Go as a River: A Novel

Set in Colorado's high country, Go as a River follows seventeen-year-old Victoria Nash, who runs her family's peach farm in the small ranch town of Iola and is the sole surviving female in a household of troubled men. When she encounters Wilson Moon, a young drifter with a mysterious past displaced from his tribal land, their chance meeting profoundly alters both of their lives, igniting passion and danger. After tragedy strikes, Victoria flees into the surrounding mountains, where she struggles to survive in the wilderness. As seasons change, she discovers meaning and strength in the harsh landscape, working to rebuild what she has lost. Meanwhile, the Gunnison River threatens to submerge her homeland—its ranches, farms, and her family's beloved peach orchard. Inspired by true events surrounding the destruction of Iola in the 1960s, this debut novel explores love and loss, family and survival, courage and resilience. It examines what it means to lead your life as if it were a river—gathering and flowing, finding a way forward even when a river is dammed.