Peace Like a River

Peace Like a River is author Leif Enger’s debut novel. A work of literary fiction marketed for adult audiences but accessible to younger readers, Peace Like a River shares elements from Christian fiction, historical fiction, and coming-of-age literature. The book was named one of the Year’s Best Books by Time Magazine and the LA Times. It won the Book Sense Book of the Year Award for Adult Fiction in 2002, as well as an Independent Book Publisher Award and the American Library Association’s Alex Award for best adult novel for teens.

Enger has written other works. In the 1990s, Leif and his brother Lin co-authored and produced a series of mystery novels about a retired baseball player under the pen name L. L. Enger. Prior to writing Peace Like a River, Leif worked as a reporter for Minnesota Public Radio. The book was first published on September 11, 2001. Conflicted about promoting his book on a scheduled tour in the wake of the 9/11 tragedies, Enger eventually realized that in the midst of crisis, literature’s “greatest power is to move us toward each other” (ii). He saw proof of this in the kindness of booksellers and readers at every stop on the tour.

Enger’s inspiration for writing Peace Like a River was his desire to work a miracle for his seven-year-old child who was struggling with severe asthma. The book’s title comes from Horatio Spafford’s Christian hymn “It Is Well with My Soul,” which played at Enger’s wedding and describes experiencing peace and faith in the midst of tragedy. Set in the early 1960s in Minnesota and North Dakota, the tale is narrated by 11-year-old Reuben Land, who describes his family’s journey to reunite with his fugitive brother. Reuben’s perspective is shaped by his sister’s infectious fascination with Wild West outlaws, his own debilitating asthma, his father’s Christian faith, and the presence of the miraculous in their midst. As he confronts the reality of evil in the world and probes his beliefs and values, Reuben learns profound lessons about faith, justice and forgiveness, family, loyalty, and sacrifice.

This guide refers to the 20th anniversary eBook edition of this text, published in 2021 by Grove Press. Pagination may differ from print versions.

Content Warning: The source material alludes to sexual assault and depicts gun violence.

Plot Summary

Peace Like a River opens with the miraculous birth of Reuben Land, whose lungs wouldn’t work until his father, Jeremiah Land, ordered him to breathe in the name of God, compelling him into the role of witness to his father’s future miracles. Reuben is 11 in the dramatic present when he learns town bullies Israel Finch and Tommy Basca assaulted his brother Davy’s girlfriend in the locker room during a high school football game. Jeremiah, the school’s janitor, interrupted the assault, after which the boys threatened him and his family.

As the feud between the bullies and the Land family simmers, Jeremiah takes Reuben to see a guest pastor at their church said to have healing powers, hoping for a miracle to cure Reuben’s asthma. Finch and Basca escalate the feud by abducting Reuben’s sister Swede, returning her bruised and terrified. Shortly after, they break into the Land household in the middle of the night, and Reuben witnesses Davy shoot and kill them.

Davy is arrested and charged with two counts of manslaughter. Just before the trial, Jeremiah loses his job. Public sympathy vacillates between Davy and his victims, and Davy’s lack of investment in his defense causes the Lands to fear the trial’s outcome. In a surprising twist, Reuben learns Davy escalated the feud prior to the night of the shooting, practically luring Finch and Basca to their deaths.

Reuben and Swede’s plan to break Davy out of jail collapses, but their brother escapes on his own the same night. A posse of authorities and local volunteers is unable to apprehend him during a three-day manhunt. When witness reports suggest he’s crossed state lines, federal agent Martin Andreeson takes over the search. A series of seemingly random events over the following months result in the Lands’ decision to go west in search of Davy.

After receiving a postcard from long-time family friend August Schultz indicating Davy had been to his North Dakota farm, the Lands head there first. Learning August gave Davy his old car but doesn’t know where Davy planned to go next, they lean on God’s guidance, comparing their journey to the Israelites leaving Egypt without knowing where to go. The Lands realize agent Andreeson has been following them. When he loses their trail, he rallies North Dakota state troopers to find them, but the family miraculously passes by every patrol unseen. Low on gas and suffering a terrible migraine, Jeremiah finally stops for fuel at a farmhouse. The owner, Roxanna Cawley, invites them to stay the night. One night turns into many after a blizzard snows them in, but the time passes happily as they discover Roxanna to be caring and entertaining, earning her a place in their hearts.

Andreeson catches up to the Lands while they’re staying with Roxanna and says he knows Davy to be nearby. Leery of Andreeson’s intentions toward Davy and wanting to stay abreast of the search, Jeremiah decides they should stay at Roxanna’s rather than moving on, a prospect that overjoys Reuben and Swede. The next day, Davy makes his presence known to Reuben, but makes him promise not to tell anyone else in the family. In return for his silence, Reuben insists on seeing where Davy is living, and is taken to the cabin of a man named Jape Waltzer. A self-described wolf, Waltzer hints to Reuben of his criminal nature and cruelty. A 14-year-old girl named Sara lives in the cabin too. Waltzer calls her daughter but plans to marry her in the future.

The guilt of secrecy wears on Reuben over the following weeks, exacerbating his asthma and triggering dangerous fevers. Jeremiah, meanwhile, is distracted by a budding romance with Roxanna and asks Andreeson to help look for Davy. The agent tells the family he heard from a witness who’s seen Davy and agreed to lead Andreeson to him. When the agent doesn’t return, however, Reuben suspects Waltzer lured him into a trap and will kill him. With a man’s life on the line, Reuben spills his secret about Davy.

The party going to apprehend Davy brings Reuben along to show the way. It occurs to Reuben he was wrong about Andreeson being in danger. Worried he betrayed Davy needlessly, Reuben decides to mislead the party. His deceit results in one man’s near-fatal accident. The party finds the cabin anyway. Reuben is castigated for a lie that proves pointless when they find the cabin abandoned. The family returns to Minnesota, where Jeremiah marries Roxanna in March.

Three months later, Davy shows up with Sara, having fled when Waltzer decided it was time to marry her. As Davy gets ready to leave after a night of catching up, they find Waltzer waiting outside with a gun. He opens fire indiscriminately and hits both Jeremiah and Reuben. Unconscious from his wound, Reuben visits God’s Kingdom. He meets his father there, who indicates it’s not Reuben’s time yet and tasks his son with helping care for the family. Jeremiah then goes to meet the Lord, and Reuben wakes.

Meanwhile, Waltzer has fled, never to be caught. Davy is gone too and remains a fugitive, but in the ensuing years he reunites sporadically with Reuben in Canada. Sara stays with the remaining Lands, with Roxana at the helm. The family doctor eventually reveals to Reuben his gunshot wound should have killed him, while Jeremiah’s shouldn’t have been fatal. Reuben understands a willing exchange was made—his father’s life for his. Reuben experienced another miracle that day—his asthma was completely cured. He eventually marries Sara and they have children and a happy life together. He sometimes has moments of doubt that the events of the story truly happened the way he remembers, but those moments are followed by renewed certainty and faith.