River Woman, River Demon by Jennifer Givhan

River Woman, River Demon by Jennifer Givhan

The rundown: Eva hears screams one night coming from the river that runs through her family’s property. When she runs to investigate, she finds her husband Jericho cradling the dead body of their friend Cecilia. The situation brings up terrible memories of Eva’s best friend Karma’s drowning when they were teens, exacerbating the blackouts and drinking. When Cecilia’s ghost starts appearing to her, Eva must confront her past and embrace her bruja powers to figure out what happened to Cecilia…and Karma.

The review: I picked this up specifically because of its inclusion of brujería, curanderismo, and Hoodoo practices, and these elements, specifically how Givhan treats them as spiritual/religious practices rather than magic in a sensational sense, ended up being one of my favorite things about the book. Eva’s Magick plays a much larger part in the story because Jericho is imprisoned for most of it, but we are treated to some of his practices through flashbacks of his and Eva’s relationship. It’s such a cool addition to what is otherwise a typical psychological thriller book (not derisive).

One of the things I appreciate most about post-Gone Girl psych thrillers is that they create space for women to be shitty and behave questionably, and Givhan has exploited this space in a way that has apparently offended the good reviewers of Goodreads (absolutely derisive) but that I think adds nicely to Eva’s development as a complicated, multi-layered character. 

Warning, a bit of a spoiler here: While Jericho is in prison and evidence is increasingly pointed toward him as the culprit, Eva reconnects with her teenage best friend/ex-boyfriend, who comes to town to support her after hearing about the murder on the news. Things progress, and Eva seriously considers leaving Jericho and moving on from the whole horrible situation with her ex. At first this irked me (because I am a romantic at heart and want Eva & Jericho to be happy together forever), but once I got past that initial reaction, I decided that I wholeheartedly supported it. Because, really, why shouldn’t she think about moving on? If Jericho, regardless of how great a husband or father he is, really murdered this woman, as she increasingly believes he did, why should Eva be obligated to “stand by him”? Why should she be the long-suffering wife waiting, stagnant, for her husband’s release? ’Twas an interesting, if unexpected, opportunity to consider this gendered expectation. 

Other reviewers rated the book poorly because of Eva as an “unlikeable protagonist” or “bad mother.” I disagree wholeheartedly with all of it. As I write this I am fuming at all the internalized misogyny. Eva is a bit of a mess, yes. Partially because of the circumstances of her friend’s death and also partially because her emotional growth and maturity has been stalled since her best friend’s death when they were teenagers. Of COURSE we shouldn’t expect Eva to make good decisions; part of her journey is to recognize how stalled, how disconnected she is because of the trauma of that night, forgive herself, and then move forward. She’s an imperfect mother and (wife), and we leave her at the end of the book only as she’s beginning to recognize her inner strength.

Goes well with: It’s not a psychological thriller, but V. Castro’s The Haunting of Alejandra is a good companion read for this one.