Go as a River

Go as a River is a sweeping, intimate novel about Victoria Nash, a peach farmer’s daughter from Iola, Colorado, whose life is upended by a brief, life-altering love with a drifter named Wilson Moon. When tragedy, prejudice, and a rising reservoir erase the town that shaped her, Victoria flees to the high country, gives birth alone, and makes an impossible choice meant to save her child. Years later, she re-roots herself in a new valley and rebuilds an orchard from the ground up, carrying secret grief alongside stubborn hope. This is a story about what endures—love, land, and a woman’s quiet strength—when everything familiar disappears.

• Listeners who love character-driven historical fiction rooted in place
• Anyone drawn to stories of resilience, motherhood, and second chances
• Readers who savor lyrical storytelling about land, rivers, and belonging

Shelley Read is a fifth-generation Coloradoan whose life and work are steeped in the landscapes of the Western Slope. A longtime senior lecturer at Western Colorado University, she taught writing, literature, environmental studies, and Honors, and helped found the Environment & Sustainability major. She holds degrees from the University of Denver and Temple University, contributes regularly to regional magazines, and serves on the board of the Vita Institute for the Arts. Go as a River is her acclaimed debut novel.