Petaluma Slough

Petaluma Slough
It's about fate
It's about history
It's about time
This saga takes us from Frontera del Norte valleys of Alta California to modern-day San Francisco. Mexican frontier commander, Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, offers a sham land grant of a modest-sized rancho. His intent is to save the neck of his mayordomo-henchman; instead, he ignites a wildfire of duplicity. The tainted bribe becomes the focal point for generations of conflicts. Fates of Indians, Californios, Kanakas, and Americans entwine in ways mysterious and shocking. Their legacies course through years of wars, bigotries, and betrayals until they collide in the Presidio Cemetery, near the Golden Gate Bridge. A jaundiced New York reporter—while resisting the pull of his own destiny—happens there that night. He uncovers sins and secrets that had been buried in the past.
Readers interested in forgotten yesteryears, what might have been, and what still might be, will find this haunting blend of well-researched history, fiction, and magical realism deeply moving.
Kenneth J. Nugent is an award-winning playwright and a historian. Tom Hanks' portrayal of his college friend and Pulitzer Prize winner, Mike McAlary, in Nora Ephron's Broadway play, "Lucky Guy," evoked the fleeting cyclical nature of time, and inspired the completion of this novel.