Overview

PETALUMA SLOUGH It's about FATE It's about HISTORY It's about TIME This saga takes us from Frontera del Norte valleys of Alta California to modern-day San Francisco. Mexican frontier commander, Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, offers a sham land grant of a modest-sized rancho. His intent is to save the neck of his mayordomo-henchman; instead, he ignites a wildfire of duplicity. The tainted bribe becomes the focal point for generations of conflicts. Fates of Indians, Californios, Kanakas, and Americans entwine in ways mysterious and shocking. Their legacies course through years of wars, bigotries, and betrayals until they collide in the Presidio Cemetery, near the Golden Gate Bridge. A jaundiced New York reporter-while resisting the pull of his own destiny-happens there that night. He uncovers sins and secrets that had been buried in the past. Readers interested in forgotten yesteryears, what might have been, and what still might be, will find this haunting blend of well-researched history, fiction, and magical realism deeply moving.

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9781544215945

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Nugent was born on Long Island, New York, the eighth of eleven children. Educated at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, he has been a Californian working in the financial industry since 1979. Married in 1980, he and his wife are parents of two adult children. His passion for the history of 18th through 20th century California and The West, thrived while he served on boards of the Sonoma County Historical Society and the Petaluma Museum. He has written a history of his church in Petaluma, where he led a group to restore historic stained-glass windows that had been forgotten in a ranch henhouse. His anti-war drama, The Finger, won the Dominican University Marin Fringe Festival First Place Best Play honor. Tom Hanks portrayed his deceased college roommate and muse, Pulitzer Prize winner, Mike McAlary, in Nora Ephron's Broadway smash, Lucky Guy. The dramatic plot evoked the brief, mysterious nature of mortality, and its powerful message inspired Nugent to rejuvenate his writing talents to complete his debut novel. He is currently working on a story about California gold seekers thwarted by bad luck.

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