About this item
Its 1993, and Rory Ramos works as a ranch hand at the stable her stepfather manages in Topanga Canyon, California, a dry, dusty place reliant on horses and hierarchies. There she rides for the rich clientele, including twins June and Wade Fisk. While Rory draws the interest of out-and-proud June, shes more intrigued by Vivian Price, the beautiful girl with the movie-star father who lives down the hill. Rory keeps largely separate from the likes of the Pricesbut, perched on her bedroom windowsill, Rory steals glimpses of Vivian swimming in her pool nearly every night. After Rorys stepfather is involved in a tragic car accident, the lives of Rory, June, and Vivian become inextricably bound together. Rory discovers photography, begins riding more competitively, and grows closer to gorgeous, mercurial Vivian, but despite her newfound sense of self, disaster lurks all around her: in the parched landscape, in her unruly desires, in her stepfathers wrecked body and guilty conscience.One night, as the relationships among these teenagers come to a head, a forest fire tears through the canyon, and Rorys life is changed forever.
About the Author
Kate Milliken is the author of the novel, Kept Animals, and the 2013 Iowa Short Fiction Award-winning collection of stories, If I'd Known You Were Coming. A graduate of the Bennington College Writing Seminars, she has received fellowships from the Vermont Studio Center, Yaddo, and the Tin House Summer Writer's Workshop. She lives in Northern California with her family.
