Library Author Series: Shelley Read
- Library Hall
Set amid Colorado’s wild beauty, Go As a River is a heartbreaking coming-of-age story of a resilient young woman whose life is changed forever by one chance encounter. A tragic, uplifting novel of love and loss, place and displacement, prejudice and family, wilderness and survival—and hope.
Seventeen-year-old Victoria Nash runs the household on her family’s peach farm in the small ranch town of Iola, Colorado—the sole surviving female in a family of troubled men. Wilson Moon is a young drifter with a mysterious past, displaced from his tribal land and determined to live as he chooses. Victoria encounters Wil by chance on a street corner, a meeting that profoundly alters both of their young lives.
Inspired by true events surrounding the destruction of the town of Iola and the damming of the wild Gunnison River in the 1960s, Go as a River is a story of deeply held love in the face of hardship, prejudice, and loss, but also of finding courage, resilience, friendship, and, finally, home—where least expected. This stunning debut explores 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.
About the Author
Shelley was an award-winning Senior Lecturer at Western Colorado University for nearly three decades where she taught writing, literature, environmental studies, and honors. She holds degrees in writing and literary studies from the University of Denver and Temple University's Graduate Program in Creative Writing and was a Dean’s Fellow in the University of Denver’s PhD program in English. She is a regular contributor to Crested Butte Magazine and Gunnison Valley Journal. Her internationally bestselling debut novel, Go As A River, is being translated into over thirty languages and has been optioned for film by Mazur Kaplan in partnership with Fifth Season. A Sunday Times and American Booksellers Association bestseller, Go As A River is also a 2023 Amazon Editor's Pick Best Debut, a Goodreads Choice Award Finalist, and a Colorado Public Radio Best Book of the Year, among other accolades. Shelley is a mom, mountaineer, world traveler, and fifth generation Coloradoan who lives with her family in the Elk Mountains of the Western Slope.
Borrow Go As a River from Bud Werner Memorial Library.
Buy Go As a River from Steamboat Springs' independent bookstore, Off the Beaten Path.
Library Author Series
Bud Werner Memorial Library presents an ongoing program of free author talks throughout the year. A diverse range of award-winning authors continues to speak about their literary works and their writing processes. Each talk is followed by a Q&A, and books are available for sale courtesy of Off the Beaten Path Bookstore.