Books

River Song rejoins the reader with Danny Kachiah, the Oregonian Nez Perce drifter and failed rodeo rider first introduced in Craig Lesley's award-winning novel, Winterkill. Danny is determined to get closer to his son, Jack, to teach him traditional ways to steer him away from rodeoing. Danny and Jack survive a forest fire, make a go of it as migrant workers, then finally settle down to salmon fishing on the Columbia River. There they join forces with Willis Salwish, a mysterious old Yakima Indian who clings to traditional fishing sites despite opposition from white fisherman. Danny's friendship with Willis draws him into the dispute over fishing rights, and it's Willis who brings him face to face with ghosts from his past, and leads him to his lost heritage. 

"It is Mr. Lesley's considerable achievement as a storyteller that, while conveying so much information to readers unfamiliar with the territory, a small family of characters emerges. In love and in conflict, they are burdened by all the human frailties and dreams."
-Herbert Mitgang, The New York Times

River Song
1999, St. Martin's Press
0-312-24491-6; Trade Paperback