Risking the Rapids

A memoir of a dysfunctional, grieving family reuniting for a turbulent rafting trip, from an author with a “captivating talent for wonder and marvel.” —Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love

After the sudden death of Irene O’Garden’s older brother, she and her family decide to seek closure together by taking a journey through the remotest spot in Montana. The story of their harrowing trip on the river is intertwined here with the author’s account of growing up with her six siblings in a clashing Catholic family under the shadow of alcoholism.

O’Garden’s father, a local TV personality in Minnesota, leaves his cheery public persona behind when he comes home and starts drinking martinis with his undemonstrative, icy-hearted wife. The children vary in their responses to profound anxiety sown in an atmosphere of neglect, psychological abuse, and rigid religiosity: One brother bites his fingers to gangrene. One relentlessly bullies the author, who begins overeating compulsively. One severs all ties with the family. Meanwhile, in the present, danger mounts as well on the raft trip, when unusual river conditions swell and speed the waters. Both stories build with escalating intensity to excruciating climaxes.

Some memoirs shock. Some entertain. Some take us places we’re afraid to go. A rare few move us. Once in a blue moon, a book does it all. This is Risking the Rapids.

“Enthralling.” —Malachy McCourt, author of A Monk Swimming

“A deep and powerful memoir.” —Martha Beck, author of Finding Your Own North Star

“Breathtaking . . . O’Garden adds a thoroughly welcome voice to the rich vein of American literature on the singular healing powers of wilderness.” —Florence Williams, award-winning author of The Nature Fix