There’s a new book to put on your river running reader’s list: Bridget Crocker’s “The River’s Daughter.” If ever a book was able to personify a river and put it on your side, it’s this one, as Crocker used them throughout her life, from Wyoming’s Snake to California’s Kern and Africa’s Zambezi, to help her get through a troubled past and emerge on the other side wiser and wetter.
The plot in a nutshell: After Bridget Crocker’s parents’ volatile divorce, she moved with her mother from Southern California to Wyoming. Her life was idyllic, growing up in a trailer park on the banks of the Snake River with a stepfather she loved, a new baby brother, and the river as her companion—until her mother suddenly took up a radical new lifestyle, becoming someone Bridget barely recognized. The one constant in her life—the place Bridget felt whole and fully herself—was the river. When she discovered the world of whitewater rafting, she knew she’d found her calling.
On the river, Bridget learned to read the natural world around her and came to know the language of rivers. One of the few female guides on the Snake River, she then traveled to the Zambezi River in Africa, some of the most dangerous whitewater in the world, where she faced death and learned to conquer her fears—both on the water and off. The river taught her how to overcome years of betrayals and abuse, to trust herself, and, finally, how to help heal her family from generational cycles of trauma and poverty.
A beautifully rendered memoir of a woman coming into her own, The River’s Daughter opens us to the possibilities of transformation through nature.
We caught up with her between stops on her road-tripping book tour this summer to shed a little more light on her book, writing, and the power of rivers.
Paddling Life: How’s it feel to have the book out?
Crocker: I’ve received so many messages from people who have found hope and encouragement through reading my story, and that feels incredibly gratifying to be in alignment with my purpose of helping others in this way.
Paddling Life: What was the hardest part about writing it?
Crocker: Obviously, it was difficult to put myself back into traumatic scenes to recreate the details of the worst events of my life, but honestly, even more difficult than reliving the scenes over and over was overcoming the feelings of guilt and fear that I was going to get in trouble for telling. As someone who was raised in a dysfunctional family system, these pervasive feelings were hard-wired into me and the mechanism that keeps the system going. To constantly override the system and the intense feelings it produces was more difficult than surviving–and writing about–the events.
Paddling Life: Does it make you nostalgic for your commercial guiding days?
Crocker: My favorite thing about commercial guiding has always been introducing people to the river and helping to facilitate greater connection between people and our natural world. I still keep a paddle in the guiding world, in the form of leading on-river writing classes and women’s adventure wellness retreats on my favorite rivers. I am really enjoying seeing how sharing about our guiding community and culture in “The River’s Daughter” has really stuck with readers, since one of the best aspects of guiding is the sense of belonging and family that springs up around the sport.
Paddling Life: What do you hope readers take away from it?
Crocker: My enduring hope has been to use my story to encourage others who may be struggling with difficult cycles of trauma, abuse, alcoholism/addiction or family estrangement. My intention in publishing my story is to help those who feel disconnected to realize that no matter your past, it’s possible to transform suffering into resilience and find empowerment. I also hope that the lighter parts about experiencing incredible whitewater, connecting with nature and other communities through river running serve to spark curiosity among readers.
Paddling Life: A constant theme, it seems, is the river being there for you and having your back…do you think that’s real, or just your subconscious?
Crocker: My relationship with rivers has developed over many decades and is a relationship that has nurtured and supported me, helping me to survive difficult situations. Rivers are sentient beings, like all of nature. Developing a deeper relationship with the natural world is something that’s available to all of us. We need only believe it’s possible.
Paddling Life: Any tips for other aspiring writers?
Crocker: This book took me 22 years to write, and I chided myself the entire time for not having completed it sooner, feeling that I was missing my window of opportunity. The truth is, this was a complicated story to live, to heal from and to write. It took its own time and I could only write about the interior part of the journey to the degree that I’d experienced emotional healing, which provided me with greater perspective. When I finally did finish the manuscript, the opportunities lined up quite easily. I set out to write “The River’s Daughter” as an act of devotion to my younger self, and in doing so, my present self was set free, which in turn serves to inspire and help others. I’m here to remind writers that sharing our stories matter, both on and off the river.
About the author: Crocker’s adventure travel background combined with formal studies in Anthropology and Native American Studies have shaped her ability to integrate the natural and cultural spirit of varying landscapes into her writing. She attended the University of Montana in Missoula and holds a degree in English Literature from Montana State University, Bozeman. She’s an alum of Book Passage Travel Writing and Photography Conference and the Livingston Writer’s Workshop. Her work has been featured in magazines including Westways, Men’s Journal, National Geographic Adventure, Outside, Trail Runner, Paddler and Velaamong others, and she worked as a writer for the outdoor clothing company, Patagonia, for nineteen years. She is a contributing author to Lonely Planet guidebooks and Travel Anthology and The Best Women’s Travel Writing series from Travelers’ Tales. A trailblazer in women’s empowerment within the outdoor industry, she’s a leading whitewater rafting guide, having led remote river expeditions down many of the world’s greatest river canyons. She lives in Malibu, California.
Testimonials
“In The River’s Daughter, renowned whitewater rafting guide Crocker delivers a powerful narrative of resilience and self-discovery, navigating the tumult of family upheaval and personal trauma. With courage and insight, Crocker reveals how the rivers she braved also guided her toward healing and strength. This unforgettable odyssey is a testament to nature’s power to transform and inspire. A remarkable debut.”—Adrienne Brodeur, author of Little Monsters
“The River’s Daughter is poignant and absorbing, vividly transporting the reader along Bridget’s journey to heal from abuse and betrayal, where the power and grace of the world’s rivers inspire her passion for life and offer her a place to channel her pain.”—Norman Ollestad, author of Crazy for the Storm
“An exciting, entertaining, fast-paced adventure travel memoir.”
—Catherine Raven, author of Fox and I
“This memoir by legendary river guide Bridget Crocker runs fast and deep. Whitewater scenes are electrifying and precise. But there are also profound personal matters here—pockets of fear or joy and even love—that add a shimmering depth to this fast-paced and nuanced read.”
—Tim Cahill, author of Jaguars Ripped My Flesh
“No one writes with more conviction and heart about the outdoor world, rivers, and family than Bridget Crocker, who has been to the river’s edge, both literal and metaphorical, navigated its rapids, and drawn strength from it in many more ways than one. This fast-paced but deeply insightful book about a woman harnessing the power to confront her past and surge into her future will steal readers’ breath from the first scene—when Crocker first hears the river’s voice—to the last.”
—Tracy Ross, author of The Source of All Things
Info: https://bridgetcrocker.com