River People
River People is a novel of inspiration, love, loss, and renewal.
In The Late 1890’s
In Nebraska in the late 1890s, seventeen-year-old Effie and eleven-year-old Bridget must struggle to endure at a time when women and children have few rights, and society looks upon domestic abuse as a private, family matter.
Inhumane
From different parts of the country the two girls, unrelated, are thrown together under unusual life-changing events and they must learn to live under conditions you would consider inhumane and unbearable, to survive.
Family and Religion
The story is set on the banks of the Missouri River in Nebraska and told through the eyes of the girls as they must struggle to endure abuse and neglect at the hands of a man whose past has left deep scars and a cruel, warped view of family and religion.
Human Spirit
Living under grueling circumstances is a testament to the human spirit, and what we can all endure and accomplish.
What Readers Are Saying About River People
“In this big, ambitious novel, Lukas renders the changing world of the Midwest in the late 19th century, a world as brutal as it is beautiful. The players on its stage are admiringly human and deeply flawed. In clean, beautiful prose, and an unflinching eye, Lukas illuminates the way in which the relentless work of survival both builds and destroys kinship and community, Threaded through, as constant as the Missouri River at the physical center of this story, is a desire for belonging that flourishes in the unexpected.”
-Rebecca Rotert
Author of “All the Animals We Ever Were”
**********
“Wonderfully redemption, River People brings alive a surprising group of underdogs, their life in the backwaters, and a scoundrel or two who care more for propriety than taking care of their own. A spirited tale of early Omaha you will want to share with your friends.
-Theodore Wheeler,
Author of “Kings of Broken Things”
**********
This novel explores the harsh reality of women’s lives at a time when their days were shaped by toil, poverty, and abusive patriarchy.
But against the backdrop of that dark world, River People reveals another steeped in myth, the beauty of the Missouri River, and woods where trees breathe, and their leaves “listen high where the spirits speak.”
A mesmerizing tale of love and redemption.
-Jeff Kurrus,
Editor of Nebraskland Magazine;
Author of “Can You Dance Like John”
**********
River People is a mesmerizing tale of love and redemption.
– Jeff Kurrus
The book, River People, caught me completely off guard, it is a gem!
– Teresa Young
River People is a gripping novel in the historical fiction genre, with truly unforgettable characters.
– Trisha Hugo
Best Selling Author
Margaret Lukas
Margaret Lukas taught writing for over a decade at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. She received her BFA from UNO’s Writer’s Workshop in 2004. In 2007, she received her MFA from Rainier Writing Workshop in Tacoma, Washington.
She is a recipient of a Nebraska Art Council Individual Artist Fellowship for her first novel, Farthest House.