Richardson wrote on an on-line communication from a web-based group about publishing that I belong to. That’s a near-miracle, as my publisher is both small and independent!” Barbara K.

“I just learned that Publishers Weekly reviewed my upcoming novel Tributary. As she faces the challenges of making the desert bloom, Clair comes to understand that family is not primarily birth ties but the bonds of the heart, and that people are like tributaries although they carry all the disaster that has gone before, 'good comes through all the same.' This novel has much to offer, including a balanced perspective on a controversial time in Mormon history, but its greatest gift is its wisdom about finding one's own path.Expectancy is the atmosphere for miracles. Eager to find her birth parents, Clair moves to New Orleans and Ocean Springs, Miss., before returning to Mormon country on her own terms as a farmer. But her disfigurement also protects her from polygamy, making her an outsider in a society that is preoccupied with righteousness but also has an undercurrent of violence. Orphan girl Clair Martin is defined by a large strawberry birthmark that covers one side of her face, making her an object of scorn and suspicion in Brigham City, Utah, in the 1860s. She lives in Kamas, Utah.Ī quest to belong is the theme of this novel from Richardson (Guest House), whose lyrical prose and heartfelt characters shine through. Barbara is also an avid environmentalist.

Aside from writing, Barbara has renovated four houses, enjoyed Argentine tango, fallen in love with tai chi, helped can the West's finest plum jam, adored conifers, and planted thousands of trees and shrubs for others. Richardson earned an MFA in poetry from Eastern Washington University. In Tributary, she claims the land of her Mormon ancestors who settled the northern Salt Lake Valley. RICHARDSON's debut novel, Guest House, launched the first literary Truck Stop Tour in the nation. Here, one young woman's life becomes a quiet revolution to untangle what you inherit from what you need.īARBARA K. Her stubborn search for identity takes Clair beyond the confines of the Utah Territory to the slums of Reconstruction Dixie, and back again. 'A quest to belong is the theme of this novel from Richardson, whose lyrical prose and heartfelt characters shine through.'Ī misfit in a Mormon frontier town, Clair Martin shows what polygamy feels like from inside the fold.

Tributary by Barbara K. Richardson