Book Review: Knife River, by Justine Champine

Review by: Becki Bayley

Later that night as I tried to fall asleep, I remembered a woman, a self-described psychic, who called us at the house years ago. It was just weeks after our mother disappeared, and we were still sleeping with the phone then, the receiver resting between both our heads on the floor in our mess of quilts. Liz answered on the first ring. It was after one in the morning. My sister put the call on speakerphone just as the woman began to say that our mother’s body was in water. She couldn’t say exactly where, but described a lake with a faded red boat house and two Adirondack chairs at the end of a dock. Liz grabbed her notepad and began to furiously jot it all down, tearing the pages off as she filled them and letting each one fall to the side. I remember the chill that came over me then, lying there in the dark still dressed in my day clothes, eyes crusted over with sleep, listening to the sound of this strange woman’s voice fill our living room.

The lives of Liz and Jess are forever changed when their mother, Natalie, doesn’t return home one night. The police never charge anyone with a crime, and can’t even find Natalie’s body. When her bones are discovered fifteen years later, Jess moves back home to hopefully find closure with her sister.

Official synopsis:

When Jess was thirteen, her mother went for a walk and never returned. Jess and her older sister, Liz, never found out what happened. Instead, they did what they hoped their mother had done: survive. As soon as she was old enough, Jess fled their small town of Knife River, wandering from girlfriend to girlfriend like a ghost in her own life, aimless in her attempts to outrun grief and confusion. But one morning, fifteen years after their mother’s disappearance, she gets the call she’s been bracing for: Her mother’s remains have been found.

Jess returns to find Knife River—and her sister—frozen in time. The town is as claustrophobic and rundown as ever. Liz still lives in their childhood home and has become obsessed with unsolved missing persons cases. Jess plans to stay only until they get some answers, but their mother’s bones, exposed to the elements for so long, just leave them with more questions. As Jess gets caught up in the case and falls back into an entanglement with her high school girlfriend, her understanding of the past, of Liz, of their mother, and of herself become more complicated—and the list of theories more ominous.

Knife River is a tense, intimate, and heartrending portrayal of how deeply and imperfectly women love one another: in romantic relationships, in friendships, and especially as sisters.

Jess was a unique character to narrate this story. She was only 13 when her mother disappeared, so her high school years were spent with her sister raising her, and the constant suspense of hoping their mother would return while knowing she was probably already dead. Liz sacrificed her dream of college to stay in their small town and see her sister to adulthood. They were different girls with not much in common when their mother disappeared, and suddenly having to navigate life without their mother did not make them closer.

When some children playing discover human bones and the authorities contact the sisters, Jess leaves her suburban life with her girlfriend to return to the small town where she never felt like she belonged. Liz still lived in the same house, so she would be there if their mother was ever able to return. The sisters anxiously anticipated finally getting some answers.

The book earned 5 out of 5 stars. The story was complicated, but well told and resolved by the end. This could be recommended for those who like family dramas and small towns as a setting.

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Becki Bayley is a Gemini who enjoys reading in her flower garden with a refreshing drink when she’s not on-the-go having adventures with her kids. See what they’re up to on Instagram, where she posts as SweetlyBSquared.