2014 WILLA Literary Award Winner for Original Softcover Fiction"A fresh female voice and a bold take on environmental awareness-great read!" - WILLA judges, Women Writing the West, Golden, Colorado". . . an adventure saga, a meditation on earth and water, a novel of pain and injury and the search for healing . . ." - Lillian Howan, author of The Charm Buyers". . . deeply important story . . . gripping plot." - Jordan Rosenfeld, author of Make A Scene and How to Write a Page TurnerRiver guide Madeline Kruse wishes she could save the world-or at least her family. With her father MIA in southeast Asia and her ill mother growing weaker searching for him, Maddie escapes into her work. This time she runs to the deep canyons of Utah, where new dramas are unfolding: oil drilling encroaching on wild rivers and threatening water on ranches and farms-everyone's lifeblood. From farmer Chris Sorensen in the town of Junction, Maddie learns how dangerous the growing risks are to the land and water. She differs in almost every way from Chris, though both their families are spinning apart. Can she find their common ground in time to save the endangered people and places she loves?This debut novel about everything at stake in a forgotten corner of the West "keeps so many dazzling balls in the air: war, love, activism, wilderness-and always, always, the most dazzling ball of all-Lawton's dazzling descriptions of nature." - Jill Koenigsdorg, author of Phoebe and the Ghost of Chagall

Junction, Utah

Literature & Fiction

Lawton, Rebecca

Genre Fiction

Wavegirl Books

Second Edition" . . . a seasoned depiction of the nomadic culture, empty canyons, and wild western rivers that define and haunt her. Honest in her assessment of the psychological costs of a gypsy life, artful in her understanding of currents and seasons, Lawton depicts the rivers taking away as well as giving . . . " - David James Duncan, author, The River Why and My Story as Told by Water"Reading Water is both mirror and map, a reminder that a life can take the shape of the river itself-fierce and tender, restless and serene, asking us only for our unwavering fidelity to living, moving water." -Ellen Meloy, author, Eating Stone and The Anthropology of TurquoiseRebecca Lawton begins this literary float trip: "My first view of the river looked like this-a long, blue being at the bottom of a steep canyon." Jump in the raft and join this "whitewater gypsy" and naturalist as she rows you down some of the American West's greatest rivers. With her, you'll come to understand rivers and their impact on the human emotional landscape in a deeper sense. Reading Water offers seekers not only the thrill rides of our rivers, but also their rich ecosystems and spiritual wellsprings. Lawton views river life through various lenses: the hydrological, spiritual, and personal. Even armchair river runners will find much to love about this book-its affection, adventure, wisdom, and sense of place."Rebecca Lawton doesn't just read water, she understands it, speaks it, lives it, and loves it. The finely crafted chapters in Reading Water reflect the wisdom and sharply tuned senses that a life spent on the water can nurture. Lawton's book examines everything from the loss of her mother to marriage, friendship, and work through a shimmering, water lens that reveals remarkable depth." -Pamela Michael, cofounder of River of Words and The Gift of Rivers

Reading Water: Lessons from the River

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

2023 RUBERY BOOK AWARD SHORTLISTED 
ACTION & ADVENTURE MEET LOVE & DANGER IN REBECCA LAWTON'S WHAT I NEVER TOLD YOU. 
"Lawton's fluid prose flows like her beloved river . . . simply one of the best collections I’ve read in years." — ANDREW X. PHAM, author, Eaves of Heaven: A Life in Three Wars and Catfish and Mandala 
"THESE FIFTEEN STORIES ARE LINKED BY WATER AND WATER PEOPLE. An unforgettable journey on our most beloved element in all its liquid beauty, strength, and potential for violence." — ROGER REAL DROUIN, author, No Other Way 
“Lawton’s beautifully rendered and accessible stories make you want to move quickly from beginning to end, but I urge you—savor the journey.” — PAGE LAMBERT, author, In Search of Kinship and Shifting Stars 
"A powerful collection of stories about connections to the wild and necessary land, rivers, and creatures around us . . . and our essential connections to each other." — JULIAN HOFFMAN, author of The Small Heart of Things 
"Lawton enchants the reader with emotional honesty and an intensity that infuses her stories with the beauty of the natural world." — B.C. RIMBEAUX, best-selling author, adventurer, and whitewater guide 
Second edition, revised and updated from Steelies and Other Endangered Species, a limited-distribution printing by Little Curlew Press (2014; Sarasota, Florida).

What I Never Told You: Stories

Literary

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