What to Read + Sip in Spring 2025

THE BOOK

GO AS A RIVER BY SHELLEY READ

Once upon a time, Iola was a small town in Gunnison County, Colorado. It was a popular stop for sightseers on the Denver and Rio Grande railroad, also a key loading location for supplies destined for nearby gold and copper camps, or cattle, fruit and commodities shipped to other parts of the country. The Gunnison River in Iola was one of the best fly fishing spots in the world, and international anglers frequently snagged trophy catches from its swirling eddies.

Iola was lost in 1966, when the town was flooded and destroyed by the creation of the Blue Mesa Reservoir to provide recreation and crucial power to developing areas across the Southwest. Several hundred homesteaders and ranchers were dispersed to build new lives.

But Iola was “found again” in 2018, when reservoir water levels dropped drastically due to unprecedented drought. The town’s story is fascinating and lends a rich, historic setting to Shelley Read’s debut novel, Go As A River. The fifth-generation Colorado native gifts her audience with an inspiring read and a testimony to truth and resilience.

When Victoria Nash loses her mother, aunt and beloved brother, Cal, in a tragic accident, she must learn to run the household on her family’s Iola peach farm as the sole surviving female.

Her grieving father, crippled veteran Uncle Og, dangerous brother Seth and the irksome Oakley boys are the only men she knows. Her reclusive, elderly neighbor, Ruby-Alice, is the only woman living nearby, but too eccentric to nurture a 17-year-old girl.

Then Victoria, known intimately as Torie, meets Wilson Moon, a forbidden “Injun” stranger who wanders into town. They become passionate, devoted lovers, marking inevitable death for their future. When tragedy strikes, Torie flees her beloved peach farm into the wilderness, with no clear notion of how she will survive. The courageous decisions she must make will change her forever, yet reflect the wisdom and depth of a mother’s devotion.

When Torie returns to Iola, she is a woman alone searching for strength which she finds in an evolving friendship with Ruby-Alice. Her yearning for a miracle leads her back into the wilderness, where her discovery of a single, ripe peach, then a peach-shaped rock, give her hope for love and redemption.

THE BEVERAGE

PEACH HONEY WINE FROM MEADERY OF THE ROCKIES

The celebration of peaches in Go As A River will leave a reader with a thirst to bite into the juicy fruit, or sip it. Meadery of the Rockies crafts tasty honey wines that celebrate tradition with a modern twist.

Their Peach Honey Wine is a harmonious blend of 65% orange blossom honey wine and 35% peach wine, creating a smooth and refreshing taste. With soft peach flavors, delicate orange blossom aromas and a hint of natural honey sweetness, this mead evokes the indulgence of peaches and cream in every sip. Made with 100% pure, raw orange blossom honey and locally sourced fruit, it’s a perfect balance of nature’s finest ingredients — flavorful, crisp and “buzzing” with delight!

Originally published in the Spring 2025 issue of Spoke+Blossom.