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When author Marianne T. Rafter lived in California, she was intrigued with its pre-statehood era. She dicovered the land she lived on was part of a huge Mexican rancho in the 1800s, and before that, the homeland of Miwoks, the original inhabitants. Her novel leads readers into the life and times of Captain William A. Richardson, a notable historical figure in colonial Alta California.
Imagine moving to the San Francisco Bay Area. Not the bay and modern city as it is today. . .
No, to a place in the early 1800s, a little more than 200 years ago, before the Gold Rush…
Imagine the San Francisco Bay as it was.
Wind-swept dunes, a dilapidated Mexican fort, and an aging Spanish mission. First mate William Richardson saw that wilderness from his whaling ship on the bay. His heart racing, from fear and excitement, he didn’t know what to expect when he rowed ashore to request provisions for his ship. He never anticipated the reception he’d receive. A chance meeting in this unfamiliar foreign territory blew away his old life. He had to make a choice. Go? Or stay?
On the brink of the world.
A mix of facts and imagination, the story is inspired by the life of Captain William A. Richardson and his family who lived in Alta California. This speculative historical novel intertwines their love story with that of three diverse societies: Native American, Mexican, and American. This history led to bloody clashes and war, sparked by greed for land.
“Marianne T. Rafter has enlivened the 19th-century history of Alta California with a compelling love story. Dancing on the Brink of the World is a fascinating read.” — NANCY HORAN, New York Times bestselling author of Loving Frank, Under the Wide and Starry Sky, and The House of Lincoln
“Rafter’s historical novel takes us to a fully realized world—one that feels just as socially complex and political as my California. . . That perspective is what historical fiction gives you at its best, and that’s what Rafter provides.” —TAMIM ANSARY, author of Destiny Disrupted, The Invention of Yesterday, and West of Kabul, East of New York