Inga Tate: The Woman Who Raised Lukas in Go as a River

Overview

Inga Tate is a peripheral but pivotal character in Shelley Read’s Go as a River. She is the woman who discovered Victoria Nash’s newborn abandoned in a forest clearing, took him in, and raised him as her own son alongside her biological child, Maxwell. Inga’s actions set in motion the novel’s central mystery—the fate of Victoria’s son—and ultimately become the bridge that reunites mother and child. More than a plot device, Inga is a fully realized figure whose own struggles with identity, marriage, and loss mirror Victoria’s. Her story illuminates the novel’s core themes of motherhood and identity, love and sacrifice, and the quiet courage required to do the next right thing.

Plot Role

Inga first enters the narrative through her written testimony, which Victoria discovers at the stone circle in 1970 (Chapter 23: Twenty). That letter, left in a sealed plastic bag, reveals the baby’s name—Lukas—and tells the full story of his upbringing. In doing so, Inga changes Victoria’s relationship with her loss from abstract grief to urgent reality. When Victoria finally travels to Durango to meet her (Chapter 27: Twenty-Four), Inga delivers the painful confession that she has “lost” Lukas—he has gone missing after enlisting in the Vietnam War. Inga’s confession sparks the final act of the novel: Victoria’s decision to invite Lukas home and Inga’s promise to find a way to tell him the truth (Chapter 28: Twenty-Five). By the end, Inga stands beside Victoria at Blue Mesa Reservoir to greet Lukas (Chapter 29: Twenty-Six), completing a circle of two mothers bound by a single child.

Motivations and Traits

Inga’s initial decision to take the newborn is instinctive and compassionate. The evidence shows she immediately pulled him to her breast to nourish him, a gesture that suggests an overwhelming maternal drive. She later writes that the boy “needed me to be,” implying she felt chosen or responsible. Her motivations shift over time: first, survival and protection of the child; later, fear of losing him to his biological mother; and finally, a desire to repair the harm caused by her secret. Key traits include:

• Resilience – She adapts to an unwanted marriage, a lonely move to Colorado, and the challenges of raising two very different boys. Her repeated walks to the Animas River become a ritual of endurance.
• Self-sacrifice – She abandons her dreams of becoming a writer, surrendering to motherhood as “the choice [of] motherhood or madness” (Chapter 24: Twenty-One). She shoulders the lie of Lukas’s parentage for more than a decade to protect him.
• Courage through confession – When the draft threatens Lukas, she tells him the truth despite years of concealment. Later, she sends her story to Victoria, fully aware of the vulnerability it creates.
• Honesty in remorse – In their first meeting, Inga does not defend her past; she apologizes: “she kept the boy from Victoria and, worse, lost him” (Chapter 27: Twenty-Four). This moment of accountability defines her moral growth.

Chronological Arc

Inga’s arc unfolds in three phases, as revealed through her letter and the novel’s present action:

1. Discovery and Deception (1949–1950): While on a picnic with her husband Paul and infant Maxwell, Inga hears cries and finds a newborn in a forest clearing. With Paul’s reluctant approval, she takes the baby and raises him as Lukas, a twin to Max. The family moves to Durango under the lie that Lukas is her biological son.

2. Motherhood and Struggle (1950–1969): Inga raises the boys amid a strained marriage. She finds solace in walks to the Animas River. She watches Lukas’s gentle nature contrast with Max’s volatility. At age twelve, Lukas discovers the stone circle left by his birth mother; Inga, paralyzed by fear, denies knowing its meaning. The lie deepens.

3. Confession and Reckoning (1969–1971): The draft lottery forces both boys to Vietnam. To save Lukas from the war, Inga confesses the truth. Lukas enlists in Denver and disappears. Max dies from a drug overdose. Inga, now grieving both sons, writes her story to the “Forest Mother” and leaves it at the stone circle. She later meets Victoria, apologizes, and together they plan to find Lukas.

Relationships

With Paul Tate – Inga’s husband is emotionally distant and domineering. She reflects that she mistook his attention for affection. Paul provides little support in child-rearing; the text notes that “Paul came and went as he cared to and I tried not to mind.” His only “real kindness” according to Inga was driving into that forest clearing where she found the baby. The relationship is one of endurance rather than partnership.

