Summit County Library & Park City Library present One Book One Community 2026
Go as a River by Shelley Read
WINNER OF THE HIGH PLAINS BOOK AWARD • WINNER OF THE READING THE WEST BOOK AWARD
Set amid Colorado’s wild beauty, this is the heartbreaking coming-of-age story of a resilient young woman whose life is changed forever by one chance encounter. This “literary triumph” (Denver Post) is 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 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.
FROM PUBLISHER SPIEGEL & GRAU
The ebook and audiobook of Go as a River are available on Libby and we have multiple copies of the book available to check out at all of our branches.
Meet the Author - Shelley Read
Shelley Read will speak to the community on Thursday, July 30th at 7:00 p.m. in the Jim Santy Auditorium at the Park City Library (1255 Park Ave., Park City, UT 84060). There will be a book signing after the presentation with books available to purchase provided by Dolly's Bookstore.
Shelley Read's debut novel, Go as a River, is an international bestseller that has sold over a million copies worldwide, been translated into thirty-four languages, and is in development for film with the Mazur Kaplan Company. Winner of the High Plains Book Award for Fiction, the Reading the West Book Award for Debut Fiction, and le Prix de l'Union Interalliée (France), Go as a River is also a Sunday Times bestseller, a Goodreads Choice Award finalist, an Amazon Editors' Pick, an Indie Next Pick, and a Colorado Public Radio Books We Love selection, among other national and international accolades.
Shelley taught writing, literature, environmental studies, and honors at Western Colorado University for nearly three decades. She is a mom, mountaineer, world traveler, and fifth-generation Coloradan who lives with her family in the Elk Mountains of Colorado's Western Slope.
One Book One Community is supported by Friends of the Park City Library, Friends of the Summit County Library, and Dolly’s Bookstore.