Orphaned by the sudden deaths of her parents in 1877, seventeen year-old Emma Jorden has to abandon her Kansas home. Lost on the featureless prairie and near death she is rescued by Shea Hawkshadow, a half-breed Cheyenne warrior. Following an impulsive love affair, Emma and Shea marry. When the consequences of their unconventional marriage spark ridicule then quickly escalate to attempted murder, they risk a journey across the western frontier. However, many trials await the couple in their search for a life free from persecution. Emma masks her increasingly fragile emotional state until years of repression exact a dreadful toll. She battles to unearth the innermost causes of her instability hindered by the lack of humane treatment for mental illnesses in the 19th Century. Emma's transformation from a guileless girl into a complex woman with an unflinching will to survive is remarkable and moving. The Bend in the River is an absorbing saga of savagery, love, secrets, and healing. Susan Gibbs' highly-praised debut novel is a first-rate page-turner. The Bend in the River is an unpredictable and absorbing saga.