With Maxwell (“Max”) – Max is volatile, moody, and resembles his father. Inga loves him but struggles with his behavior. She sees him as a “fire” that requires constant tending. Max’s eventual overdose devastates her, and it is after his funeral that she returns to the stone circle to leave her letter.

With Lukas – Lukas is Inga’s heart-child: gentle, wise, and the “equilibrium” to Max’s fire. She admits she often forgot he was not of her body. Yet her love is entangled with fear—fear that his birth mother would want him back. This fear causes her to keep the secret until circumstances force her hand. After confessing, she becomes his advocate, promising to help Victoria reach him.

With Victoria – Inga’s relationship with Victoria is initially one-sided: Victoria knows Inga only as the “other mother.” Once they meet, the dynamic shifts to mutual empathy. Inga humbles herself, apologizes, and works alongside Victoria to prepare for Lukas’s return. Their bond is forged through shared loss and a common goal.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Theme and Symbol Connections

Motherhood and Identity: Inga embodies the tension between biological and chosen motherhood. She raises Lukas as her own, yet her identity as a mother is always shadowed by the “real” mother in the forest. The Animas River, which the text calls the “River of Souls,” becomes a place where Inga wrestles with her lost possibilities and questions about the boy’s birth mother. The river “gathering along the way all the tiny pieces” mirrors Inga’s slow accumulation of maternal love and regret.

Love and Sacrifice: Inga sacrifices her writing ambitions, her comfort, and ultimately her truth for the sake of her children. Her love is active and painful, requiring her to let go of Lukas twice—first by confessing, then by stepping aside for Victoria.

Resilience and Survival: Like Victoria, Inga learns to “go as a river.” She endures a difficult marriage, a lonely move, and the loss of both boys. Her walks to the river symbolize her persistent forward movement amid obstacles.

Memory and Place: The stone circle where Inga first finds Lukas and later leaves her letter is a physical marker of memory. It connects Inga, Victoria, and Lukas across time, becoming a place where past and present converge. Go as a River uses the clearing as a sacred site of exchange between the two mothers.

Questions and Answers

1. Why did Inga decide to raise the abandoned baby rather than report him to authorities?
   The evidence does not provide a direct motive, but Inga’s actions suggest a combination of maternal instinct and personal longing. She notes that she felt the baby “needed me to be,” and she immediately nursed him. Her own pregnancy with Maxwell had made her acutely aware of a baby’s vulnerability. Interpretation suggests she may have seen the infant as a second chance at family, especially given her growing isolation with Paul.

2. What was Inga’s relationship with her husband like?
   Explicit fact: Inga describes Paul as “dark-browed, strikingly handsome” but arrogant. She realized “too late” what kind of husband he would be. He was absent and disapproving; the only kindness he performed was driving into the clearing where she found the baby. Their marriage was a source of loneliness for Inga.

3. How did Inga’s decision to keep the truth affect Lukas?
   The text explicitly shows that Lukas was “undeniably lighter” at the forest clearing, as if connected to the ground. After discovering the stone circle at age twelve, he began carrying a burden. Inga’s later confession allowed him to make his own choices, but he disappeared after enlisting. Interpretation suggests that the delayed truth contributed to his sense of displacement.

4. What does the Animas River symbolize for Inga?
   For Inga, the Animas—called the “River of Souls”—represents both escape and reflection. She parked the buggy there to write, but never managed to write. The river’s turbulent, quick flow mirrors her own restless, unfinished life. It also connects her to Victoria, who later steps into the Animas seeking a link to Lukas.

5. How does Inga’s story connect to the themes of motherhood and sacrifice?
   Inga’s entire arc is a study in maternal sacrifice: she gives up her career, her honesty, and eventually her son to protect him. The novel uses her character to argue that motherhood is not defined by biology but by choice, endurance, and the willingness to let go. Her final act—helping Victoria find Lukas—completes the theme of sacrificial love that runs through the book.

For a deeper exploration of the novel’s conclusion, see the ending explained or browse common reader questions.