River of the Stick Wavers

Following the premature death of her husband in the later winter of 1963, Grace Irwin discovers that she no longer fits in to the world she knew. Always a dutiful daughter, wife, and mother, the widow is unmoored by her loneliness, fearing the slightest rapid will sweep her away. Grace travels to the French River in Northern Ontario, to grieve her loss and draw strength from the wild landscape. There she forms friendships with two fiercely independent women who challenge her to carve her own path in the world. As Grace begins to heal, her faith and courage are tested in unexpected ways. River of the Stick Wavers is a nuanced portrait of grief, a subtle challenge to expectations for how a woman should behave, and a testament to the transformative power of friendship.... In her writing, Gillian Andrews addresses the woman's journey - the different phases of a woman's life where she uncovers her inner strength. Gillian is motivated to help women realize their potential, not only through her fiction writing, but on her blog mywordsmyway.com, and in Sage Woman magazine, where she wrote about her own coming of age story. While writing her novel River of the Stick Wavers Gillian travelled to the French River, where her novel is set, and fell in love with the landscape and its unique history. She is currently working on her next novel which details the struggles of a young woman who searches for a place for herself in the art world of 1911....