Chasing Rivers: A Whitewater Life

The thrilling story of a female whitewater guide working on some of the most challenging and remote rafting rivers in North America, from Northern British Columbia to the Grand Canyon and beyond.

When Tamar Glouberman was in her twenties and thirties, rivers were flowing through every aspect of her life. Whitewater and the paddling community bring excitement, friendships, lovers and a connection to the natural world as she traverses the map in search of her next adventure. As a short woman who nearly failed high-school gym, Glouberman does not fit the stereotype of a kayaker or raft guide and must prove herself time and again. Yet she feels more at home on water than land.

Driven to guide increasingly dangerous rivers, Tamar overcomes her self doubts and challenges both on and off the water, using a combination of grit and wit. But when a rafting trip ends in a fatal accident, she is consumed by guilt and exiles herself from the rivers she loves, convinced she can never return. Tamar must eventually decide if being unable to save her passenger’s life means she also must sacrifice her own.

A raw and honest work from a talented new voice in adventure writing, Tamar’s memoir is a page-turner, transporting readers through wild rapids and breathtaking canyons, navigating eddies and currents, as she learns from the river that finding self-forgiveness might be the most hard-to-reach destination of all.

“Tamar Glouberman takes readers on the ride of a lifetime in her stunning whitewater memoir, which expertly tackles themes of sexism, mental health, and what it means to trust in yourself in a world that rocks that boat. In Chasing Rivers, Glouberman showcases adventures that make the pulse race while making even a novice explorer feel like they belong, while the gorgeous imagery brings unique ports of call to life as if you too are standing at the river's edge. As a guide, countless guests trusted Glouberman to lead them through whitewater rapids, and as an author, readers can rest assured that in Chasing Rivers, they will be entertained, captivated, and above all, told a beautiful true tale of guts, survival, and heart.”

“Chasing Rivers is a pulse-pounding account of an unconventional, gutsy woman who quashed her self-doubt to carve out a joyful, adrenaline-filled life as a whitewater raft guide. Though Glouberman never shies away from the tough stuff—the PTSD and grief that often accompanies high risk sports—this is ultimately a story of self-forgiveness, healing, and letting go. The writing is as spunky, vulnerable and bold as the narrator, and you will not want to put this book down.”

“Glouberman reaches out a generous hand and pulls us into her raft and her life, taking us on a breathless, ferocious journey through the depths of her outer and inner worlds.”

“Tamar Glouberman’s affecting memoir of a life lived on and shaped by rivers takes readers on a mesmerizing journey through some of the wildest places in the world while mapping the remote corners of the heart. An undercurrent of trauma pulls at every bend, amplifying in size and strength across BC, the Galapagos Islands, Grand Canyon, Inuvik, Yukon, New York. . . reaching a breaking point that is startling and ultimately triumphant. This is a story of healing, self-discovery, and an unwavering tenacious resilience—an ecological manifesto as much as a personal one.”