Before We Died

"An exciting fictional account that explores the very real issues around the consequences of greed and misunderstanding between cultures. Schweighardt's story happened with rubber tappers a century ago; it continues today around oil, lumber, cattle, soy, and the mining of crystals and other resources. This book, besides being a good read, is a wake-up call!"--John Perkins, New York Times Bestselling Author

"Before We Died explores the complexities of the relationship between two Irish-American brothers who embark on an Amazonian adventure fraught with peril. With her signature blend of literary elegance and heart-thrilling suspense, Schweighardt weaves an enticing, early-twentieth-century tale of passion, greed and sacrifice which will leave readers reaching for the next novel in the Rivers series!"
--Kristen Harnisch, International bestselling author of The Vintner's Daughter and The California Wife

"Before We Died is an impeccably researched and engrossing story that reads so quickly you hardly notice how strong and pervasive the underlying themes are. The story pivots around the abuses of power, greed and exploitation, around cruelty and empathy and what makes a human. Though historically powerful in the context of this particular story, these concepts remain deeply relevant to the world we live in today." --Magdalena Ball, Compulsive Reader

"With great skill, Schweighardt brings to magnificent life the colors, smells and sounds of Amazonia in this compelling tale of love, loss and honest men butting heads with privilege and greed."
--Damian McNicholl, author of A Son Called Gabrieland The Moment of Truth

"Schweighardt draws her glorious characters with such skill and affection that we are immediately pulled into their world--Jack and Bax, brothers, Irish, longshoremen whose loving but grieving Mum sends them into the grueling world of turn-of-the-century South American rubber industry on the advice of an old Italian fortuneteller. The author transports us to a fascinating, hardscrabble, well-researched world, and compels us to want to live there for every word of her story. I just love this story."--Lynn Vannucci, Publisher, Water Street Press

"Original, beautifully researched, and frequently shocking... The novel's narrator, Jack Hopper, is the perfect guide--bawdy, brutally honest, brave, and sometimes overwhelmed... An adventure story that takes you into the steamy heart of the Amazon jungle as confidently as it explores the passions and confusions of the human heart..., will leave you breathless and wanting more." --Julie Mars, author of A Month of Sundays: Searching for the Spirit and My Sister and Anybody Any Minute and other novels

..".compelling characters that throb with vibrancy and passion... The story conveys an epic scope, taking the reader across countries and also the vast inner landscape of human desire where the hunger for meaning and love intersects with the suffering of loss and redemption. Beautiful and enthralling..., impossible to forget." --Rocco Lo Bosco, author of Staying Sane in Crazy Town, Ninety-nine and other novels, and co-author of The Age of Perversion: Desire and Technology in Psychoanalysis and Culture