This book goes down as one of my all-time favorites, without a doubt. I'd never heard of Ursula Hegi before or any of her books, but now that I've been educated I will look for each new book. I disagree with many of the other reviewers who said the first part of the book was uninteresting. I found the whole book gripping and it wouldn't let go, even after it ended. "Stones from the River" is one of those books whose characters seem as real as your own family and you don't want to lose them when the story ends.