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This story of a middle-aged woman?s odyssey down the Mississippi River is a funny, beautifully written, and poignant tale of a journey that transforms a life
Henry Holt
April 2007
On Sale: April 3, 2007
288 pages
ISBN: 0805078274
EAN: 9780805078275
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Memoir
In fall 2005 acclaimed travel writer Mary Morris set off down the Mississippi in a battered old houseboat called the River Queen, with two river rats named Tom and Jerryβand a rat terrier, named Samantha Jean, who hated her. It was a time of emotional turmoil for Morris. Her father had just died; her daughter was leaving home; life was changing all around her. It was then she decided to return to the Midwest where she was from, to the river she remembered, where her father had played jazz piano in tiny towns. Morris describes living like a pirate and surviving a tornado. Because of Katrina, oil prices, and drought, the river was often emptyβa ghost riverβand Morris experienced it as Joliet and Marquette had four hundred years earlier. As she learned to pilot her beloved River Queen without running aground and made peace with Samantha Jean, Morris got her groove back, reconnecting to her past. More important, she came away with her best book, a bittersweet travel tale told in the very real voice of a smart, sad, funny, gutsy, and absolutely appealing woman.
 Media BuzzEarly Show - June 29, 2007
All Things Considered - April 14, 2007
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