Mama B. How does recalling these characters support the novel’s themes?

There are instances in the text in which Rachel does not know a language, but understands it. For example, when Nuno communicates with the archer on the Demerara river bank, Rachel does not understand their speech but imagines its meaning. What ideas does the novel express about language?

Shearer shows the impact colonization had on the Caribbean’s Indigenous communities, particularly through Nuno. In what ways do Nuno and other Indigenous characters highlight the novel’s theme of The Quest for Freedom?