The Riven Country of Senga Munro (Riven Country, #1)

Riven: adjective, literary; alternate past participle of to rive. 1. torn apart 2. broken into pieces, split asunder. "My daughter would have been 29 years old this year," begins this inter-generational story. Senga Munro still blames herself two decades after her daughter's death. A literary novel, THE RIVEN COUNTRY OF SENGA MUNRO explores the aftermath of unspeakable tragedy and what it means to be "other" in rural Wyoming: Senga sees what others can't, via the novel's thread of magical realism. An arrow shot through time by a 19th century Cheyenne scout jolts her awake at last. Will Senga risk the relative safety of routine and finally come to terms with her purpose and life, even as she provokes the ire of a modern-day outlaw? Senga Munro, the not-so-simple herbal simpler is earning a PhD in life's mysteries. We meet Senga's friends: Gabe Belizaire, a bull rider from Louisiana with an M.F.A. in Creative Writing, who chooses to live in a state where his skin color is rare; Rufus and Caroline Strickland, a sympathetic, if irascible, elderly ranching couple; Francesca Albinoni, Gabe's Italian muse; Joe Rafaela, the hardy Franciscan; and the old Berry place folks--outlaws and proverbial snakes in the garden, of the poisonous variety. Readers learn that resilience and grit triumph as the most useful antidotes in the bag as they journey through THE RIVEN COUNTRY OF SENGA MUNRO, Book One in THE RIVEN COUNTRY SERIES.