An Appalachian Story of Coercive Control
All the River Took, Annelise Powell. Published by the author, 2025. Softcover, 413 pages.
In my research about the author of this novel, I discovered that she wrote another book, Hooked: The Psychology of Page Turners. I wasn’t surprised because she is a master at it. This novel secured my interest early on and didn’t let go until the end.
The story is set in a small Appalachian town of Gideon’s Rest. The town harbours deep secrets connected to the local church, a powerful community institution. The church holds a hard line, controlling and spiritually abusing its members. It takes the death of a 15-year-old girl and the investigative efforts of a sheriff and a photographer to start unravelling the truth.
Christian fiction is often predictably formulaic. All the River Took defies stereotypes. It offers realistic character development and mysterious plot twists. Wrapped in a Southern Gothic style which effectively captures the Appalachian mood, Annelise Powell’s novel avoids coming across as preachy. Yet it still manages to highlight the troubling problem of abuse in high control churches. It does this without falling into the traps of sensationalism or gratuitous details.
I wasn’t able to find much information about the author. The author’s note at the end of the book tells us that she is a church-going and church-loving Christian. She’s experienced churches like the one described in the book. Aside from that, her author page on Amazon says she’s an Australian writer currently living in the USA. Regardless, I enjoyed the novel and I think you will too, especially if you’re a fan of the Southern Gothic genre and care about issues of spiritual abuse.
