The River Beyond the World is an amazing, amazing book. Peery is a lyrical writer, but there's a tough reality to what she writes. In my reading/interpretation, it ends up being a very moving novel about misunderstandings and miscommunications based on class, culture and age and how these differences shape the lives of women. The choices the central characters make alternately managed to choke me up with sadness, to make me seethe with rage and caused me to smile with admiration. Well worth the emotional upheaval and the time spent.

Janet Perry's book about two women from two different cultures on either side of the 'River' that divides them, culturally and physically until Lu accepts employment with Eddie is full of allusions and metaphors that are not in your face, but realized after you finish the read and sit back and think.
Lu, the protagonist wishes for a simple life where she is free from the 'want' she grew up with in her native village and for a good home for her two children.
Eddie, the secondary protagonist/antagonist, wishes for another life, but settles for what she has, and after the death of her husband lives her life pretending she lives in the life of her dreams.
Both women interact, both taking and giving in seemingly uneven lifestyles, but in the end, the proof is they both reap and receive their life's rewards. Both realize, after major events in their lives have occurred, goals for which they were both conciously and perhaps subconciously wishing for themselves.
This book reads smoothly and the events segue beautifully.
I highly recommend this book for anyone wishing to be transported to a place in another time to look over the shoulder of two women whose inner beauty glows through to the reader.

In THE RIVER BEYOND THE WORLD, Janet Peery illustrates an element of human compassion for her characters that is uplifting without being cloying, an element that illustrates the human condition in a way that we as readers can internalize as a tool for interpreting the world.

The hallmarks of Peery's writing are the deceptively simple prose style she employs, and the wonderfully apt way she has of capturing dialogue and scene in brief splashes of narrative that illuminate the unspoken depths of the story.

RIVER BEYOND THE WORLD is a beautifuly written, complex novel that is fully deserving of the acclaim it has received.

Rebekah Mercer

Alligator Dance is a collection of stories by Janet Perry which introduce you to the Mexican culture and 'south of the border' mentality of a palette of colorful characters.
South Padre (Story 1) shows what happens to character, Jesse Folcher, when he can't love the one he's with and what results in the end.
Alligator Dance (Story 2) is written from a child's point of view on the aspect of the child's encounter with another child who is an outsider. Anyone who had grown up with 'unique' friends will recognise the disjointed and confusing thinking.
The Waco Wego (Story 3) brings back memories of "To Kill a Mockingbird" when the child's father, who is a lawyer, works at attempting to help a local woman's son who committed a heinous crime.
Mountains, Roads, The Tops of Trees (Story 4) is a love story, compacting a lifetime into a graceful gesture before death.
Nosotros (Story 5)is a chapter excerpt that was developed into a beautiful 'love/hate' relationship story between two women in "A River Beyond the World."
Whitewing (Story 6) is a story about subconcious prejudice that develops into concious hatred.
Huevos (Story 7) is a story about a young man who takes action against events beyond his control and the realization that only running way will solve his own issues.
What the Thunder Said (Story 8) tells a story about a young woman who assumes too much, takes too much, and looses everything at the end.
Job's Daughters (Story 9) shows how cousins from two different cultures can come together as a family when there is a need.
Daughter of the Moon (Story 10) shows that the difference between two grandmothers can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending upon what a child remembers.
All these stories are beautifully written, give glimpses into different cultures or your own mind, where discoveries are made because of similar patterns of thinking.
You will come away from this book feeling pleasantly surprised and entertained and wanting to think over the stories, perhaps reading them again to see what other lessons can be gained. I highly recommend this book for those looking for deep meaning for life and a variety of viewpoints.

We recently discussed this book in our book club and for the first time ever, there was a conformity of opinion. We all agreed that this collection should be high on any reader's list of "must read" books.

Peery's ALLIGATOR DANCE is like a collection of family letters found stashed away in a great aunt's attic--they are our stories, and the stories of our mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters, and all the people we call family. The names and locations may be different, but we know these people.

If you've ever spent time in a small town, you'll recognize the people and the attitudes in "The Waco Wego." If you're from Texas you're bound to feel that salt air whipping your hair in the story "South Padre" and smell the cumin and cilantro hanging thick in the air when you read "Nosotros," "Huevos" and "Whitewing."

But these stories don't contain any "easy answers." Peery does what all good writers do-- she gives us more questions than answers and leaves it to us to sort it out.

These are stories that resonate with humor and poignancy; stories that encompass the whole range of human emotions. They are funny and eccentric, touching and sad, but always full of life and love. At the bottom of all of them is the idea that we are all here by some great miracle of chance and that there is no understanding, no great insight of knowledge that will help us finally make sense of it all. All we can do is live life with humor and grace and, as she says in one story, "the maybe-hope of heaven."

These stories, with their intimate glimpses into truth and love and human behavior, are like a compass to get us started in the right direction.

Rebekah Mercer