Summer River

The fictional Summer River flows through the remote southeast corner of Summer County in Northern California. In addition to an illegal commune assembled on a mining claim on the river, the region is home to an aging cattle rancher, an aspiring wine grape grower, a marijuana grower, and an elder of the New Life Assembly with a spirited teenaged daughter. Still suffering the pain and anger of a broken marriage, Karen Mitchell moves with her five-year-old daughter into a friend’s cabin on the south bank of the river. “Rick Kantola is a wonderful writer. Great descriptive powers, pleasing line and paragraph rhythms, and a wonderful ear for dialogue.” Todd Walton, author, Inside Moves and Ruby and Spear. “…a gifted writer with a strong moral angle, a capacity for creating memorable characters, and a deep and lovely sense of landscape.” Tim Farrington, author, The California Book of the Dead